Although Tychy Falcons quarterback Gabriel Losada has only played a single game in the Polish Football League after replacing the injured Jules St. Ge, he has already made his mark.
In last week’s last minute 40-37 win over the Warsaw Mets, he engineered the game-winning touchdown, tossing a perfectly placed floater into the hands of tight-end Dominik Niedziela in the corner of the end zone with seconds to spare, to effectively end the game.
Not bad for a quarterback who wasn’t sure at all he would be playing football in 2021.
Three weeks ago, St. Ge went down with a season-ending knee injury in a home game against Katowice Rebels. The following week, Tychy brought in Phoenix, Arizona native Losada, who has played in Spain with the Osos Rivas but also in France with the Cannes Iron Mask.
What a difference a couple of weeks can make.
There’s no question his Falcons call-up was last minute. He had to learn the entire playbook at the quarterback position in only a few days. But Losada felt he was coming into a good situation:
“With such little time, Coach Kolek and I have been meeting everyday to work out the mental kinks in regards to learning a new playbook.
“I feel like we have the best complete offense in the league, especially with the amount of time we had together. Every day, practice, and match, we are going to continue to improve, and that’s scary for the rest of the league if you ask me.”
The 5’11”, 190 pound, 24 year-old Losada came out with a bang in last week’s game, throwing for five touchdowns which placed him fourth in the league – one more than the quarterback he replaced. Losada may not offer the same type of versatility as St. Ge did but makes up for it in sheer grit with his Favre-esque way of slinging the ball about. Even after throwing two interceptions the young quarterback was not deterred and went on to win in that final drive.
For Losada’s second game, he will be going up against the Bydgoszcz Archers in what may turn out to be a preview of the Polish Football League final. He will be facing a different kind of beast in the Archers defense who fly around and an opposing quarterback who is tied atop the league in both rushing and passing TD’s.
Still, Losada remains confident:
“The Archers are a good team who haven’t reached their full potential yet. I feel if we can contain their QB, it’ll be a good day for the Falcons. As for their defence, I’m not worried at all. I feel we can put up 40 on anyone in the league.”