NORTH DIVISION RIVALS SET FOR TITANIC THIRD MEETING
In what is fast becoming one of the rivalries in the European League of Football, the Rhein Fire and Nordic Storm will meet for a third time in just six weeks as the road to Stuttgart runs through Copenhagen.
Nordic, the ELF’s newcomer for 2025, had to wait until Week 8 of the regular season to face their biggest challenge, and proved that their unbeaten record to that point might be legitimate after coming from behind to win 25-24 on home soil. On Sunday, however, in the final week of the schedule, the two sides met again and, this time, the tables were turned as a resurgent Fire team — who could have, somewhat inconceivably, missed the playoffs with a defeat — ran out 27-19 winners to not only secure the final Wildcard spot, but also help demote their opponents to the fourth seed, and ensure another meeting between the two.
In truth, the showdown was already on the cards once the Vienna Vikings defeated Paris 35-29 in a dramatic game on Saturday evening, but that mattered little to the majority of the 10,163 fans that filled the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena 24 hours later and bayed for the Fire to avenge their defeat in Denmark.
Anyone who thought either team would hold back was quickly proven wrong. No one of note was spared from the starting lineups as Nordic attempted to cling to the third seed. Led by former Fire quarterback Jadrian Clark, the Storm came close to scoring twice in the first quarter but, after their kicking woes continued as Jakob Niemann Green missed a 32-yard field goal, they also failed on a fourth attempt just short of the Fire end zone when Jason Chikere was able to make a decisive deflection of Clark’s pass to Adria Botella Moreno.
The first quarter ended without points — and with only seven offensive plays from Rhein Fire — but the second provided everything the fans could have wished for offensively. Clark put the first score on the board with a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Simon Føns, but the extra point failed, allowing the Fire to take the lead when quarterback Chad Jeffries found wide receiver Harlan Kwofie in the corner of the endzone, although the German was required to make a spectacular catch to ensure the score before Sebastien van Santen could convert the extra point.
The Storm responded with a long offensive streak in the second quarter, as 17 plays consumed roughly nine minutes and 92 yards, despite three penalties of their own. The final pass led to an eight-yard touchdown but, again, the subsequent two-point conversion failed, and the slim lead last just one play as Rhein running back Jonathan Scott caught a pass down the left side and ran 60 yards into the end zone. A touchdown for Fire, an extra point for Van Santen, and the lead was 14-12 — despite a continuing dearth of Rhein offensive plays — at half-time.
The third quarter proved to be the decisive factor, as Scott ran for his second touchdown of the game, this time from two yards out, and van Santen kicked a 46-yard field goal to put the Fire up 24-12, before defensive back Tony Anderson snuffed out the Storm by both intercepting a Clark pass and recovering a fumble for the German side.
To their credit, and showing the sort of resilience that had led to a 10-1 record prior to the meeting in Duisburg, the Storm fought back and, shortly before the end of the third quarter, Clark again narrowed the gap with a touchdown toss to Føns from 28 yards. The Scandinavians continued to shoot themselves in the foot, however, as the two-point conversion failed again and, when a 41-yard field goal from van Santen split the uprights, the Fire were able to bid farewell to the home crowd with the scent of victory in their nostrils.
“The incredible noise and support of the Fire fans is on the minds of Nordic Storm now,” assistant head coach Fred Armstrong grinned. “We need every fan there next weekend. Please come to Denmark again — we can compete there!”
For hero of the hour Scott, next weekend’s clash is about more than being able to compete, and the American is confident that his side can prevail again.
“We gotta play every game 100 percent — if you slow down, that’s when injuries come, risk comes — so we had to pull it up and just go 100 percent as always,” he told ProSieben of the Week 14 meeting, “[Next week]’s gonna be a tough match, but we know that we’re gonna have a lot of our crowd on there, so we are confident about it. Everybody is united right now. We are like a brotherhood, and that makes the greatest teams. We’re gonna win that game for sure!”
Victory on the road at Gladsaxe Stadium would move the Fire one step closer to a potential three-peat and, despite the calibre of opposition that stands in their way at the semi-final stage, few would bet against Scott’s prediction taking on Joe Namath proportions as Rhein continue their late season renaissance.