The 3-3 Örebro Black Knights will play host to the Göteborg Marvels (1-4) at Kumla IP in Örebro Friday June 1 in the Swedish Superserien.
Both teams are coming off of disappointing losses. Orebro were manhandled by the Carlstad Crusaders last week 64-25 while the Marvels were beaten 45-27 by the Stockholm Mean Machines.
The last time these two teams met a month ago, the Black Knights came from behind in the third quarter to defeat Goteborg 31-27. In that game, Örebro running back Johnny Grandin rushed for 249 yards and three touchdowns.
Orebro sits second in the Swedish Superserien standings with two games left in the regular season and a win would secure home field advantage in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Marvels are in a battle with the Uppsala 86ers for the fourth and final playoff berth. Göteborg has three games remaining and needs to win two of the three to be certain.
Örebro RB Johnny Grandin Photo: Jonas Domfors
The Black Knights offense leads the league in rushing averaging 164.2 yards a game while defensively Orebro is the best against the run allowing 84.2. This is a problem for Göteborg who have the worst defense against the run giving up 185 yards a game.
Örebro quarterback Raleigh Yeldell III missed a couple of games early in the season with a foot injury but has still thrown for an average of 196 yards a game. The Marvels quarterback situation is still in flux with starter Jonathan Anderson often being replaced by running back Gerard Johnson during games. As a result, Johnson is the fifth leading rusher in Sweden and the fifth leading passer.
Grandin is now the second leading rusher in Sweden with 500 yards, averaging a league-best 6.7 yards a carry.
Marvels Alpha Jalloh battling for yards Photo: Moses Sh
The wildcard factor in this game is Marvels defensive back/kick returner/receiver Alpha Jalloh. In the first game, he had a 90 yard kickoff return touchdown and gained 160 all purpose yards. But he also had seven tackles, one fumble recovery and an interception.
Örebro wide receiver Tomas Jacobsen has caught 30 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Black Knights. Teammate Johannes Lindeus has 379 yards receiving on only 16 receptions. Oscar Wahlberg has hauled in 21 passes for 311 yards for the Marvels with Edvin Almeida Taborda right behind with 284 yards receiving. The third leading receiver for Goteborg is Jalloh with 236 yards on 12 catches.
Watch the game live here.
Kickoff is 6:00 pm (1p EST) and the game is being broadcast live on CMore in Sweden (PPV) and shown in a tape delay at 10:20 pm on TV4.
Watch the game live (Pay per View) by clicking here. The broadcast is “semi geo-restricted”. A Swedish credit/bank card is necessary. Click on the button that says “Standard Sport”. Then fill in your email address, name and password and click Skapa konto, Open account. Add your credit card number. You can choose two weeks for free “Prova 2 veckor gratis” or you can choose to watch a single game. The game costs 99 Swedish kronor, or about $11 while a subscription is 199 kronor per month.