Russian American Football Superleague Has Rivalries Weekend
[tps_title]Russia Superleague[/tps_title]
Moscow Black Storm (6) – Moscow Spartans (33)
The 2013 Russian champions Black Storm continue to survive in a life support mode, as the organizational struggles they’re faced with at the moment gave a start to the rumors that they might have to forfeit the game. Nevertheless, they managed to field a team that was once again dominant with in some areas of the game, only to have some new and inexperienced parts let them down.
Boasting one of the nation’s best and toughest defensive lines, they were able to get a lot of penetration in the trenches and stuff plenty of runs – only to have the linebackers concede big plays whenever Spartan running back Denis Pronkin managed to get to the second level. Similarly, they brought in a lot of pressure on their quarterback Ivan Goloveshkin, who was nevertheless ready for it and managed to scramble for two rushing touchdowns.
With the victory, the Spartans look to take the second playoff spot in the Volga Division behind the Knights, which they will be able to clinch in their last game against Raiders 52.
Moscow Patriots (31) – Moscow United (8)
After the disappointing loss to the Griffins at the start of their 2015 campaign, the reigning champions are getting closer and closer to the shape that allowed them to win the title 10 times to date. The game against their Superleague rival from Moscow was not an exception, as they seem to establish more and more of an offensive rhythm that allowed them to take control of the game as early as in the second quarter.
Quarterback Igor Chernolutsky was able to distribute the ball between the long and short distance throws pretty equally, which stretched the United defense enough for them to consistently find vertical openings, a tendency that their younger opponents never managed to counter.
As for the United, they came into this game with a gung-ho attitude, perhaps realizing that being aggressive was their only shot at beating their more experienced rivals. The strategy worked for a part of the game, as their blitzers were getting after Chernolutsky time and time again, but ultimately his receivers were able to produce big plays by outplaying the United defense in man-to-man coverage on a regular basis.
St. Petersburg Griffins (23) – St. Petersburg North Legion (13)
The last rivalry of the weekend was another Superleague battle for St. Petersburg. The Griffins were viewed as heavy favorites and proved it immediately, by scoring on their opening possession. However, the Legion also came into the game well-prepared, as their game plan was designed around rolling out the quarterback to negate the Griffins dominant defensive line play; this worked well at the start of the game, as they were able to get into the end zone with several mid-range passes on the very next drive.
Nevertheless, the Griffins class showed, as it only took them three more plays to cover 70 yards and regain the lead. That appeared to be way too easy for them, as the team has visibly relaxed and eased its grip, and would only go on to score 10 more point by the end of regulation – which could’ve come back to bite them, as the Legion was able to connect several long passes in the fourth quarter and get into pay dirt again.
