The 3-5 Seinäjoki Crocodiles (4th in the standings) will play host to the 3-5 Porvoon Butchers, (5th) Thursday, August 8, as Finland’s Maple League heads into the home stretch.
These two teams met once before this season with the Crocodiles coming out on top, 51-40.
Seinäjoki is coming off a lopsided, record-breaking 85-55 loss to the Kuopio Steelers last week while the Butchers were walloped 62-16 by the Helsinki Wolverines.
So both teams will be looking to redeem themselves in this one.
Prior to the huge, and surprising loss, the Crocodiles had been tripped up by Kuopio 33-28 a couple of weeks ago. They then lost to the Helsinki Roosters 61-36. Seinäjoki had opened the season with a 20-7 win over the Tampere Saints but then lost to the Helsinki Wolverines 47-29. After beating the Porvoo Butchers 51-40, they lost to the Roosters 29-21 before beating the Wasa Royals 34-27.
Jonathan Baker has had a good season so far at quarterback for the Crocodiles throwing for 1,760 yards and 19 touchdowns against five interceptions. In the loss to Kuopio last week, he actually threw for 395 yards and five touchdowns with Stéphane Fortes his main target with eight catches for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Patrick McKoy-Wilson caught two passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns while running back Christian Powell also had a monster game with 30 carries for 217 yards and three touchdowns bringing his total for the year to 999 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns.. In other words, Kuopio will be seeing a lot of him tonight. Dejvion Steward leads all tacklers for Seinäjoki with 49.5.
Porvoon had defeated the Wolverines the week before the huge loss to Helsinki 34-31. They had been coming off of a 66-34 loss to the Helsinki Roosters which followed a 27-14 win over the Tampere Saints. The Butchers opened the season losing to the Wasa Royals 33-12 but rebounding the following week with a 27-20 win over the Steelers. In other words, this team has lacked consistency all year.
Quarterback Hans Fortune has thrown for 1,958 yards (244.8 yds/game) and 21 touchdowns, good for third overall in the league. Running back Dayton Winn is the fifth leading rusher in the country with 851 yards and eight touchdowns in eight games, and the fifth leading receiver having caught 51 passes for 703 yards and nine touchdowns. In fact, he leads the league in all purpose yardage with 2,258, or an average of 282.2 yards a game. In other words, opposing teams have to take him into account at all times. Mikko Seppanen has 51 receptions for 532 yards. The leading tackler for the Butchers is linebacker Kenneth Bradley who is third in the Maple League with 59 tackles.
These teams have the two worst defenses in the league in terms of both points and yardage with Seinäjoki marginally better. However, they are two of the top three against the run. So expect an aerial barrage from both quarterbacks.