The Prague Black Panthers (5-4) will play host to the Graz Giants (8-1) Saturday, June 15 in a key showdown in the Austrian Football League’s final regular season round of play.
These two teams met in the opening weekend of play this year with Graz coming out on top 15-7 at home in Austria.
Prague is coming off two straight wins after beating the Tirol Raiders 29-7 and Mödling Rangers 33-0. They had opened the year with two straight losses,15-7 to the Giants and 28-22 to the Vienna Vikings, but then Prague won three in a row beating the Raiders 21-0, the Telfs Patriots 83-0 and finally the Salzburg Ducks 34-7. However, they then lost back to back games to the Danube Dragons, 17-14 and 43-39.
Watch live. Graz Giants @ Prague Black Panthers, June 15, 15:00 CET (3 pm, 9 am EDT)
The Giants took their most important win of the year last week when they knocked off the previously unbeaten Vienna Vikings 14-13. They atoned for an earlier 35-3 loss to Vienna. Graz had opened the season with five straight wins beating Prague 15-7, the Rangers 13-0, the Ducks 20-17, the Raiders 49-21 and Danube Dragons 28-7 before the loss. They then ripped off three more wins whipping the Telfs Patriots 64-0 and 47-3 before the win over Vienna.
For the Black Panthers, their offense is led through Tyler Jarnagin. The Prague signal caller currently sits fourth in the AFL for both passing yards (1.030) and third in passing touchdowns (15) off of his 97 completions on the year. He has thrown just three picks.
For Graz, Nicolas Visser has been excellent completing 116 of 171 passes for 1,253 yards and 16 touchdowns.
While the game will have no bearing on the standings, both teams will be looking for momentum with the playoffs up next.