In a clash of the unbeatens, the 1-0 Bialystok Lowlanders will take on the hometown Bydgoszcz Archers (1-0), Saturday, September 19 as Poland’s Liga Futbolu Amerykańskiego, LFA, rolls into its third weekend of play in this shortened 2020 season.
Both teams come into this game undefeated and both teams will have new quarterbacks for this game.
The Archers enter this game in some disarray after losing their starting quarterback Luke Zetazate who has stepped away. His replacement is Dustin Hawke Willingham who has led both the Oslo Vikings (Norway) and Bolzano Giants (Italy) to the playoffs and has been Team USA’s quarterback.
Bialystok Lowlanders @ Bydgoszcz Archers, Sept. 19, 17:20 CET (11:20 CET)
Meanwhile, Bialystok’s quarterback, Jon Mullin, has also departed and been replaced by Brandon Gwinner who is fresh off of leading his team, the Wasa Royals, to the Finnish semifinals. In Gwinner’s six games with the Royals, he threw for 732 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 364 yards and another eight touchdowns. He topped the Maple League in total offense generating an average of 219.2 yards a game while coming second in overall scoring with 52 points.
Bydgoszcz’s (pronounced Bid-goshtz) opening game win, 17-7, was against the winless Warsaw Mets, but the score should have been higher. They fumbled the ball once which led to an immediate touchdown and had a ball picked off on the goalline, preventing another touchdown. Zetazate threw two first half touchdown passes, one to Paweł Fabich and the other to Mikołaj Obrebski while Kornel Witkowski kicked a 34 yard field goal. Other standouts for Bydgoszcz were French running back Meril Zero and free safety Cezary Szczerba.
The Archers have also added Finnish championship winning linebacker Kadel King of the Kuopio Steelers. King spent the 2019 season with the Frankfurt Universe of the German Football League. King’s credentials are impressive. He was the second leading tackler in Finland in the shortened, five-game season with 29 tackles, and in Frankfurt he led the team with 75 tackles and 20 tackles for loss.
Meanwhile Bialystok looked impressive in the 38-14 win over the Silesia Rebels in their opening game of the season. Running back Glen Toonga led the way with a monster performance, rushing for 254 yards and four touchdowns as the Rebels had no answer. Rafał Królewski scored the other two touchdowns for Bialystok, both pass receptions and one a 57 yarder.
In addition to Gwinner, the Lowlanders have also added defensive back Tommy Kaczocha from the Finnish title winning Kuopio Steelers. Kaczocha was the fifth leading tackler on the Steelers from his defensive back position and snagged three interceptions.
Both teams have made key roster moves which will make this game interesting. With King playing linebacker, the Archers may be able to keep Toonga in check. Still, the edge goes to the Lowlanders.
Watch the game live here on AFI.tv. Bialystok Lowlanders @ Bydgoszcz Archers, Sept. 19, 17:20 CET (11:20 CET)
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Bydgoszcz Archers roster
Bialystok Lowlanders roster
