Spain: Las Rozas Black Demons stay unbeaten with historic victory while Voltors, Firebats & Camioneros score 1st wins

The Spanish National League of American Football, LNFA, wound up its second weekend of play with the lowest scoring game in the history of the LNFA and a pair of upsets.

The Las Rozas Black Demons remained unbeaten and gained some measure of revenge in defeating the defending champs, Osos Rivas, in a rematch of the Spanish championship game while the Valencia Firebats, Mallorca Voltors and Coslada Camioneros all earned their first wins of the year.

LG OLED Las Rozas Black Demons (2-0) 3 – Osos Rivas (1-1) 2

The top game of the weekend saw the defending Spanish champions, Osos Rivas, take on their title game opponents, Las Rozas Black Demons, in what turned out to be a defensive showdown. Despite plenty of offense, neither team was able to find the end zone and the final 3-2 score rewrote the history books in the LNFA.

Although Osos picked off Black Demons Canadian quarterback Theo Landers twice, once in the end zone, they were unable to take advantage. The Black Demons stalled midway through the second quarter deep in Osos Rivas territory and were forced to settle for a 23 yard field goal by André Philip Batista to make it 3-0. Osos looked to score the game’s first touchdown later in the first half after gaining possession on the Las Rozas 25 yard line following a failed fourth down attempt. But quarterback Sergio Barbero’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Black Demons defensive back Álvaro Cansinos who surrendered the safety.

The second half saw more of the same with the Black Demons getting the best chances to score, reaching the red zone twice more. Flanders was intercepted for the second time and a field goal attempt was blocked.

Coslada Camioneros (1-1) 28 – Alcobendas Cavaliers (0-1) 14

In a clash of the two newcomers to the LNFA in 2023 the Coslada Camioneros scored twice in the first half and twice in the second to down the Alcobendas Cavaliers 28-14.

Coslada quarterback Héctor Hernández opened the scoring finding receiver Ivan Garcia to take a 7-0 lead. It was the Cavaliers’ special teams that responded, blocking a Coslada punt and recovering it in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7. The Camioneros added a second touchdown when running back Juan Jose Troyana punched the ball in from the three to make it 14-7 heading into the break.

The Camioneros started the second half well as defensive back Angel Garcia picked off Cavaliers quarterback David Yu and took it all the way to the one yard line. Hernandez called his own number to boost the lead to 21-7. Garcia caught his second touchdown pass of the day from Hernandez increasing the lead to 28-7 still in the third quarter. However, Yu connected with wideout Javier Ramos to narrow the lead to 28-14 before the third period ended. The fourth saw neither offense find the end zone again and Garcia sealed the win with his second interception of the game.

Mallorca Voltors (1-0) 20 – L’Hospitalet Pioners (1-1) 12

The Mallorca Voltors opened their 2023 season by using a strong first half to defeat the host team L’Hospitalet Pioners 20-12.

Running back Victor Rodríguez led the way for the visiting islanders scoring from the eight yard line on the Voltors first possession of the game to give his team a 7-0 lead. Mallorca’s special teams then stepped up blocking a Pioners punt with Nicolás Barrientos recovering the ball in the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0. Then Rodriguez scored from six yards out late in the second quarter to give Mallorca a 20-0 lead at the half.

The Pioners mounted a comeback in the third quarter as quarterback Adrián Moreno hit wide receiver Frank Stola for a 44 yard touchdown pass on the team’s first possession to narrow the lead to 20-6. However, it wasn’t until late in the contest that L’Hospitalet would strike again as Moreno on a third and long from his own 40 found a streaking Gonzalo Bonnin as the pair combined for a 60 yard score. The ensuing onside kick attempt failed though and Mallorca secured their first win.

Valencia Firebats (1-1) 20 – Zaragoza Hurricanes (0-2) 18

The Valencia Firebats evened their record at 1-1 after defeating the hometown Zaragoza Hurricanes 20-18. Valencia grabbed an early 7-0 lead as linebacker Willem Jore-Sastre scooped up a fumble by Hurricanes quarterback Luca Martinez and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. Zaragoza answered late in the first quarter as Mexican running back Axel Israel Mayorga scored to make it 7-6. The Firebats pulled out in front 20-6 as quarterback Kenny Ramos first took the ball in on his own and then threw a touchdown pass to Roque Alarcon to increase the lead to 20-6 late in the first half.

The Hurricanes came back though as just before the break Aaron David hauled in a Martinez touchdown pass to close the gap to 20-12.

The Zaragoza defense did its job in the second half, keeping the visitors from scoring again but the offense could only muster one more touchdown as Mayorga added his second score of the game to inch closer, 20-18. The missed extra points were the difference.

Photos: Lola Morales/Roberto Benito Hernández/Jordi Dols Diez/Vicente Hair