It’s been more than two months since the Copenhagen Towers last played a football game, but it didn’t appear that the Danish powerhouse had any rust to shake off when they faced off against the Triangle Razorbacks on Saturday.
Coming off a loss to the Søllerød Gold Diggers way back on June 19th, Copenhagen emerged from Denmark’s mid-season break and teed off on the basement-dwelling Razorbacks for a dominant 50-6 victory. The Towers, led by running back Anton Witmeur and his four rushing touchdowns, overwhelmed their opponents right from the start and exploded to a 32-0 lead early, never taking their foot off the gas.
After a strong opening return, Copenhagen began the fast start on their first drive. Witmeur announced himself with a 19-yard carry up the gut and two runs later he squirted through for a 12-yard touchdown, with Michel Konate adding the two-point conversion.
After the defense got a stop, the Towers appeared to stumble with a three and out on their second series and the long snap sailed over the head of punter Jacob Green to put them in real danger. The kicker scrambled to get a booming boot off at his own 15-yard line that bounced to pin Triangle at their own five and the adversity quickly ended. The Razorbacks couldn’t escape the shadow of the endzone and the Towers soon had the ball back, with quarterback Randall Schroeder hitting Mike Williams in stride for a 34-yard gain. A few plays later, Witmeur took the pitch four yards to paydirt and Philip Nielsen snagged the two-point convert to go up 16.
Towers QB Randall Schroeder Photo: Michael Jensen
Copenhagen continued to pour it on early in the second. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Razorbacks moved them into the redzone and Witmeur quickly completed the natural hat-trick with a three-yard run, as Green added another two-point. Triangle turned it over on downs on the next drive and Copenhagen answered the call again, this time through the air. Tight end Oliver Tribler made a spectacular 22-yard diving catch to get things rolling and Williams finished by winning the jump ball on fourth and goal to add another touchdown, with Konate trotting in the conversion.
Down 32, the Razorbacks finally got a lucky break. Quarterback Reed Gottula found Jacob Callesen on an intermediate curl, but the Copenhagen defensive back in the area mistimed his break on the ball and the receiver had nothing but space in front of him, running 67 yards before being pushed out of bounds short of the goal line. A false start pushed them back, but Gottula soon dropped it in the bucket to Alessandro Mella for a six-yard touchdown, though the two-point attempt was unsuccessful
The teams traded interceptions to end the half, but Copenhagen exited the break wanting to put things away and tried a surprise onside kick that Triangle recovered. Gottula quickly looked to make them pay for the arrogance, but once in the redzone, his high pass for Tim Franklin was tipped up and Kenneth Larsen-Ledet intercepted in the endzone. It would be the last hint of life from the Razorbacks.
The Towers took advantage immediately with a 23-yard strike to Jacob Green, then Philip Nielsen picked up 15 more. Finally, Schroeder put it up for Green once again for a long 21-yard score. The two-point attempt was incomplete, but Eivind Rolles got Copenhagen the ball back with an interception. They went back to Anton Witmeur to drive the field and the back busted 15-yards up the middle for his fourth touchdown on the night before another unsuccessful conversion.
Copenhagen wasn’t quite done, as a disastrous Triangle punt attempt by Peter Linnemann in the grasp of a tackler gave Copenhagen the ball at the eight-yard line with a chance to rub salt in an open wound. Michel Konate muscled in off the left side for the final score and the fourth quarter became simply a formality in a 50-6 victory.
Running back Anton Witmeur was the unquestioned star for the Towers in the win, carrying 16 times for 119 yards and four touchdowns, but Copenhagen got it done offensively without him for long stretches. Michel Konate had 10 carries of his own for 56 yards and a score, while Randall Schroeder was 15-of-29 passing for 196 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Jacob Green led the receivers with six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown and Jakob Baekgaard, Kenneth Larsen-Ledet, and Eivind Rolles all added interceptions.
Triangle quarterback Reed Gottula was productive through the air, going 19-of-33 for 213 yards, but threw three picks to just one touchdown. He was also his team’s leading rusher with only 13 yards on the ground. Jacob Callesen was a standout with five catches for 105 yards and Kristian Nielsen and Henrik Dinesen both had interceptions.
The dominant win puts Copenhagen in the driver’s seat for the second half of the Danish season and they’ll be back in action next weekend against the AaB 89ers. Should they win that game, they’ll need a rebound performance from the Razorbacks to knock off the weakened Gold Diggers so they can claim sole possession of first place in the Nationalligaen.