The Egyptian Federation of American Football has kicked off its fifth consecutive season on Friday, 1st of February. ENFL V is bound to have an unprecedented level of competition between the 8 teams and with the improvement comes the expectations!
Week 1 witnessed two heated games with the Gezira Thunder securing their first victory ever in the short ENFL (Egyptian National Football League) history, with a 20-16 win over the AUC Titans, while the Cairo Hell Hounds maintained their winning streak stretching back to 2018 with a win over the Cairo Bears.
The Gezira Thunder have been completely focused on the season with two import players, German QB Paul Zimmerman and offensive guard Kent Blazer. They’ve also hired two coaches; John Martin as their head coach and offensive coordinator and Lawrence Williams as their defensive coordinator.
Meanwhile, the AUC Titans have an import coach Carlos Fragoso and homegrown quarterback Youssef Tharwat who has played football in France for the past two years. The two teams had a very close game until the Thunder were able to clinch their ever first win which was followed by massive celebrations from the players and the fans.
The game was highly anticipated as the defending champions, Cairo Hell Hounds, are back to defend their spot with import QB Brandon Ramon and head coach and defensive coordinator Jon Wilderman and defensive coordinator Sean Brennum. The Bears are also making a strong comeback to the season with a high number of transfer players along import running back Malcom Gasque and head coach John Burleson.
The game was quickly heated with the Hounds’ opening the scoring and shutting down the Bears offense. The Hell Hounds went on to a 26-6 victory with the Bears scoring a late touchdown to avoid the shutout. Omar Galaxy of the Hounds was named Game MVP after scoring two of his team’s touchdowns.