The Calanda Broncos will travel to Winterthur, Switzerland to face the Winterthur Warriors Saturday, September 26 as the Swiss “post COVID-19 lockdown friendly” season rolls into its sixth round.
Last week in Chur, Calanda downed the Warriors 34-3.
The Warriors and Broncos have both played and beaten the St. Gallen Bears. The Warriors blanked St. Gallen 48-0 and then beat them 31-15. Meanwhile Calanda opened the season by defeating the Bears 47-7 and then downed them 28-6. These two teams faced each other twice in 2019 with Calanda winning both games, 36-14 and 23-20.
Calanda Broncos @ Winterthur Warriors, Sept. 26, 18:00 CET (12:00 ET)
This will be the sixth weekend of play after the the Swiss American Football Federation, SAFV, teams voted for a fall playing schedule for the seven teams who chose to participate.
The teams are divided into two regional groups, East and West, basically to cut down on travel costs. Each team in the West group will play a total of six games while in the East with only three teams, each will play four games. The season ends on September 20.
The Broncos and Bears play in the East group along with the Winterthur Warriors. Initially the Argovia Pirates were included in this group but have since dropped out. One of the critical “gentlemen’s rules” for the season to be able to be played was that all the games would be played without import players. The only non-Swiss players allowed will be European players already on the roster and non-Swiss residents who have lived in the country for five continuous years.
In last week’s win over Winterthur, Calanda’s head coach and now also starting quarterback, 44 year old Geoff Buffum put on an impressive showing. He completed 17 of 22 passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns. Lukas Lütscher was his main target catching 8 passes for 101 yards and three of those touchdowns while Severin Murk caught five for 52 and Adrian Suenderhauf hauled in three for 31. Levin Berger caught the other touchdown pass on a 13 yard completion. Running back Tino Muggwyler led the team in rushing with 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Winterthur enters the game with veteran Richard Wartmann at quarterback while Leon Simioni will start at running back. Wartmann’s main target is wide receiver Yannick Bünzli while running back Cédric Peter is another threat catching the football along with Jeff Wissekerke.
Watch the game live here. Calanda Broncos @ Winterthur Warriors, Sept. 26, 18:00 CET (12:00 ET)