The countdown to the Central European Football League championship final – CEFL Bowl XII – is almost over with the Swarco Raiders taking on the Kragujevac Wild Boars from Serbia at Tivoli Stadium in Innsbruck, Austria today , Saturday, June 10.
The Raiders are a European powerhouse celebrating their 25th year anniversary. They are the defending Austrian champions and three-time Eurobowl champions. Kragujevac is the reigning Serbian champions and enter the game unbeaten in the Serbian league. The Wild Boars are making their fifth trip to the CEFL final. They won the title in 2006.
To reach the final, the Raiders defeated the reigning Polish champions the Wroclaw panthers and Denmark’s defending champions, the Triangle Razorbacks.
Swarco DL/FB Jermaine Guynn fighting for yardage against Wroclaw Panthers
The Wild Boars route to the final took them through Turkey where they defeated the defending Turkish champions, the Istanbul Koç Rams. Then they disposed of Hungary’s Budapest Cowbells easily.
Swarco quarterback Sean Shelton threw for 415 yards and five touchdowns in the two games while rushing for 90 yards and another two touchdowns. Raiders running back Sandro Patzgummer is always dangerous and amassed 529 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns in those two contests including a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in each game. Swarco linebacker Fabian Seeber is now the leading tackler in the Austrian Football League and is always around the ball.
Wild Boars receivers, Strahinja Stepović and Filip Nedeljković, catching passes from different quarterbacks, are a key to the Kragujevac attack. Stepović recorded 136 yards and four touchdown in two games while Nedeljković had 113 yards and two touchdowns. New quarterback for the Wild Boars is Dalton Oliver who arrived late in May. Since then he has quarterbacked Kragujevac to three lopsided wins averaging 50 points a game in those three games. Running back Laurent Tshimanga gives the Wild Boars a dangerous ground game.
Wild Boars RB Laurent Tshimanga finds running room against the Istanbul Koç Rams
The 2016 CEFL Bowl saw Austria’s Graz Giants outlast SBB Vukovi Belgrade in a thrilling finish, scoring the winning touchdown with seconds to go. The Giants were 2016 Austrian finalists, losing in the championship game to the Raiders.
The CEFL administration did an excellent interview with Shuan Fatah, head coach of the Swarco Raiders. Coach Fatah has won a number of championship title as both a player and coach in Europe including four NFL Europe titles, as well as two German and three Austrian crowns along with two Eurobowl championships. Fatah is also head coach of the Austrian national team.
We include an excerpt from that interview here. Read the entire interview by clicking here.
Q: Did you have a chance to see the opponent and what do you think of them?
SF: We had a chance to see a couple of games and we are impressed with their overall athletic ability. If you watch them closely you can tell that they are serious about this game, and that they are spending time in the weight room. They have a very explosive offense and a stout defense, and we will have to play our best game to keep their playmaker in check.
Q: What is your team’s biggest asset in this game?
SF: I think our experience in big games can make a huge difference in this game. Our schedule is probably the most demanding schedule in all of Europe. We are playing in the AFL in Austria, in the SK CEFL and also square up against a US college in the “Battle 4 Tirol” every year. We have and will continue to play the who-is-who of Europe week in and week out. We are proud to say that “only a few walk where we walk”.
Q: Are there any individual matchups that we should watch for?
SF: I think it will be interesting to see, how our defense will handle QB Dalton Oliver and his WR corps with Stepovic, Nedeljkovic and Djuric. Also of interest will be how much damage RB Laurent Tshimanga will cause to us. On the other side, I´m really looking forward to see our “Raiders Massiv”, our offensive line perform against a very athletic Wild Boars front four.
Q: What are your expectations for CEFL Bowl XII?
SF: We are always “in it to win it”, so we will do everything in our power to win this title. I expect a tough and hard fought game that could easily go down to the wire. Hopefully we can finish this quest in the SK CEFL Championship on a high note and bring this title to the mountains of Tirol.
