LIVE STREAM: Swedish Semi-Final – Stockholm Mean Machines v. Örebro Black Knights, July 1 @ 5p CEST (11a EDT)
The Stockholm Mean Machines head into the unfriendly confines of Behrn Arena in Örebro Saturday to take on the Örebro Black Knights in the second semifinal in Sweden’s Superserien.
The 8-2 Black Knights finished second in the league in 2017 and dominated the third place 6-4 Mean Machines in both games they played against them by a combined score of 98-6. However, those games were back in April and Stockholm is a far better team entering the playoffs than they were early in the year.
Stockholm quarterback Anders Hermodsson threw for 1,751 yards and 18 touchdowns, good for second in Sweden but Örebro‘s Corbin Lawler was right behind him in third with 1,396 yards and 20 touchdown passes. Michael Sander of the Mean Machines was the third top receiver despite missing two games with 665 yards. Örebro’s Jonatan Gihl finished fifth in receiving yards with 468.
PHOTO: ANDREAS LUNDGREN
The ground game could well be the difference. As a team, Örebro rushed for 1,401 yards and 20 touchdowns with running backs Kasper Wedberg (621 yards, 11 TDs) and Marcus Hudritsch (517, 4) leading the way. Stockholm rushed for less than half that, 620 yards. Erik Säving was the leading rusher for the Mean Machines with 304 yards rushing while Hermodsson had 165 yards although he scored eight rushing touchdowns.
Orebro WR Johan Stal avoiding a tackle against Stockholm defender
Defensively, Örebro has an edge allowing 12 points per game while the Mean Machines gave up 25. Stockholm’s Max Lindvall, was the 5th leading tackler in Sweden with 40 while Black Knights linebacker Filip Jonsson recorded 32 total tackles. Örebro linebackers Eric and Josh Murphy are very quick while safety Danny Wynne covers a lot of ground in the secondary. Wynne is also a dangerous kick returner and creates problems as he constantly gives the Black Knights offense short fields to work with.
Örebro head coach Aaron Fiddler:
“I think it will be a good matchup. We need our special teams to outplay them and we need our defense to make some big plays for us.”
LIVE STREAM: Swedish Semi-Final – Stockholm Mean Machines v. Örebro Black Knights, July 1 @ 5p CEST (11a EDT)
Watch the game live here. Simply login or register for free.
