The Thonon Black Panthers (4-1) will host the Saint-Ouen-L’Aumône Cougars (3-2) in the most intriguing matchup of the weekend in the French D1 Elite Championship league Saturday, April 9.
Thonon is coming off a hard-fought 12-6 victory over Spain’s Las Rozas Black Demons last week in Central European Football League play.
This is the second meeting of the year between these two teams. Thonon edged the Cougars 28-27 in an intense battle in the second week of the season.
The Black Panthers are the defending French champions and after falling 35-0 to the Flash in the opening week, they have bounced back with four straight wins, beating the Cougars 28-27 and rolling over the Vikings in week 3 by a score of 53-0. They then doubled up on the Amiens Spartiates, 42-21 before beating the Asnieres Molosses 21-6 two weeks ago.
The Cougars opened the season with a 42-0 shutout win over the Villeneuve d’Ascq Vikings but then were edged by the defending champion Thonon Black Panthers 28-27. They then beat Molosses 27-16 before losing 44-20 to the La Courneuve Flash. They bounced back with a 45-7 thumping of the Amiens Spartiates two weeks ago.
Thonon quarterback Brett Hunchak has struggled at times and has only thrown for 796 yards and seven touchdowns in five games but has yet to be intercepted. Running back Nicolas Khandar is the second leading rusher in the league with 48 carries for 402 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Black Panthers boast the third leading tackler in Benjamin Mulindahabi who has recorded 35.5 tackles in the second-best defense in Conference A.
The Cougars offense is led by quarterback Brody Hahn Muskingum (NCAA DII) who has thrown for 1,247 yards and 16 touchdowns so far this year, third best in France. His favorite target is Jeff Alexandre who has 23 receptions for 446 yards and seven touchdowns, good for third overall. Hahn has also rushed for 261 yards and five touchdowns making him the ninth leading rusher.
So, it will be the Black Panthers ground game up against the passing attack of Saint-Ouen. At stake is second place in France’s Conference A. A win of two points or more by the Cougars leapfrogs them ahead of Thonon in the standings. With five games left in the season, this could be a pivotal game for both teams.