LIVESTREAM France, Semifinals: Saint-ouen Cougars @ Catalans Grizzlys, June 19, 13:00 CET (1 pm, 07:00 am ET)

| American Football | 06/19/2022

The Saint-ouen l’aumône Cougars will travel to Perpignan in the south of France to take on the Catalans Grizzlys on Sunday, June 19 as the French D1 Elite Championship semifinal round winds up. These teams will face off in a do-or-die contest with the winner set to take on the La Courneuve Flash next week.

At 7-3, the Grizzlys were the clear-cut, second best team in Conference B behind the Marseille Blue Stars, who handed them two of their three losses.

The team is led by star quarterback Jake Purichia, a 26-year-old out of the University of Indianapolis. Purichia led the league in passing yards and touchdowns in the regular season with 2,684 and 34, respectively, in 10 games. The Grizzlys also boast a dynamic duo of the top two receivers in the league in terms of receiving yards. Idriss Ramky leads the way with 1,066 yards, while Sean Boswell has 930. Boswell has the upper hand in terms of receiving touchdowns, leading the league with 16, while Ramky had 12 in the regular season. Aymerick Guillemaud is another threat in the passing game, ranking 9th in the league in receiving yards with 539. The Grizzlys ground game is not something to overlook either, as running back Ozny Adramann ranks sixth in the league in rushing yards with 475. Catalans has shown their offensive prowess all throughout the regular season, though the defense is not of the same caliber.

Saint-ouen snuck into the playoffs with a record of 5-5, but they should not be counted out of any playoff matchup. The Cougars are quarterbacked by Brody Hahn, out of Ohio Northern University who is in his first season in France. Hahn has had an outstanding debut season with the Cougars, as the dual-threat quarterback ranks third in the league in passing yards with 2,312 and fifth in rushing yards with 569. He has accounted for 36 total touchdowns for the Cougars as well.

Jeff Alexandre is Hahn’s top target, ranking fourth in the league in receiving yards with 713, while Evans Sodatonou and Romain Bain are also viable receiving options. The Cougars do not have a traditional ground game apart from scrambles and designed runs from Hahn. In order to pull off the upset, Hahn will have to outduel Purichia in a battle of two of the top quarterbacks in the league, while the Cougars defense will need to play cohesively to slow down the Catalans aerial attack.

This game should be an exciting, high-scoring battle.

Watch the game live here. Saint-ouen Cougars @ Catalans Grizzlys, June 19, 13:00 CET (1 pm, 07:00 am ET)

A current student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carter played football in high school and has been a lifelong avid football fan.