The United Newland Crusaders (3-5) will play host to the Helsinki Roosters (3-4) Thursday, July 20 as Finland’s Maple League heads into the home stretch of the 2023 regular season.
This is the second meeting between the two teams. The Crusaders took the first one three weeks ago 29-28 in a thriller. However, Helsinki occupies fourth in the standings just ahead of the fifth place Crusaders with five games left in the 12 game season.
Helsinki is coming off of two straight wins having beaten the Wasa Royals in back-to-back games, 43-28 and 55-27. Meanwhile, the Crusaders suffered two consecutive tough losses, dropping a 38-35 decision to the league-leading and unbeaten Seinäjoki Crocodiles two weeks ago and then suffering a 45-41 loss to the Kuopio Steelers last weekend.
Watch live. Helsinki Roosters @ United Newland Crusaders, July 20, 17:30 CET (5:30 pm, 11:30 am EDT)
Crusaders quarterback Raleigh Yeldell arrived four games ago and has already made his mark averaging 210 yards passing and producing 249 yards of offense per game, both marks ranking him fourth in the Maple League. Running back Seth Rowland has rushed for 701 yards putting him second while also being the second leading receiver on the team with 413 yards on 41 catches. RJ Long has 36 receptions for 466 yards. Cedric Johnson is third with 23 catches for 344 yards and six touchdowns. In other words, Yeldell has high caliber targets.
One of the key players on the Crusaders defense is linebacker Dante Edwards who leads the team with 46 tackles including eight tackles for loss and three sacks.
For Helsinki, quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos has had an excellent season and is the Maple League’s second leading passer having thrown for 1,756 yards and 17 touchdowns. His main targets are Johannes Jauhiainen (30/338 yds/5 TDs), Santtu Vehkomäki (21/455 yds/5 TDs) and Danny Kittner (15/427 yds/3 TDs) who has only played in three games but clearly made his mark. Kittner was injured though in the win over the Royals last week and it is not known if he will play tonight. Running backs Ville Hämäläinen (76/432 yds/4 TDs) and Yusufa Lehtinen (69/417 yds/5 TDs) are the leading ground gainers for the Roosters and will see plenty of action tonight.
Defensively, Helsinki’s front seven is anchored by Maple League sack leader William Lydle along with the team’s leading tackler Taavi Aronpää (31 tackles).
This is an important game for both teams. A win by the Roosters by two points or more will give them a leg up on the Crusaders in the battle for the final playoff berth.