Stuttgart Surge stay unbeaten with dominating road win over the Milano Seamen

The Stuttgart Surge won their ninth game in a row this past weekend when they handed the Milano Seamen a 51-18 drubbing on the road in Milan, Italy.

The Surge took charge from the opening whistle scoring four touchdowns in the first quarter and adding two and a field goal in the second to take a commanding 45-0 halftime lead.

Reilley Hennessey threw for a modest 185 yards and four touchdowns on 11 of 15 passing with wide receiver Yannick Mayr catching three of those passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Luis Geyer caught three passes for 19 yards and the other two receiving touchdowns. Hennessey who did not play in the second half due to injury, was his team’s leading rusher with three carries for 49 yards while Nicolas Khandar had 12 carries for 35 yards and Kai Hunter six for 32.

Seamen quarterback Eystin Salum completed just four of 15 passes for 49 yards and was picked off once but rushed for a game-high 101 yards and a score on 19 carries. He also had four fumbles. Running back Joc Crawford had 15 carries for 91 yards and the other Seamen score.

Stuttgart opened the scoring on their second possession after Hennessey orchestrated a six play, 71 yard drive, capping it with a one yard pass to Geyer in the end zone.

The defense continued to keep Salum and the Milano offense bottled up and with five minutes left in the quarter, Hennessey lofts a pass from the 25 yard line to Mayr again who beats his defender and scampers into the  end zone to extend the lead to 14-0.

The Surge added to the lead with just over a minute remaining in the opening period after Hennessey found a gap and raced 37 yards to the end zone leaving the score 21-0 with not much time left in the quarter.

However, Stuttgart struck again on the very next possession. Salum fumbled the ball on his own five yard line and then Hennessey connected with Geyer on a slant to boost the lead to 28-0 heading into the second stanza.

Hennessey wasted no time in the second quarter as on a second and three from the 22 yard line he stepped back and found a streaking Mayr again who simply out sprinted the coverage for his second touchdown widening the lead to 35-0 with 11 minutes still left in the first half.

Milano’s next possession was another disaster as the Stuttgart front seven was playing dominating football. On a second and 15 from his own five yard line, Salum was stripped of the ball and Surge linebacker Sasan Jelvani pounced on it in the end zone boosting the lead to 42-0 with almost 11 minutes still left in the first half.

After a pair of offsetting interceptions, one by Stuttgart backup quarterback Lars Heidrich who was in for a hobbled Hennessey, and the other by Salum on a deep ball, Stuttgart’s offense threatened again, this time from the 20. With both of their quarterbacks now out with injuries, the Surge went to Yannick Mayr at quarterback. Unable to move the ball effectively, Stuttgart settled for a 37 yard field goal to extend the lead to 45-0 going into the break.

The second half saw a totally different Stuttgart team and the Seamen took advantage. Salum guided his team from his own 30 down to the Surge 14 and then found a seam and scampered into the end zone to reduce the lead to 45-6.

The Stuttgart offense then sputtered and stuck at their own 20 yard line was forced to punt. The snap went high over the head of Lenny Krieg and the Seamen recovered in the end zone to narrow the lead to 45-12.

Late in the third, Stuttgart managed to reach the Seamen’s 17 yard line but got no further and Krieg booted a 34 yard field goal to add to the lead, 48-12.

With Mayr now acting as quarterback and backups dotting the lineup, the Surge offense stalled. Krieg kicked another field goal early in the fourth to make it 51-12.

Seamen running back Joc Crawford finally found the end zone from two yards out with nine minutes left to narrow the lead to 51-18.

With neither team able to move the ball effectively, the game went scoreless the rest of the way and Stuttgart came away with the win.

In other action, the Vienna Vikings overwhelmed the Helvetic Mercenaries 49-3 while the Madrid Bravos defeated the Hamburg Sea Devils 52-9. The Cologne Centurions improved their record to 4-5 after coming from behind to defeat the Frankfurt Galaxy 43-37 in overtime. The Paris Musketeers earned an important road victory in beating the Berlin Thunder 40-37 and the Munich Ravens rolled over the Prague Lions 47-14 in Prague to stay in playoff contention.