Hungary: Budapest Wolves demolish Sharks, Kijev Capitals fall to Enthroners

The Hungarian Football League continued with two games last weekend. While the Budapest Wolves downed the Győr Sharks at home, the Fehérvár Enthroners earned a tough win over the Kiev Capitals in Székesfehérvár.

Budapest Wolves – Győr Sharks 51-21 (17-0, 6-7, 21-7, 7-7)

Two weeks after a less than impressive performance against the Miskolc Steelers game the reigning champion Wolves needed to improve on offense and they definitely did against the Sharks. Touchdown receptions by András Storcz and Ferenc Bartos gave the home team a 14-0 lead and Benjamin Lyons’ field goal extended it to 17-0 in the first quarter. Although the visitors answered with Phillip Villanueva’s quarterback sneak, Ádám Elek’s touchdown grab restored the three-score lead, 23-7. The Wolves’ defense was outstanding in the first half, recording four interceptions (two by Nátán Nemes, Dániel Bicskei and Richárd Madarassy got one each).

The second half had the similar script to the first. The Wolves expanded the lead to 37-7 in the third on touchdowns by Ádám Elek and Dávid Danku. The Sharks tried to avoid the mercy rule which they first did with Erik Ford’s touchdown reception, but Márk Bencsic answered quickly (44-14). The third quarter pretty much settled everything, but the Wolves did not stop. Elek’s third touchdown in the last period making the score 51-14 activated the mercy rule  Although the Sharks added a late touchdown, they badly lost the turnover battle which was a key reason for the loss, while the Wolves turned in an almost flawless performance in earning a 51-21 win.

Fehérvár Enthroners – Kiev Capitals 23-7 (7-0, 9-0, 7-0, 0-7)

After a convincing win at Győr, last week, the Enthroners wanted to maintain their good form against the Kiev Capitals who were missing quarterback Maksym Cherepivskyi due to a shoulder injury. Fehérvár’s offense got off to a sloppy start. Thus, the defense took up the slack starting with Mike Wallace’s pick six. In the second period, the Enthroners offense was starting to perform better. After György Zách’s field goal, Ryan Tuiasoa’s 54 yard touchdown catch gave the Enthroners a 16-0 advantage at the break.

The Capitals’ defense came out stronger in the second half. Although the Enthroners extended their lead on Nándor Tóth’s touchdown, the Ukrainian team did not leave the game scoreless. In the last period, Hubrii Roman’s close range run gave the visitors a well-deserved touchdown. The Capitals played well especially the defense,but the offense lacked the chemistry which might be because of Cherepivskyi’s injury. The Enthroners earned a 23-7 win but their performance was not as smooth as in the Sharks game.