ELF: Paris Musketeers survive furious 2nd half comeback by Berlin Thunder to improve to 5-1

The Paris Musketeers improved to 5-1 on Sunday by jumping out to a seemingly insurmountable lead and then staving off a huge comeback from the visiting Berlin Thunder.

Paris got the opening kickoff and quickly marched down the field, capping the drive off with a five yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zach Edwards to Rémi Bertellin.  After the teams exchanged a few punts, Paris had the ball around midfield when Edwards found Hugo Tekedam for a 50 yard touchdown on the third play of the drive, giving the home team a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Musketeers continued their dominance in the second quarter, forcing a three-and-out before embarking on another long drive.  This time, they capped it off with some trickeration, as Bertellin, a receiver, threw a touchdown pass to tight end Kevin Mwamba.  After another Berlin three-and-out, Edwards and Tekedam connected again for a 34 yard touchdown.  This brought the Paris lead to 27-0 going into the break.

Early in the third quarter, the Musketeers continued their dominance with a rushing touchdown from Edwards, putting them up 35-0.  But Berlin finally began to fight back.  Quarterback Jakeb Sullivan soon found Aaron Jackson for a 61 yard touchdown pass to get on the board.  Later, he found running back Albert Wiesigstrauch for a 32 yard score, cutting the deficit to 35-13.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunder continued their comeback, as Sullivan connected with Adrian Peter for a four yard touchdown.  After a Musketeers punt, Berlin had the ball on 4th and 1 when Wiesigstrauch suddenly took off for a 59 yard rushing touchdown. All of a sudden, the 35-0 margin had become 35-27.  Paris then punted again, giving the visitors one more chance to score.  But the offense finally hit a rut and were stopped on 4th down in their own territory. Paris kneeled out the clock and clinched the victory.

While this one looked over early in the third quarter, it became a nailbiter in the blink of an eye.  Berlin deserves credit for not giving up and putting together such a comeback.  However, their disastrous 1st half, in which they did not get a first down until their fifth possession, proved to be too much to overcome.

Paris goes on the road next week to face the Madrid Bravos in an interesting matchup, while the Thunder will look to rebound at home in a big game against the undefeated Vienna Vikings.