The French Federation of American Football, FFFA playoffs took an unexpected turn this past weekend when the underdog Saint-Ouen L’Aumône Cougars knocked off the heavily favored and previously undefeated Asnieres Molosses 24-6 to advance to the French championship game for the first time since 2016.
This was also the first time the Cougars had beaten Asnieres in the two years the Molosses have been in the top league in France.They lost both games earlier this year to the Molosses, 20-7 and 32-7. Add to that the fact that the Molosses had not lost a game all year. So this was a little unexpected. And it could not have come at a better time as head coach and general manager Xavier Mas is leaving the team after 20 years.
Running back Isaac Amoako was the main architect of the victory scoring two touchdowns, one on a pass from Luke Casey and the other on the ground. Defensive back Maxime Roger scored on a 45 yard interception return while Antoine Droissart kicked a field goal and all three extra points.
For the Molosses, quarterback Camile Thouary was held to 70 yards passing while Joel Fourn scored the lone touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
The Cougars did to Asnieres what Asnieres has been doing all year to teams. Used a stifling defense and an opportunistic offense. Saint-Ouen rolled out to a 24-0 fourth quarter lead before allowing the Molosses to score.
Saint-Ouen took a 10-0 lead into the break on one of Amoako’s touchdowns, a 29 yard reception and Droissart’s field goal. They added two more touchdowns in the decisive third quarter with Roger picking off a Thouary pass and then Amoako bulling his way into the end zone. Meanwhile, the defense played lights out football for three quarters.
The Cougars will now face the Thonon Black Panthers in the French final. Thonon defeated the Amiens Spartiates 22-7 in the other semifinal.