Hungary: Kiev Capitals and Fehérvár Enthroners advance to the semifinals

Last weekend the Hungarian Football League playoffs kicked off with the wild card round. The Fehérvár Enthroners earned a hard fought victory over a very tough Miskolc Steelers squad on Saturday, while one day later the Kiev Capitals had an easy road win against the Győr Sharks.

Fehérvár Enthroners (3rd seed) – Miskolc Steelers 33-28 (6th seed) (7-14, 13-7, 7-0, 6-7)

Steelers QB Vasyl Yordan made his return from injury against the Enthroners and he had an impact right away. He started off with a 70 yard touchdown pass to Csaba Fenyvesi (0-7). Although the home team equalized with Márk Poprádi’s catch, Yordan responded taking the ball in himself on the next Steelers possession, restoring the one touchdown lead (7-14). Following a Balázs Szitás’ interception Andre Whyte increased the lead to 21-7. However, after the sloppy start, Ryan Tuiasoa brought back the Enthroners with two touchdowns. György Zách missed the extra point though, and the Steelers held a narrow 21-20 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Enthroners took the lead for the first time during the game with a well-executed reverse and Nándor Tóth’s outstanding run (27-21). In the last quarter, Miskolc got back the advantage with Richard Ellebie’s run (27-28). The give and take continued with Tuiasoa’s third touchdown (33-28). Although the Steelers had plenty of time to fight back, one and a half minutes before the end Michael Wallace intercepted a Yordan pass and the Enthroners came away with a victory and qualified for the semi-finals, where they will face the Budapest Cowbells.

Kiev Capitals (4th seed) – Győr Sharks (5th seed) 32-0 (13-0, 7-0, 0-0, 12-0)

After an outstanding road win against the Steelers, the Győr Sharks prepared to take the next step against the Capitals. However, the offense underperformed while the Ukrainian’s offense was impressive. First Oleksandr Melnychuk scored and then Dmytro Serbin hauled in a touchdown pass to give the Capitals a two score advantage. In the second quarter, a Troy Rice touchdown reception increased to the lead to 20-0 for Kiev.

Although the Sharks battled back in the second half, key defensive player Péter Becs was tossed from the game for targeting, a huge blow for the Sharks. In addition, Dustin Hawke was playing under the suspicion of a concussion. In the last period, the Capitals settled the game with Rice and Melnychuk scoring another touchdown each. Thus, the Ukrainian squad won 32-0 and is now set to face the number one seeded Budapest Wolves for a berth in the Hungarian Bowl.