Matchups in Sweden as Superserien heads into season midpoint
The Swedish Superserien heads into its third weekend of play this Friday marking the midway point of the season as the Carlstad Crusaders head to Uppsala for a Friday night clash against the Uppsala 86ers. In the other game, the Örebro Black Knights will play host to the defending champion and unbeaten Stockholm Mean Machines on Saturday, September 5.
Friday, September 4, Carlstad Crusaders (1-1) @ Uppsala 86ers (0-2)
The winless Uppsala 86ers will face the 1-1 Carlstad Crusaders in their second straight Friday night home game looking to earn their first W of the season.
If their starting quarterback, Olle Hesselgren, is not healthy, the 86ers will be in tough against a Crusaders squad that is beginning to gel. In the two games the 86ers have played so far, the offense has managed to generate just 207 total yards. Hesselgren left the first game against the Black Knights at half time after throwing for 58 yards and a touchdown. They have scored only one touchdown and were outscored in the second game 41-0 by the Stockholm Mean Machines. Still, the 86ers rushed for 94 yards against Stockholm and could pose a threat if Carlstad takes them too lightly.
Meanwhile, after losing their quarterback Danny Farley to a back injury just before the opening game against Stockholm, the Crusaders dropped a tight game to the Mean Machines but with Farley back in the lineup rebounded to beat the Black Knights. Still, in two games they have generated only 289 yards of offense, 250 of those in the air. Farley played in the second half of the game against the Black Knights, throwing for 86 yards and a touchdown. Alf Ransjo, who started his second game has acquitted himself well and has thrown for a total of 164 yards and three touchdowns, 128 in the first game and 36 in the second. However, the ground game will need to pick up the pace against an Uppsala front seven led by ferocious linebacker Josh Akena.
Saturday, September 5, Stockholm Mean Machines (2-0) @ Örebro Black Knights (1-1)
The Örebro Black Knights have faced a lot of adversity already this season losing quarterback Jake Sisson to an injury. The team signed British quarterback Dammy Agababiaka who played for the London Olympians but still the Black Knights struggled offensively last week in the loss to the Carlstad Crusaders gaining only 72 total yards with Agbabiaka throwing for just 19 yards and three interceptions. However, with another week to learn the offense and get in sync with his receivers, he will likely mesh better with the offense in this game.
The Mean Machines offense was humming in the win over Uppsala as they amassed 398 yards on the day, boosting their total over two games to 625 yards including 382 yards passing. Stockholm’s starting quarterback Tim Morovick has arrived after missing the first game and threw for 227 yards against the 86ers despite having not played a full game in two years. His very capable backup, Jan Weinreich threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Carlstad and is ready to step in should anything happen to Morovick. Morovick has proven to be the biggest rushing threat for Stockholm and gained 92 yards in his first game. This week he will be facing a much tougher defense though.
Defensively Stockholm has played excellent football so far this season. Through two games their defense has only given up jsut 257 yards in offense, 12 points and has created three turnovers.
