The Spanish National League of American Football heads into its third weekend of play with an interesting island tilt on the schedule as the Mallorca Voltors host the Zaragoza Hurricanes, Saturday, January 28.
The Voltors are coming off a solid 20-12 victory over the L’Hospitalet Pioners last week. Led by running back Victor Rodríguez’s two touchdowns, Mallorca built a 20-0 halftime lead and held off a surging Pioners squad for a win in their first game of the year. Meanwhile, Zaragoza dropped a tough 20-18 decision last week to the Valencia Firebats despite a two touchdown performance by Mexican running back Axel Israel Mayorga. In week one, the Hurricanes were turned back 13-0 by the Badalona Dracs.
Mallorca will look to Rodriguez again this week. With excellent size, he still possesses the shiftiness of a smaller back and could pose problems for the Hurricanes front seven. Young Spanish quarterback Deigo Lliteras leads an opportunistic offense that can strike quickly and take advantage of defensive miscues. The Voltors‘ special teams stepped up in the win last week, blocking a punt and recovering it for a touchdown. Defensively though, head coach Jesus Sanchez will need to get his troops ready for second half surges as they struggled in the final two quarters last week in the win over the Pioners.
Hurricanes head coach Fernando Renan Santana from Mexico will need his quarterback Luca Martinez (Iowa Wesleyan Iowa (NAIA)/Washburn University (NCAA DII)) from Brazil to get the offense going early in this game. They had to mount a comeback last week that fell short and did not score a point in their opening game against Badalona. Still, if running back Axel Israel Mayorga can find his rhythm early, Zaragoza could pull the surprise upset.
Game time is Saturday, January 28, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 1 am ET).
