Sweden’s Örebro Black Knights down Oslo Vikings in Scandinavian Cup action

The Örebro Black Knights took the first step to reaching the final of the Scandinavian Cup this past weekend when they downed the hometown Oslo Vikings 21-13.

After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, the Black Knights slowly took control of the game and only surrendered another score with 30 seconds left in the game.

For Örebro, quarterback Trevor Vasey completed 17 of 37 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns with wide receiver Johannes Lindeus catching all three after hauling in 12 of the 17 completions for 155 yards. He was virtually unstoppable on the day. His brother, Jesper had three catches for 16 yards and Rasmus Brolin two for 28. Running back Kasper Wedberg had seven carries for 28 yards and Sepehr Mohammadi 10 for 25.

Oslo quarterback Jesber Cornelius Johnsen completed 20 of 39 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown with Linn Byrd catching seven for 65 yards and that one score. Frederik Fjeldseth caught six passes for 47 yards, Daniel Nygard had three for 50 and Vegard Tysse two for 26 yards. Vikings running back Rune Nielsen had seven carries for 31 yards.

Neither team was able to mount much offense in the early going until a poor Vikings punt gave Örebro the ball on the Oslo 34 yard line. However, an eight play drive which put the ball on the Oslo six yard line was snuffed out by a Mohammadi fumble. The Vikings took over and Johnsen then drove his team down to the Black Knights 25 yard line in seven plays. He connected with Byrd for a touchdown to give his team a 7-0 lead late in the first.

This is when Vasey settled his team down after Johannes Lindeus returned the kickoff to his own 48 yard line. Vasey marched the Black Knights down to the six yard line before hitting Lindeus for a touchdown to tie the game up with plenty of time left in the first half.

Both defenses stiffened and neither team was able to make much headway until the Black Knights recovered an Oslo fumble on the Vikings 28 yard line with just over a minute to go in the first half. However, back-to-back holding calls on Örebro nullified two touchdowns and moved the ball back out to the 48 yard line forcing a punt and the half ended in a 7-7 tie.

Örebro struck on their first possession of the third quarter as Vasey hit Lindeus again, this time for a 35 yard touchdown to give the Black Knights a 14-7 lead. Again, the defenses rose up and neither squad was able to move past midfield until Örebro defensive back Rikard Karlsson picked off Johansen at the Black Knights 43 yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Two possessions later, Vasey found a streaking Lindeus for a 55 yard touchdown with just under six minutes left to boost the lead to 21-7.

With just over two minutes left in the game, a poor Black Knights punt gave the Vikings the ball on the Örebro 34 yard line. Nine plays later, Jesper Jorgensen plunged into the end zone from one yard out to narrow the lead to 21-13.

Örebro recovered the onside kick attempt at the Oslo 35 yard line and in trying to find Lindeus for another touchdown Vasey was picked off at the Vikings three yard line. Johnsen completed a 15 yard pass to Fjeldseth as time ran out,

The Black Knights now await the winner of the Carlstad Crusaders-Eidsvoll 1814s game.