TGS — EFA WK12: ALL TO PLAY FOR IN FINAL WEEK

With all six teams back in action of the league-wide bye week, the European Football Alliance produced a set of Week 12 results that send everyone into the final round of games with something on the line.

Whether it is battling for the #1 seed or simply trying to secure one of the remaining playoff berths, Week 13 should provide plenty of tension, with the top two battling over pride and potential psychological advantage and the rest having the potential to cause the EFA stats team a Sunday night headache.

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Paris Musketeers 22 @ 45 Munich Ravens

Munich ensured that they will head to Copenhagen in Week 13 with an unblemished record after seeing off a Paris Musketeers side that showed they still had some fight in them despite seeing their losing streak extended to five games.

The opening quarter saw each side record a field goal among broken plays and halted drives, but Munich opened the first real gap of the game with back-to-back scoring possessions in the second, first with QB Russell Tabor — clearly none the worse for the injury he appeared to suffer a fortnight ago in Prague — picking out Louis Geyer at the back of the endzone from fully 43 yards. With Paris unable to respond in kind, the Ravens took their opportunity to pull further ahead, this time with the Tabor-Geyer partnership hooking up from close range to make it 17-3 shortly before the two-minute warning.

Remarkably, there would be two further scores before the half-time interval, first with Musketeers QB Zach Edwards hitting Torin Justice from 27 yards for the receiver’s first EFA touchdown since replacing the injured Austin Mitchell, then with Tabor marching Munich down the field in just 43secs before finding a wide-open Malik Stanley from five yards out.

With Par’s PAT having been blocked, the home side led 24-9 at the interval, and extended that lead midway through the third period when Tabor connected with TE Philip Okonkwo on a five-yard jump pass. There would no further scoring in the quarter, but Edwards put Paris in position to respond on the change of ends, having Justice complete a highlight reel catch on 4th-and-5 before opening the final period with a 17-yard toss over the middle to tight end Liam Ward.

Munich RB Benedikt Pohler nearly broke the longest score of the day as Munich took possession, only to be forced out of bounds by Jamalcolm Liggins at the two-yard line. Undeterred, the Ravens got their points as recently-acquired Kiwi tight end Ron Tiavaasue barrelled over from the backfield to make it 38-16, but Paris weren’t about to go quietly, as Edwards connected again with Justice, this time from 30 yards as the receiver ‘Mossed’ his DB for a second score of the game. With the PAT again going awry, the Musketeers were still two scores in arrears, and Munich were able to put the result beyond doubt when Tabor found Sixten Dragan from four yards to start the ‘hoamcoming’ celebrations.

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Nordic Storm 47 @ 9 Frankfurt Galaxy

As they had in their first encounter of the season, the Galaxy played their opponents hard for much of the game, only to have the final scoreline get away from them in the final quarter.

Once again, Frankfurt had their defense to thank for remaining in the game, as debutant QB Zach Calzada struggled to generate much offense as he continued to get used to both his team-mates and the playbook. Because of that, the first quarter appeared to only have one team in it, with Jadrian Clark connecting with a determined Simon Føns for the opening score. Frankfurt’s attempt at a response ended swiftly with Maceo Beard picking off Calzada around midfield, setting the Storm up for another assault on the endzone. Although TE Roberto Miranda was ruled to have come up short on Nordic’s first attempt to breach the goal-line, RB Glen Toonga finished the job on the next play as the quarter ended with the visitors up by 13.

Having forced the Galaxy to punt at the end of the opening period, Clark wasted little time in extending his side’s lead, finding Brendan Beaulieu from 26 yards to make it 19-0. However, uncharacteristic back-to-back interceptions from the EFA’s leading quarterback ensured that Frankfurt had opportunities to score, even if a single Ryan Rimmler field goal was the only thing they had to show for it. Nordic continued to gift their hosts possession after the half-time interval, with Toonga and Føns coughing the ball up at either end of the third period. Again Frankfurt was unable to capitalise, despite Calzada beginning to find his range with lengthy completions to both Brevin Easton and Paul Kavadia-Lenhardt.

