Lisboa Devils upset Porto Mutts; capture third title in four years

The Lisboa Devils gained their revenge and then some when they defeated the number one ranked Porto Mutts 23-6 in the Portuguese League of American Football (LPFA) championship game to avenge an earlier loss to the Mutts and capture their third title in four years.

Both teams entered the final with only one loss. The Mutts had lost to the Cascais Crusaders during the regular season while Lisboa had been beaten by the Mutts 20-6.

Porto had defeated the Lisboa Navigators 47-22 in the semifinals while the Devils had edged the Crusaders 13-12.

So the title game promised to be a good one.

It did not start out that way for the Mutts. On the very first series, a bad snap sailed over the head of Brazilian punter Daniel Moraes earning the Devils a safety.

Lisboa then increased the lead on the next possession with running back Jose Sanchez rumbling in from 20 yards out and kicker Bruno Cardoso adding a PAT to give the Devils a 9-0 lead.

The Devils kept the pressure up in the first quarter as quarterback Bernardo Solipa marched his team deep into Porto territory. Brazilian running back Ramon Franco punched the ball in from the two and with the extra point the score was 16-0 Lisboa.

Defenses took charge after that though with neither team able to move the ball effectively.

Heading into the fourth quarter, with the score still 16-0 in favor of the Devils, Solipa moved his team down to the Porto 26 yard line and then found slot receiver Luis Rodrigues on a stop and go route and the speedy receiver caught the ball in stride taking it all the way upping the score to an insurmountable 23-0.

The Mutts finally responded with backup quarterback Joao Amaral engineering a field-length drive and capping it with a two yard bootleg to narrow the lead to 23-6.

It was too little too late though as the Mutts could not mount another scoring drive and the Devils celebrated another title.

Source: futebolamericanobrasil.com.