The 4-4 and second place Örebro Black Knights will be looking to reach their fourth Swedish championship final in five years when they take on the third place Stockholm Mean Machines (4-4) at Kumla IP. field, Sunday, July 1 in the Swedish semifinals.
The winner of this game will play the eight-time champion Carlstad Crusaders in the Swedish final. Interestingly, the last team to win the Swedish championship before Carlstad launched their run of eight straight was the Mean Machines.
The Black Knights won both games between the two teams during the regular season, but not by much, 29-26 in the first one and 40-35 the second time around.
In terms of points for and against, not much separated the two teams during the regular season. Örebro scored 232 in eight games but gave up 263. Stockholm meanwhile scored 238 and allowed marginally less, 245.
Anders Hermodsson of the Mean Machines was the 2nd leading passer with his 1,594 yards while Örebro quarterback Raleigh Yeldell III finished 5th in overall passing yardage with 1,235 yards.
Mean Machines WR Matthew Retzlaff finished as the leading receiver in Sweden after catching six passes for 161 yards and 2 TDs in the final regular season game of the year against the Black Knights. He finished with 810 yards. Mean Machines RB Emil Knutsson led the league in rushing finishing with 754 yards.
Johnny Grandin of the Örebro Black Knights wound up 2nd in rushing with 652 yards but new running back Gennadiy Adams has bolstered an already powerful run game. In the 40-35 Örebro win over Stockholm, he ran for 222 yards and two touchdowns. The rookie from Bemidji State was 2nd in the NCAA in rushing yards per carry in 2017 with 7.9 yards per carry and 1,372 rushing and receiving yards.
The game could well come down to Örebro’s powerful running game versus Hermodsson’s ability to find Retzlaff and keep the Black Knights front seven honest using his own feet while handing off to Knutsson. In the final game between these two, Knutsson was held to 49 yards rushing while Adams rushed for 222, Yeldell 56 and Grandin 40.
Aaron Joseph, head coach of the Black Knights:
“We are very happy with our run game and there is no question it will be our focus today. Even though Johnny [Grandin] has done a great job for us this season, Gennadiy gives us even more options.”
This game could go either way.
Kickoff is 12:00 pm (6a EST) and the game is being broadcast live on CMore in Sweden (PPV) and shown in a tape delay as well.
Watch the game live (Pay per View) by clicking here. It costs 99 Swedish kronor. 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.