LIVE: TV4 Sport’s Friday Night Football In Sweden – Limhamn Griffins Host Örebro Black Knights

Friday Night Football continues in Sweden as the Limhamn Griffins (2-3) play host to last year’s finalists the second place Örebro Black Knights (3-1).

The Griffins are coming off a heart-breaking 29-24 to the STU Northside Bulls while Örebro was surprisingly embarrassed by the Carlstad Crusaders 40-7.

This will be the fourth game in the Friday Night Football series on Sweden’s TV4 channel. The subscription event has been highly popular and helped American football climb in the rankings among the most popular sports in this Scandinavian country.

The Limhamn Griffins enter this game after dropping three games in a row. The only team from southern Sweden in the Super Series, the Griffins had opened the year with two straight wins with new import quarterback Brian Ensminger. However, each of the ensuing losses was by a close margin and the team is looking to rebound in front of a home crowd on national television.

Running back  Timmy Göransson continues to give the Griffins stability in the backfield while receivers Aleksander Tomovic and Fredrik Karlsson lead an excellent receiving corps.

On defense, veteran Chuck Ryan anchors a solid defensive front seven.

Despite the 2-3 record, Head Coach Greg Gibson and Team Manager Carl Klimfors have had their charges playing well and they have a chance to make the playoffs having beaten the team in front of them in the standings, the Uppsala 86ers, earlier in the year.

Klimfors is is taking no chances despite

“Örebro ‘s lopsided loss to the Carlstad Crusaders last week definitely surprised me. But that doesn’t change the way we prepare for them. Each player has to take care if his job on every play. The Black Knights are still one of the top teams in the league and we have to take advantage of every opportunity if we are going to have a chance to beat them.”

The Black Knights sit second in the Swedish standings at 3-1, after a disappointing 40-7 loss to the league-leading Carlstad Crusaders last week.

Head coach Aaron Fiddler will no doubt have his troops ready to atone for that loss and with quarterback John Knox playing excellent football they should have a chance. Knox is a one-man wrecking crew. He has thrown for 366 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for a whopping 457 yards and two more touchdowns. Keep in mind that in two of those contests, the mercy rule was in place in the second half.

Fiddler is aware of how good the Griffins can play:

“It’s going to be interesting to see the size difference between our two teams. They looked really big in person and on film. Our goal has to be to get into space, and create opportunities for our defense to run and make plays. A game played between the tackles definitely plays to Limhamn’s advantage because of how much bigger and physical they are.”

However, the Black Knights running game will get a boost with the return of Finnish national team player  Veikka Lehtonen. Lehtonen was one of the keys to the Örebro offense in 2015 and is not only an outstanding straight ahead runner but is an excellent cutback threat.

Wide receiver Jimmy Palmborg is tied for the league lead with five touchdown receptions.

On defense, defensive back Alex Sundström has picked up where he left off in 2015 as one of Sweden’s top ball hawks with four interceptions in four games.

Kickoff is 6:00 PM (12 Noon EDT) and the game is being broadcast live on TV4 in Sweden (PPV). TV4 gives the first 30 days for free.

Instructions in English on how to access the TV4 broadcast.

Photo credits: Tommy Andersson, Martin Avedal, Orebro Tribune