The Austrian Football League semifinals kick off Saturday, July 16 with the number two seeded Prague Black Panthers playing host to the Dacia Vienna Vikings who finished third in the standings.
The Black Panthers finished as the second seed in the AFL standings with an 8-2 record with Vienna behind in third with a record of 7-3. Prague’s only losses came at the hands of the Vikings as well as the Danube Dragons (24-0) while Vienna lost to the Telfs Patriots,49-42, Graz Giants, 27-24 and Danube, 57-42.
This is the most intriguing matchup of the playoffs. Although Prague finished ahead of the Vikings in the standings, Vienna handed Czech Republic-based squad one of their only two losses, beating them 21-0 two months ago in Vienna. Add to this the fact that the Black Panthers have never been able to beat Vienna and you have a matchup that deserves attention.
Dacia Vienna Vikings @ Prague Black Panthers, July 16, 15.00 CET (3 pm, 09:00 am ET)
Prague finished the year boasting the stingiest defense in the AFL allowing just 16.3 points a game while the Vikings surrendered almost twice as many points per game, 31.3.
The Black Panthers will likely start Javarian Smith who has missed the last three games. He has thrown for 1,137 yards and12 touchdowns in six games. The leading receiver for Prague has been Canadian Ben von Jagow, who has 50 catches for 638 yards and eight scores.
The Vikings enter the game with the best ground attack in the AFL led by running back Davontae Jordan who has rushed for a whopping 1,789 yards and 23 touchdowns. This is double the rushing yards that the entire Prague team has produced. Quarterback Nico Hrouda has thrown for 1,957 yards and 23 touchdowns in 10 games, good for sixth in the AFL. However, he will be facing the second toughest pass defense as Prague has given up an average of 192 passing yards a game.
The storylines abound in this game but there is one key question. Can the Black Panthers defeat Vienna for the first time ever and thus advance to the Austrian Bowl, or will the Vikings continue their dominance?