The red hot Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants (2-2) will put their Austrian Football League winning streak on the line when they host the undefeated Dacia Vienna Vikings (5-0), Saturday, May 22 in Graz, Austria.
The Giants will have a chance in this game to prove themselves against the best team in Austria. Meanwhile, the Vikings look to stay undefeated this season.
The Vikings will travel to eastern Austria after winning 82-7 against a the Kragujevac Wild Boars in the opening round of the Central European Football League tournament last week. The Vikings scored an eyebrow raising 12 touchdowns as they cruised to an easy victory. During the offensive onslaught, Austrian quarterback Nico Hrouda threw six touchdown passes. Expect Hrouda to play in certain spots for the Vikings today as head coach Chris Calaycay aims to develop the young quarterback behind American starter Eystin Salum. When Hrouda moves to quarterback watch for Salum to split out wide and use his speed and elusiveness in space.
Dacia Vienna Vikings @ Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants, May 22, 13:00 CET (1 pm, 07:00 am ET),
Salum commented on playing some receiver and helping develop young Nico Hrouda:
“Playing receiver is fun for me. It was part of the plan when the coaches told me they had some good young quarterbacks during the recruitment process. Nico is a calm, collected smooth operator. I am happy to be able to help in his development and believe he will be a shining star for Austrian grown talent at the quarterback position. As for our offense and the team, I believe it just adds another element we can attack defenses with and teams must prepare for. To have two imports on the field on offense whether it be Andrew or Mitch puts defenses in a major bind, because Nico is capable of running the offense at a potent level.”
No matter who is playing quarterback the Vikings running combination of Florian Wegan and Andrew Spencer has the potential to gash opposing defenses. Expect the ground game to play a role today as the Vikings will try to keep a red hot Graz offense off the field.
On defense, Leon Balogh remains the team’s best player as he’s been haunting quarterbacks all season. Balogh and the Vikings pass rush could play a huge role in this game as Graz’s offense relies heavily on quarterback Conor Miller. In the secondary, safety Benjamin Straight looks to set tone for this matchup with big hits and great coverage.
Straight on the matchup with Graz’s explosive offense:
“Graz obviously has a very decent passing game, but I think we are prepared for whatever they are going to challenge us with. We got our adjustments in and we will drive down and execute.. I feel very confident it the scheme that we are playing and at the end of the day we will just have to make plays and get the ball back to our offense. Simple as that!”
Graz heads into this week looking to show their revamped team against top level competition. After losing to the Danube Dragons 35-16 in week one, Graz turned the tables blowing out the Dragons 40-14 in their last game. One key to their recent success has been the growing connection between quarterback Conor Miller and receiver Darrell Adams. Adams currently leads the country with 538 yards and seven touchdowns.
Miller on playing a undefeated Vienna team:
“It all comes down to doing our job and executing every play. We know Coach Brandon is going to have a great gameplan and put us in a position to succeed, it’s up to us to execute. We’ve done a better job in the last two weeks, but we’re still not where we want to be and can play even better. The Vikings are the number one team in the league right now for a reason, and we are going to need to have 11 guys doing their job on every play in order to win.”
Defensively, Graz’s stars are home grown. Linebacker Thomas Schnurrer currently leads the league with 29 tackles. Lining up behind him is another Austrian league leader in defensive back Stefan Promitzer. Promitzer’s three interceptions make quarterback’s think twice about testing his coverage. The two will have to play a great game to stop the Vikings impressive offense.
Schnurrer on the Giants turnaround their season:
“We knew what we’re capable of but just couldn’t put it on the field for four quarters. I think the last two games we just got together as a team and found the fun of playing football again.”
Graz has a chance to pull off the upset against the undefeated Vikings in this one as they enter this week with a ton of momentum. Look for the Vikings to be well rested and confident after they dominated the defending Serbian champions last week.
Watch the game live here. Dacia Vienna Vikings @ Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants, May 22, 13:00 CET (1 pm, 07:00 am ET)
Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants roster
Dacia Vienna Vikings roster
