Crocodiles and Roosters to meet in Finland’s Maple Bowl XXXVI

The Seinäjoki Crocodiles (9-2) will battle the Helsinki Roosters (8-3) for the Finnish championship in Maple Bowl XXXVI.

The Crocodiles secured their spot in the final by defeating the Helsinki 69ers at home 28-7. The 69ers did not let the Crocodiles win easily and it was midway into fourth quarter before French national team player Yann Dika-Baloteken  broke a 61 yard run to give Seinäjoki a 21-7 lead. Then Dika-Baloteken scored quickly again taking a short pass from Justin Sottilare to put the game away.

The Roosters path to the final went through Turku, where they beat the home team Trojans 33-10. The Roosters capitalized on Trojans errors in the kicking game, but got superb play from Micah Brown who rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 129 yards and three touchdowns, completing 14 of his 24 pass attempts.

The game also marked the end of a championship streak for Trojans quarterback Sean Shelton , who had won the French, Finnish and Austrian championships in 2014-2015.

The two teams met twice during the regular season with both teams winning their home games. Both teams had their own struggles in the early parts of the season, but clearly were the teams this year that kept improving throughout the year.

The Roosters and Crocodiles have played each other 45 times since 1992. Helsinki leads the series 29-16 overall. The two teams have met twice before in the Maple Bowl. In Maple Bowl XXI (2000) the Roosters won 25-17 and in Maple Bowl XXII (2001) the Crocodiles took the trophy home with a 15-13 victory. While the Crocodiles, in their seventh Maple Bowl appearance, are looking for their second championship title, the Roosters have 17 wins in 22 Maple Bowl appearances.

The game will be played at Sonera Stadium in Helsinki.

The game will be broadcast by NelonenPro and ruutu.fi services (requires registration and ordering) 

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