The Uppsala 86ers (1-1) head into the unfriendly confines of Tingvala IP in Karlstad, Sweden Friday night to face the defending champion and Europe #7, the Carlstad Crusaders.
The 4-0 Crusaders have opened the 2018 football season in Sweden and internationally with four straight wins. They opened the season beating the Orebro Black Knights 39-32, then continued with a 41-20 win over the Stockholm Mean Machines. Two weeks ago they defeated the Goteborg Marvels 56-21 and then last week in Oslo, Norway, they downed the Oslo Vikings 56-17.
Carlstad LB Christain Kuylenstjerna Photo: Hans Cullberg
The 86ers started the 2018 season with a win over the Black Knights beating them 26-12. Then they suffered a tough 37-17 loss to the Stockholm Mean Machines.
The last time these two teams met, in 2017, Carlstad came away with a 43-0 win.
Crusaders quarterback Philip Juhlin leads the Swedish Superserien in passing averaging 264 yards and game with an efficiency rating of 178.7. Wide receiver Robin Juhlin has caught 15 passes for 277 yards while teammate Jacob Dahre has 169 yards receiving in two games played. Philip Juhlin leads the team in rushing with running backs Viktor Toresson and Christain Forsman right behind.
The defense, led by Christain Kuylenstjerna and Mattias Eriksson allows a league best 24.3 points a game. The secondary with Julius Rucker playing corner and some safety is the stingiest in Sweden giving up 172 yards a game.
Uppsaala WR Natti Habte Photo: Moses Sh
Uppsala quarterback John Rock has thrown for 412 yards and six touchdowns in two games Isac Vikman as his favorite target with 142 yards receiving so far. Natti Habte, Stefan Galewski and Gustav Bowall are also dangerous. Australian linemen Jackson Broe and Brendan Oswin have helped bolster both the offensive and defensive lines along with Iceland’s Vidar Önundarson. Galewski is a big target. The 6’3″, 230 lb tight end from San Jose State is a sleeper .
This is already a crucial game for Uppsala in the five-team Swedish league. In an eight game season, each game now becomes vital.
Kickoff is 7:00 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.