With the regular season over and the playoffs coming up in Italy’s Division I, a new rushing leader appeared as Firenzi Guelfi QB Tony Dawson jumped into first to finish the season as the top rusher in Italy.
The Milano Rhinos, and Lazio Ducks have four total representatives in the four categories while the Milano Seamen, Parma Panthers and Firenze Guelfi have three each. The Ancona Dolphins, Bolzano Giants and Bergamo Lions all finished the year with one each.
The Milano Seamen finished as the league leader with a 10-0 record and with the best offense (431 points) and best defense (103 points allowed) in Italy. The Seamen are followed in the standings by the 8-2 Parma Panthers, 8-2 Bolzano Giants and the Lazio Ducks who ended with a 5-5 record and in fourth. The playoffs get underway on June 17.
Passing
Lazio Ducks QB Hans Fortune threw for 264 yards against the Bergamo Lions to finish the year as the top passing quarterback in Italy in terms of yardage with 2,503 yards and 28 TDs. Luke Zahradka from the Milano Seamen wound up 2nd with his 2,385 and league-best 40 TDs. Milano Rhinos QB Kevin Ellison finished 3rd with 2,066 yards while Tommasso Monardi of the Parma Panthers is 4th. He has thrown for 2,073 yards and 24 TDs. Firenzi Guelfi QB Tony Dawson held onto 5th spot 1,432 yards.
Rushing
Firenzi Guelfi QB Tony Dawson rushed for 202 yards in his final regulars season game against Torino to finish the year as the top rusher in Italy with 875 yards. Parma Panthers RB Alessandro Malpeli Avali stayed in 2nd with 792 yards and 10 TDs. Lazio Ducks RB Mike Gentili finished the year in 3rd in rushing yardage with 780 yards and 11 TDs while Nate Morris of the Bergamo Lions jumped up into 4th with 573. Milano Rhinos QB Kevin Ellison has slid down to 5th and has rushed for 534 yards and 7 TDs.
Receiving
As he did in Germany, Milano Seamen WR Xavier Mitchell wound up as the top receiver in the league. He finished with 946 yards and also a league-best 18 TD receptions.Kris Durham of the Parma Panthers finished the year with 816 yards, good for 2nd. Lazio Ducks WR Paolo Biancalana dropped down to 3rd ending with 815 yards and 9 TDs. Bolzano’s Mark Simone has climbed another spot to finish 4th with 800 yards after a 133 yard performance in the final game of the season against the Ancona Dolphins. Milano Rhinos WR Giacomo Bonanno had 93 yards receiving in the last game of the year against Parma to finish in 5th spot with 718 yards.
Tackles
Milano Rhinos Matt Conroy had 5 tackles against the Parma Panthers to finish as the leading tackler in Italy with 63. Ancona Dolphins linebacker, Nikolas Suppa has moved up to 2nd with 55.5 tackles. Milano Seamen LB Kevin Khay has moved up to 3rd and ended up with 53 tackles. The Firenzi Guelfi defense has relied heavily on injured LB Nicholas Holshee and he finished as the 4th leading tackler despite missing 4 games due to injury. Herbert Gamboa, LB for the Lazio Ducks wound up in 5th overall with 47.5 tackles after a 10.5 tackle performance in the season’s final game against the Bergamo Lions.