Swedish Season Kicks Off This Weekend: Who Will Topple the Carlstad Crusaders?
[tps_title]PREVIEW: Svenska Amerikansk Fotbollförbundet (SAFF)[/tps_title]
[tps_header]STU Northside Bulls[/tps_header]
New head coach Johan Sedin takes over a team that had the same leader in Todd Ferguson for five years. The Bulls then watched 20 players walk away although the void was quickly filled as a number of players from the Arlanda Jets who dropped out of Sweden’s top division moved over.
A key move was the signing of 6’3″ 210 lb quarterback Isaiah Kempf from Georgetown. He will have plenty of quality receivers to throw to including Michael Sander who led the team in total yards and receptions last year along with speedy Damien Scanella and Denny John as well as lanky receivers Jesper Hermodsson and Sebastian Albinsson. The offensive line needs continuity as 11 different linemen started last year. Fredrik Persson, Jacob Carlsson and Anders Johansson were frequent starters but that issue must be settled in order for the running game, which was off and on last year, to succeed.
On defense, the linebacking group looks strong as John Kersbergen will return for another season and is joined by Emil Westrin (from the Limhamn Griffins) and Christoffer Willén. The defensive secondary has lost a few players so national team corner Anton Bengtsson will be expected to step up and lead a young group of defensive backs.
The defensive line looks thin but the trio of John Lannefors, Oscar Bengtsson and Christoffer Livebrandt will see most of the playing time.
The Bulls will battle to survive this season but with a quality quarterback in Kempf, they could sneak into the playoffs.
