TGS — EFA WK16: STORM ROLL TO FIRST TITLE
While the final score fell somewhere between the three-point thriller in Week 7 and the lopsided artificial encounter in Week 13, the inaugural EFA Championship Game only served to underline the growing emnity between the league’s two top teams.
At the end of a balmy night at Innsbruck’s Tivoli Stadion, self-imposed problems proved to be the major difference between the Munich Ravens and Nordic Storm, with the latter capitalising on every opportunity that was pushed their way.
Jadrian Clark accounted for five touchdowns and threw for 313 yards and four scores before applying the finishing touch with a 26-yard touchdown run of his own. Simon Føns, Brendan Beaulieu and Glen Toonga all contributed to the scoresheet as the Storm claimed the league’s first championship trophy.
Munich accumulated 451 yards and controlled possession for more than 34 minutes at the home of Raiders Tirol, but spent much of the contest attempting to recover from a disastrous second quarter in which a failed fake punt, missed field goal and unsuccessful fourth-down conversion were punished by two Nordic touchdowns. The Ravens eventually reduced a 28-point deficit to 14 during the final five minutes, only for Clark to escape on fourth-and-one and race into the end zone to secure a 48–28 victory.
The Storm quarterback completed 22 of 34 passes and was not sacked, underlining the strength of his O-line as he recorded a 121.3 passer rating. Føns caught four passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, Beaulieu added eight receptions for 103 yards and another score, while Toonga rushed for 89 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
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Nordic Storm 48 vs 28 Munich Ravens
Nordic had been beaten only once during the regular season, a 37–34 defeat in Munich that they responded to with a 55–7 victory of the Ravens in Copenhagen. With the Ravens having rested several leading players in that rematch, however, both teams approached the championship game with a point to prove.
The Storm did not wait long to make theirs, despite the game’s opening possession initially appearing to move backwards after a series of penalties created a third-and-14 from the Storm’s own 49-yard line. Clark responded by finding Føns for a 51-yard touchdown, successfully converted by Alvin Gustafsson.
Munich answered with a long, methodical possession featuring conversions on third-and-two and fourth-and-one, before RB Justus Seelig completed the drive from four yards out. Daniel Schweiger’s extra point attempt was blocked, however, leaving Nordic with a 7–6 lead, which Clark and Føns extended. Beaulieu moved the Storm into Munich territory with a 35-yard reception before Føns caught a 15-yard touchdown on third-and-three, restoring Nordic’s seven-point advantage despite a missed conversion.
In the end, Gustafsson’s error didn’t look as egregious as the usually-metronomic Schweiger’s, as the game began to escape the Ravens early in the second quarter. Facing fourth-and-eight in Nordic territory, Munich attempted a fake punt that ended with Levin Adrom losing 21 yards and fumbling. Bastian Laugesen recovered at the Ravens’ 36, from where Toonga carried twice for 20 yards before Clark found Edvin Almeida for a 16-yard touchdown. Toonga ran in the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 21–6.
Munich threatened to answer after Russell Tabor connected with Louis Geyer for 21 and seven yards during another sustained drive, but penalties again helped stall the Ravens inside the red zone and Schweiger missed again, this time on a 36-yard field goal. Appearing to waste no time in punishing the mistake, Clark immediately hit Føns for another 42-yard gain, but Toonga fumbled on the next play and Divine Buckrham’s recovered to give Munich a reprieve. Tabor connected with Geyer for 42 yards on the following play, only for the Storm defense to hold again after the Ravens reached Nordic’s 16-yard line. Seelig was stopped without a gain on fourth-and-12 to conclude another empty possession — and the Storm promptly delivered the most damaging sequence of the half.
Clark completed passes to Jakob Niemann Green and Beaulieu, while Munich contributed a pair of automatic first downs through defensive penalties. Faced with fourth-and-two at the Ravens’ 31, Clark went back to Beaulieu for four yards before finding the EFA’s regular season receiving leader again for a 27-yard touchdown. The ten-play march consumed only 86 seconds and gave Nordic a commanding 28–6 half-time lead.
Munich finally found a response midway through the third quarter. Tabor hit Sixten Dragan and Malik Stanley as the Ravens moved across midfield, before Seelig turned a short reception into a 31-yard gain. Tabor duly completed the four-play drive with a one-yard sneak and Seelig added the two-point conversion to atone for Schweiger’s earlier miss. The Ravens’ improved defensive effort also kept Nordic scoreless throughout the quarter, but penalties repeatedly prevented the German side from establishing any sustained momentum. The two teams were eventually assessed 33 penalties for a combined 348 yards in a frequently untidy contest.
Having been slowed for much of the second half, the Storm reasserted control with a drive spanning the third and fourth quarters. Clark connected with Roberto Miranda for gains of eight and 15 yards, Miranda carried the ball to the one as time expired on the third period and Toonga finished the possession to make it 35–14. Any remaining Munich hopes appeared to vanish on the next series, when Tabor’s pass on third-and-13 was intercepted by Hugo Dyrendahl near midfield. With the clock now also on Nordic’s side, Toonga carried five times in a six-play drive to convert the takeaway into points from ten yards out.
The touchdown extended Nordic’s advantage to 42–14 with less than 12 minutes remaining, but Munich refused to concede. Tabor converted a fourth-and-six by finding Geyer for a nine-yard touchdown, completing a drive kept alive by a Nordic pass-interference penalty on fourth-and-13. The Storm’s reply, which started on the Ravens 48 after TE Roberto Miranda proved his worth on the ‘hands team’, lasted barely a play before Clark was intercepted by Bijon Harris, and Munich again marched the length of the field before Seelig forced his way over on fourth-and-goal.
The Ravens’ second touchdown in 32 seconds, followed by another Seelig conversion, this time on a reverse, narrowed the score to 42–28, but again Munich were unsuccessful with their onside kick, giving Nordic good field position. Seeking another opportunity in what remained a two-score game, the Ravens had Nordic facing fourth-and-one just outside the redzone. Rather than merely extending the possession, however, Clark saw a gap open up and set off on a run that remained untouched to the end zone, sealing the championship in emphatic fashion.
Tabor finished 33-of-49 for 385 yards, one touchdown and an interception, but was sacked five times. Geyer caught seven passes for 114 yards and a score, while Stanley contributed seven receptions for 92 yards. Recently-crowned defensive player of the year Luke Glenna led the Nordic resistance with 12 total tackles and two sacks, with Dyrendahl recording seven tackles in addition to his interception.
Munich finished with four more first downs than the champions — who enjoyed more long-range success — and outgained Nordic 451–438, but converted only two of five fourth-down attempts and scored just six points before half-time. Nordic, meanwhile, converted all three of its fourth downs and scored touchdowns on each of its four first-half trips into Munich territory.
The game got increasingly chippy through the final quarter, with at least one melée threatening to empty the benches as the obvious enmity between the sides boiled over. The final minute seemed to take an eternity as Tabor’s attempts to move his side downfield were constantly interrupted, but the Storm defense remained defiant as they confirmed MVP Clark’s rare rushing score as the game’s defining moment.
Image courtesy EFA/Lena Harrer