LIVESTREAM Swiss Semifinals: Winterthur Warriors @ Calanda Broncos, Sept. 25, 18:00 CET (6 pm, 12 noon ET)

The defending Swiss champion Calanda Broncos (7-1) will play host to the Winterthur Warriors (3-5) today in the semifinals of Switzerland’s top league, the National Liga A.

These two teams met in June with the Broncos taking a commanding 31-6 win.

Calanda rolled through the Swiss regular season suffering just one loss, losing to the Bern Grizzlies 26-21 in early July. They atoned for that with a dominating performance a month and a half later, beating the Grizzlies 35-10. Meanwhile, Winterthur enters the game on the heels of two straight losses to the Grizzlies.

The Calanda offense racked up a league-leading 299 points in 2021 while the defense allowed a league-best 106 points in eight games. The offense is led by former Georgia State (NCAA D1) quarterback Conner Manning who has receivers Severin Murk (#2) and Greg Calonego (#0) to throw to and is protected by an experienced offensive line.

The Warriors’ offense averaged just 18 points a game while the defense gave up 180 in eight games.

Winterthur’s Swiss quarterback Richard Wartmann is the key to the offense and he will likely target receivers Julia Strimer and Alexander Meier. In the backfield, running back Cedric Peter provides Wartmann with a good option in the running game.

The winner of this game moves on the Swiss Bowl where they will face either the Bern Grizzlies or Geneva Seahawks.