On Saturday, the Amiens Spartiates (0-3) will travel to Thonon-les-Baines in eastern France to take on the unbeaten Thonon Black Panthers (3-0) in a FFFA Conference A battle.
The Black Panthers have been one of the premiere teams of the French league for a while, and they have had another strong season in 2023. With a record of 3-0, they sit at the top of their conference alongside their rivals in the La Courneuve Flash. Every one of their wins this season has been one sided, as their smallest margin of victory has been 24 points. Their most recent outing took place on February 25th, when they picked up an easy victory over Asnières-sur-seine Molosses by a score of 35-6. Thonon jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime, thanks to a pair of touchdowns from running back Nicolas Khandar, and did not look back. Their quarterback this season is Jose Tabora Jr, an American in his second season in Europe after spending 2022 with the Pforzheim Wilddogs in Germany. He has performed admirably so far this season and will look at this matchup as another chance to build chemistry with his teammates.
On the other side, the Spartiates have not had an ideal start to their season, as they come into this game at 0-3. Their last game was a road contest at the La Courneuve Flash, in which they were pounded by a score of 64-0. Their first two games were much closer, as they lost in week 1 to the Tours Pionniers by four points and in week 2 to Molosses by 11 points. They are led by first-year quarterback Joe Newman, an American who played collegiately at the Division I FCS level with the Wofford Terriers. Newman and the offense will look to put some points on the board this week against another solid defense in the Black Panthers.
In a matchup between one of the best teams in the league and one of the worst, this game is not expected to be close, especially considering the Black Panthers will have home field advantage. We shall see if Amiens can put up a fight.