With the third quarter having failed to add to the scoreboard, Clark came out determined to put that right in the fourth, finding Føns from 43 yards for the receiver’s second score of the game. Frankfurt came right back with Calzada hitting Tyler Foster over the middle and watching as the RB completed a 48-yard catch-and-run to paydirt for the QB’s first EFA touchdown, but Nordic weren’t done, and Clark replied with a short yardage pass to Beaulieu to make it 35-9.

While that scoreline flattered the Storm somewhat, a disastrous final five minutes made things look even worse for the Galaxy. Starting with a botched snap that was recovered by Nordic LB Ludvig Myren to set up a rare TD for lineman Isaac Moore, the Storm then blocked a Rimmler field goal attempt, with DB Jumilson Ferreira scooping up the loose ball and taking it to the house as the clock expired.

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Raiders Tirol 41 @ 29 Prague Lions

Perhaps the most widely anticipated game of the weekend came from Czechia, where Prague and Tirol met in the rematch of the epic 45-44 Lions win in Austria a matter of weeks ago. Although the Raiders had since gone on to establish an even higher record match score with their shootout win in Frankfurt before the bye, this one had the potential to be just as much of a gunfight.

As it turned out, the game was neither as high-scoring or as close, with new Raiders QB Kenyatte Allen again playing a big part in the outcome as the visitors moved to 2-7, having started the season with seven straight defeats. Finding WR Marco Schneider for the first of several big completions across the afternoon, Allen manoeuvred Tirol into range for a five-yard Lukas Haslwanter touchdown — only for Prague to answer back when QB Jaylon Henderson hit Keyon Lesane Sr, the replacement for injured William Patterson, from 18 yards for the newcomer’s first EFA touchdown. Allen, however, struck back quickly, finding Haslwanter on a screen that, amid some poor Prague tackling, the RB took fully 69 yards for the score.

Having benefited from back-to-back pass interference penalties that dug them out of a down-and-distance hole, Prague were made to wait for the change of ends before Henderson found RB Adam Žouželka from two yards to bring his side back within a point. Another long Schneider reception put Jonata Loria in range to add three to Tirol’s tally before Haslwanter completed a first-half hat-trick from four out. The home side, however, kept it close going into the interval as newly-signed German running back Paul Breuer both set up and completed his first EFA touchdown by going in from seven to keep the side separated by just four points at the half.

Having denied Prague the opportunity to make anything of receiving the second half kick-off, Tirol again went big to extend their lead, with Allen finding Aaron Jackson from 64 yards less than two minutes after the restart. The visiting QB made his only major error of the game on his next possession, presenting Lions LB Aleksandr Borkovic with his second INT of the season, but Prague only capitalised to the tune of a Marek Hrubon field goal before Haslwanter — who had been relatively quiet in Week 10 — added his fourth touchdown of the afternoon to end the third period.

Henderson opened the final quarter by going over from the two-yard line, having set himself up for the score with two long runs before the change of ends. Loria then nudged Tirol’s lead out a little more before a frenetic final few minutes saw Prague WR David Lukšan have a touchdown chalked off and Henderson ruled short of the goal-line on a fourth-down effort to close the deficit, sealing the Lions’ fate.

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Just one week remains in the inaugural EFA regular season and still only two teams have booked their place in the BIG4 a fortnight from now. Nordic and Munich meet in Copenhagen this Saturday in the Storm’s final opportunity to draw back level with their visitors and potentially secure the #1 seed going into the semi-finals.

Behind them, meanwhile, there is the potential for the remaining four teams to all wind up with identical 3-7 records and need tie-breakers to determine which of them progress to the playoffs. The potential for that four-way is plausible, with Paris having to travel to a rejuvenated Tirol side that has now won two on the bounce to move above Prague at the foot of the table.

The Lions have a more unpredictable foe for their final game, as they host Frankfurt in Prague not knowing which version of the Galaxy defense will show up. If it’s the hard-nosed version that played Nordic hard for three quarters, it could be bad news for the Lions, but the return of the leaky sieve that allowed Tirol to rack up 60+ points could yet present the Czech team with a postseason lifeline…