Football Season in Portugal Heats Up
The final round of games before the Christmas break in Portugal offered plenty of excitement as the Lisboa Devils and Cascais Crusaders combined for 14 touchdowns in a Devils win. The Devils remain undefeated with the victory and lead the South division. The Porto Renegades blanked the Maia Mustangs 18-0 to keep pace in the North while the Braga Warriors improved to 2-1 by edging the Lumberjacks 14-12. Finally, the Lisboa Navigators held on to second in the South with a 19-13 win over the Algarve Sharks.
Lisboa Devils 58 – Cascais Crusaders 43
Photo: Francisco Amaral
The Devils and Crusaders combined for 14 touchdowns and 101 points in the highest scoring game in Portugal in many years. Devils quarterback Joey Bradley threw five touchdown passes while Ricardo Jaquite rushed for two more to pace the Devils who are now 2-0.
Crusaders quarterback Thomas Primo threw three touchdown passes himself while running back Juzz Tiny was deadly on the ground rushing for three scores in a losing cause.
Bradley threw touchdowns to receivers Bernardo Solipa (2) Collin Franklin, Bruno Cardoso and António Pires.
Braga Warriors 14 – Paredes Lumberjacks 12
Photo: PhotoSports
Special teams played a critical role as the Warriors scored a two-point conversion while Paredes did not convert the extra points on their touchdowns which cost them the game. The game was marked by strong winds and heavy rains so both teams relied on the run. Rafael Vilaça and Rafael Pitrez scored a touchdown apiece for the Warriors while Miguel Dias ran for both Lumberjacks scores.
Lisboa Navigators 19 – Algarve Sharks 13
In a tight defensive struggle, Navigators running back Marco Madeira scored both Lisboa touchdowns in the fourth quarter and receiver Nuno Pereira hauled in a touchdown pass from Tiago Soares for the come-from-behind win. Sharks quarterback Ryan DeLoureiro ran for one touchdown for the Sharks and threw another to Brandon Soohoo.
Porto Renegades 18 – Maia Mustangs 0
Porto quarterback João Amaral threw three touchdown passes, two to Daniel Montoya and one to Diogo Helena as the Renegades blanked the winless Mustangs and improved to 2-1 on the season.
Photo credits: PhotoSports, Francisco Amaral.
Information credit: Andre Amorim
