TGS — AFLE WK15: WROCLAW STUN RHEIN, GET VIENNA REMATCH
Panthers Wrocław will face the Vienna Vikings in the inaugural AFLE Gold Bowl after producing a remarkable late comeback to eliminate Rhein Fire 41–40 in Oberhausen.
Wrocław overturned a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit after Rhein had scored 26 unanswered points, reversing the Panthers’ 48–7 defeat at the same venue during the regular season, and will now return to Germany to face Vienna in the season finale at Rhein’s usual home venue.
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Panthers Wrocław 41 @ 40 Rhein Fire
Jameson Wang accounted for six touchdowns and Michael Harley Jr caught 21 passes as Wrocław recovered from surrendering an early advantage to win one of the AFLE season’s most dramatic games.
The Panthers scored on their opening possession when Wang found Juan Flores-Calderon for a 60-yard touchdown. A three-yard pass to Harley doubled the lead before Rhein answered through Kenji Bahar’s six-yard connection with Harlan Kwofie, but Wang threw his third touchdown of the first quarter to Dawid Brzozowski from 23 yards, with a missed extra point leaving Wrocław 20–7 ahead.
Fire reduced the deficit through Tim Sauerland early in the second period, only for Wang to respond with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bartosz Woch. Bahar’s 49-yard strike to Jannik Loercks then brought Rhein within one score at the interval and began a sequence in which the home side scored 26 consecutive points after the break.
Kwofie’s second touchdown, from 27 yards, gave Fire their first lead before Bahar ran 19 yards to extend it. A failed two-point conversion kept Wrocław within seven, but Sergej Kendus’ two-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter moved Rhein 40–27 ahead despite a blocked extra point.
Wrocław’s offense had gone scoreless through the third quarter, not helped by Wang throwing two interceptions, but the quarterback responded when the Panthers’ season appeared to be slipping away. First, he completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Harley before driving Wrocław back to the goal line and scoring himself from one yard. Jakub Ciurkot converted both touchdowns, with the second placing the Panthers ahead by one. The defense then prevented Rhein from answering, completing an upset watched by 4,232 spectators at Stadion Niederrhein.
Wang finished 37 of 48 for 404 yards and five passing touchdowns, adding 79 yards and the winning score on 16 carries. Harley’s 21 receptions produced 234 yards and two touchdowns. Bahar, meanwhile, completed 16 of 24 attempts for 217 yards and four touchdowns while also leading Rhein’s comeback on the ground. Fire were nevertheless outgained 469–308 despite reaching 40 points.
The result ends Rhein’s season one victory short of a home stadium championship appearance and sends Wrocław to Duisburg having now beaten both Vienna and Rhein during the second half of its campaign.
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London Warriors 34 @ 71 Vienna Vikings
Vienna reached the Gold Bowl through a very different semi-final, scoring 55 first-half points during an overwhelming victory against London.
Ben Holmes completed 21 of 26 passes for 338 yards and seven touchdowns, all before half-time, as the Vikings found paydirt on each of their opening eight possessions. Darrell Stewart Jr opened the scoring with a six-yard reception before Karé Lyles answered for London, finding Marcus Libman from 18 yards.
It was then that the Vikings then pulled away. Yannick Mayr caught touchdowns covering 28 and 21 yards before Stewart scored on a 61-yard heave from Holmes. Mayr subsequently threw an 82-yard touchdown to Stewart on a trick play, placing Vienna 34–7 ahead early in the second quarter and, although London continued producing offensively despite the widening deficit – Kevin Laryea turned a pass from Lyles into a 64-yard touchdown and later added a two-yard score – the Warriors could not slow Vienna sufficiently to reduce the margin.
Holmes threw further first-half touchdowns to Mayr, Philipp Haun and Bernhard Seikovits, sending the Vikings into the interval with a 55–20 advantage, before Albert Wiesigstrauch scored from a yard out to start the third quarter before backup quarterback Nico Hrouda connected with Fabian Eder from 15 yards. Dennis Tasic’s fourth quarter field goal completed Vienna’s scoring, but the Austrian side were already out of sight by then.
London added second-half touchdowns through Ellis Roff and Tyrrell Bovelle, ensuring the Warriors scored in every quarter despite the result having been settled long before the finish, with Lyles completing 23 of 36 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns. Laryea caught eight passes for 127 yards and two scores, while Bovelle gained 98 yards and a touchdown from 19 carries.
Vienna amassed 687 yards, including 503 through the air, and did not allow a sack. Stewart finished with five catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns, while Mayr also caught five passes for more than 100 yards and three scores.
The defeat ended a season in which London recovered from an 0–3 start to earn a playoff place, only for Vienna to expose the distance that remained between the Warriors and the AFLE’s leading side.
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The Vikings now return to Duisburg for the Gold Bowl on 6th September against the only team to beat them during the regular season. Vienna and Wrocław split their two previous meetings, making the championship game a deciding third encounter.