Italy: Milano Seamen hold off Firenze Guelfi to retain top spot, Dolphins, Warriors also win

The Milano Seamen retained their perfect record in the Italian Football League this past weekend by holding off challengers Firenze Guelfi in what was an explosive offensive spectacle.

In other action, the Ancona Dolphins dominated the upstart Modena Vipers while Bologna Warriors running back Shakif Seymour put on a one man show as the Warriors downed the Milano Rhinos.

Milano Seamen (7-0) 56 – Firenze Guelfi (5-2) 47 

This past weekend’s opener was without a doubt the most anticipated game of the season, and it didn’t disappoint.

The Seamen came out firing, outscoring the Guelfi 21–7 in the first quarter. The second quarter saw a far more even distribution of points as Firenze quarterback Andrea Fimiani led from the front picking up swaths of yardage at a time. He finished with 121 yards rushing while as a team Firenze had 307.

The Seamen went in at the half up 42–28 following a near perfect half from Seamen quarterback Luke Zahradka. But the Guelfi weren’t to be outdone, putting up another 19 points in the third quarter to bring the scoreline to 56-47.

The scene was set for a monumental comeback for Guelfi as the fourth quarter came in. However, in a contradictory turn of events neither team was able to put up a single point in the final quarter after the initial offensive onslaught from both sides.

Zahradka has not only cemented his MVP candidacy with this 528-yard, seven touchdown performance, he has also proved once again that he is a clutch performer and will keep scoring points until you stop him.

Ancona Dolphins (4-3) 35 – Modena Vipers (3-3) 7

The second game of the week was also set to be a highly anticipated game, but this one, however, did disappoint.

After a number of impressive performances earlier in the year, the Vipers appear to have lost their bite. The past two weeks have ended in two Viper defeats and only 22 combined points, a number they have surpassed in each of their three games prior.

The Dolphins on the other hand will be pleased with their all-round performance against Modena. Quarterback Colin Di Galbo seems to have found his groove again with the help of a potent rushing attack while the defense seems to be back to its old self following its charitable performance against the Seamen two weeks ago.

Bologna Warriors (2-5) 41–Milano Rhinos (1-6) 28

The final game of the weekend saw the Bologna Warriors and Shakif Seymour run roughshod over the Milano Rhinos.

Despite two flurries of offensive output by the Rhinos at the end of each half, they were outmatched by the Warriors for the entirety of the game -or more specifically, by Shakif Seymour.

The bruising running back has been the key to the Warriors offense running out of the wildcat formation since the departure of Gabriel Cousineau in week four. He has performed modestly in each game but against the Rhinos he exploded, rushing for 314 yards on 29 carries, picking up five touchdowns on the way.

If this wasn’t enough for the Rhinos to deal with, Seymour also threw for 80 yards and a touchdown, bringing his combined output for the day 410 yards and six touchdowns.

This landslide victory will undoubtedly propel the Warriors to some closer games with the mid-table teams and keep them far away from talk of relegation.