ELF: Rhein Fire avenge previous loss to Madrid Bravos with 40-15 victory

| American Football | 07/01/2024

On Saturday, the Rhein Fire avenged their loss to the Madrid Bravos from earlier in the season, as they defeated their Spanish foes by a convincing margin of 40-15

After a scoreless first quarter, the Fire struck first quickly in the second with a 21 yard rushing touchdown from star running back Glen Toonga.  After a Madrid punt, the Fire got the ball back when a crazy sequence of events occurred.  On 3rd and 9 in Madrid territory, quarterback Jadrian Clark was intercepted by Sebastián Castañer, who tried to return the ball when Rhein receiver Harlan Kwofie punched it out and the Fire recovered, giving them a fresh set of downs.  On the next play, Clark was intercepted again, this time by Ja’len Embry, but it was wiped out due to a roughing the passer penalty.  Clark shook off these slip-ups and continued the drive, and later found Sergej Kendus for an 18 yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in the half.

The Bravos looked to get points on the board before halftime, but on the first play of their drive, Steven Duncan was intercepted by defensive lineman Remy Feltes, who nearly took it back to the house.  Toonga then punched the ball in from short distance to cap off a brutal sequence of events for the Bravos.  The visitors entered the break leading 20-0.

Madrid got the ball after halftime and marched down the field, but were stopped on 4th down well into Fire territory.  The Fire offense then responded with a long drive of their own, but they were able to find the end zone on Toonga’s third rushing touchdown of the game, putting the game out of reach.  The Bravos got their first points of the game on a defensive safety, but their ensuing drive resulted in disaster, as it ended with the Fire blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, the Bravos scored two touchdowns in garbage time, while the Fire got one of their own, as the final score came to be 40-15.

For the Fire, this was once again a Glen Toonga show, as he rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, while Sergej Kendus chipped in with 53 yards on nine carries.  Jadrian Clark, last season’s MVP, only completed nine passes on the day.  For the Bravos, D’Wayne Obi had a good day on the ground, rushing 15 times for 100 yards, while Steven Duncan had a tough day at quarterback.

This was a much-better performance by the Fire than the one they put on three weeks ago against Madrid.  They look to be back to their championship-winning form, as they host the Cologne Centurions next week.  The Bravos, fresh off their first loss in franchise history, have another tough matchup at home next week against the Frankfurt Galaxy.

A current student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carter played football in high school and has been a lifelong avid football fan.