LIVESTREAM: Big6 – Amsterdam Crusaders @ Braunschweig New Yorker Lions – April 28, 6p (12p EST)
The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions open their home schedule with a Big6 matchup against Dutch champions, the Amsterdam Crusaders at Eintracht Stadion in Braunschweig, April 28.
The Lions, the number two ranked team on AFI’s Top 20 Coaches Poll enter this game as the reigning Big6/Eurobowl champions. They won the 2017 title by beating the Frankfurt Universe 55-14. It was their third straight Eurobowl crown and they are the favorites again this season, with the field of teams reduced to four.
In their very first game of 2018, the Lions defeated a La Courneuve Flash squad that had already played six games in the French league and were already battle seasoned. Quarterback Jadrian Clark completed 20 of 36 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown in the 10-6 victory. Wide receiver Niklas Romer caught 11 passes for 119 yards while Justus Holtz hauled in two for 89 including a 73 yard touchdown pass. Running back Lennies McFerren had 50 yards rushing on 17 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards.
Crusaders quarterback Emmanuel Lewis, a veteran of play in Germany having played for both the Frankfurt Universe (Galaxy) in 2015 and the Marburg Mercenaries in 2017 hopes to reverse his team’s losing trend with a win against the Lions. Amsterdam lost their opening game in the Big6 40-9 to the Frankfurt Universe. They had dropped a 38-22 decision to Germany’s Cologne Crocodiles a week earlier.