The Swarco Raiders rolled to a 35-0 victory over Danish champions the Triangle Razorbacks this past weekend in the second round of Central European Football League West play in Innsbruck, Austria.
The Razorbacks surprised Swarco in the first half, putting up a fight, and escaping down only 7-0 at halftime.
Then Raiders head coach Shuan Fatah showed his team his displeasure and the second half looked dramatically different.
Receiver Sandro Platzgummer was magnificent scoring four touchdowns, three on pass receptions and the fourth on a 97 yard punt return. Wide receiver Filip Vlajic caught a touchdown pass while Thomas Pichlmann kicked all five extra points. Quarterback Sean Shelton threw the four touchdown passes.
The Raiders struggled through a mistake-filled first half coughing up two fumbles with Platzgummer’s first touchdown on a pass from Shelton the only bright light.
Fatah’s halftime tongue lashing had its effect as a different Swarco team took the field in the third quarter. An end zone interception by Patrick Pilger started the ball rolling and the Raiders took full control with Shelton finding Platzgummer twice more in the third quarter. With the Razorbacks picked off again, Shelton went right back to work and this time threw a touchdown pass to Vlajic giving Swarco a 28-0 lead going into the final quarter.
Then Platzgummer added the finishing touch, a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown, capping an unforgettable night for him and the Raiders.
Razorbacks wide receiver Oliver Holmlund, while not finding the end zone, caused problems for Swarco the entire game.
Shuan Fatah:
“Number 12 for the Razorbacks, Oliver Holmlund played outstanding football. We put our best two guys on him and he still kept us worried. We did not get a grip for two quarters. We were very surprised at how the Razorbacks played here as they countered so well. Fortunately, we got the turn in the second half. In the third quarter, everything went smoothly and then the team calmed down.”
Photo credit: Markus Stieg 3, Goran Milosavljevic 2, Bernhard Hörtnagl 1