The regular season in the French D1 Elite Championship league comes to a close this Saturday when the Thonon Black Panthers host the La Courneuve Flash in a highly anticipated showdown.
The Flash are 9-0 entering this matchup, and they are looking to complete a perfect regular season with a win. The Black Panthers are right behind them in the standings, sitting at 8-1. Their only blemish on their record came at the hands of the Flash way back in week 1 on February 12, as they were shut out by a score of 35-0.
These teams also met three weeks ago in a quarterfinal matchup in the CEFL playoffs, where the Flash defeated the Black Panthers again, this time by a score of 45-27. So far in 2022, the Flash have clearly had the Black Panthers’ number, and Thonon will be looking to make a statement win over their rivals heading into the playoffs.
In week 1, Thonon quarterback Brett Hunchak was making his debut with the team, and struggled mightily against the stout Flash defense, finishing 8/22 for 81 yards and taking 3 sacks as the Black Panthers offense was shut out. As the season progressed, though, Hunchak was able to find his footing with his new team, leading them to eight straight wins in league play. Incredibly, he has still not thrown an interception in league play, though he was picked off late in the game by the Flash in the CEFL matchup.
The 27 points Thonon scored on the Flash was a big improvement from their 0 points in the first meeting, but it was still not enough to get the win. If the Black Panthers want a chance to pull off the upset, they will have to find a way to slow down the Flash offense, as their past performances on that front have not been good enough to stay competitive. La Courneuve combines a deadly passing attack with a strong ground game.
Flash quarterback Conor Miller, another first-year quarterback, has had an outstanding year for his new team. Miller lit up the Black Panthers for five touchdowns in the teams’ last meeting. Miller is complemented by running back Jason Bofunda, who is perhaps the top running back in the entire league, considering his absurd 9.46 yards per carry. The Flash are filled with talented players on both offense and defense, which made them a great challenge for any opponent.
It will be interesting to see if the Flash can survive one final test from the Black Panthers before the playoffs kick off.