Spain’s 5th weekend of play filled with action

The fifth round of Spain’s Liga Nacional de Fútbol Americano a week ago saw a favorite take another step to post-season glory, left two teams still clinging on to playoff dreams in the west, whilst the east sees four teams battle to the wire in a pair of games decided by just a score.

Osos Rivas 47 – Alcobendas Cavaliers 0

Looking to the West conference first as the struggling Alcobendas faced the red-hot Osos Rivas. The game ended about as expected with the Osos shutting out Alcobendas 47-0, with Rivas’ American Gunslinger Russell Taylor showing off his arm and throwing four touchdowns to his receiving corps of Ivan Iordanov, Gary Tyler and David Giron who had two TDs on the day.

Rivas dominated going into the third quarter up 34-0, so much so, Adrian Melendaz took the helm for Rivas, relieving Taylor of his duties and scoring one more time and even adding an extra two points for good measure as the Osos move to 4-0.

Coslada Camioneros 31 – Gijon Mariners 20

With both teams having lost to the Black Panthers and Osos, both the Mariners and the Camioneros needed a win to keep their post-season dreams alive and Coslada came away with the victory 31-20.

It seemed like an easy day at the office for the Camioneros as their quarterback Ivan Lopez threw for four touchdowns by the end of Q3 with American receivers, Mason Tyler and Ethan Fischler catching one a piece  while Ivan Garcia hauled in a pair putting the score at 28-0 with only Q4 left.

Though it seemed as though all hope was lost for Gijon, the Mariners turned on the jets in the final quarter with three successive touchdowns from Will Alexander through the air and Jaiver Castanon and Alejandro Herrero on the ground.

With a Superbowl 51-esque comeback staring them dead in the face, the Camioneros rallied to get themselves another three points by way of Ivan Garcia to lock a W up for Coslada and keep their playoff hopes alive.

L’Hospitalet Pioneers 21 – Zaragoza Hurricanes 19

The first of the East conference games saw L’Hospitalet pick up a pivotal victory over Zaragoza in a game that went down to the game’s final play.

First blood was drawn by Luis Sanchez who caught a pass from Zaragoza QB, Edgar Ulloa with the extra point being no good, the Pioneers came back with their pair of brothers from Mexico as Alex Garcia Rosado put up a pass to his sibling Luis Enrique Garcia Rosado to level the score but the extra point gods were smiling on the Pioners as it was good and they went ahead 7-6.

Aaron David was next on the board to catch a TD from Ulloa to keep the Hurricanes alive at 12-7, but another extra point fail kept Zaragoza from increasing their lead. L’Hospitalet returned fire as Garcia threw another TD this time to Dano Belso taking the score to 14-12.

A couple of fumbles went the way of the Hurricanes allowing them to take the lead again with Miguel Angel Lopez making the game 19-14 in the final quarter. L’Hospitalet did not want to see their victory dreams dashed so Garcia found the hands of Fredy Lopez to take the game back from Zaragoza and make the score 21-19.

With time ticking away, the Hurricanes got into field-goal range but were not able to hit paydirt as another unsuccessful kick relegated Zaragoza to a 21-19 loss against a tough Pioners side.

Mallorca Volters 26 – Barcelona Pagesos 25

Only one point was the difference in arguably the most exciting matchup of a weekend filled with comebacks as Mallorca won their third game over Barcelona, pushing themselves closer to the playoffs.

In even game until the end started with Barcelona and Luis Iturralde breaking off a 60-yard run en route to their first touchdown but missing the extra point in a move that retrospectively must be painful for Barcelona fans.

The Volters struck back with a Victor Rodriguez rushing TD and an extra point from Calum Davidson made the game 7-6. Q2 saw Barcelona respond with a Genaro Alfosin rushing TD. Then Britain’s own Davidson booted one through the uprights for Mallorca taking the game 12-10 before the half.

The third quarter started hot with another Volters TD run from Rodriguez, before opting for a 2-point-conversion that saw Zahir Wilder throw the ball to Davidson to make the game 18-12 for Mallorca.

Barcelona were not going to let Mallorca win in their backyard that easily as Joshua Green ran in another score for Barcelona and an extra point went the way of the Pagesos making it 19-18. But the ever-changing lead swung back for the Volters as Davidson and Wilder combined to put another TD on the board with an extra two points added on for good measure making the game 26-19.

The man who started the scoring off, Luis Iturralde, scored another touchdown for Barcelona and in a daring move, Barcelona went for two, only to fall short and Mallorca escaped with a narrow win.