TGS — EFA WK8: GALAXY’S REVENGE, MUNICH QUALIFY
There may only have been a couple of games on the European Football Alliance’s Week 8 slate, but both made an impact on the race for the inaugural BIG4 Semi Final Weekend.
While the unbeaten Munich Ravens became the first team to guarantee their place in the postseason by seeing off the Raiders Tirol, Frankfurt Galaxy leap-frogged the Paris Musketeers after gaining revenge over the French side for the opening day defeat inflicted upon them at PSD Bank Arena.
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Frankfurt Galaxy 31 @ 24 Paris Musketeers
Frankfurt have been threatening to put together a complete performance for several weeks and, on Sunday in Paris, they finally did.
Having suffered a heartbreaking one-point defeat to the Musketeers on opening weekend, Frankfurt have since played multiple close games with leading teams, but produced arguably their most accomplished display of the season at Essonne Stadium, claiming a deserved victory that lifts them into third place in the EFA standings, ahead of the French side.
The visitors struck first as quarterback Ethan Garbers found his favourite target, Brevin Easton, for a touchdown, but Paris responded in familiar fashion as Zach Edwards found Cheikhou Sow from 50 yards for a score, before later connecting with Hugo Tekedam to hand the Musketeers a 13-7 lead. Rather than allowing the game to get away from them, however, Frankfurt gradually imposed themselves on proceedings and, having narrowed the deficit with a 46-yard Ryan Rimmler field goal, produced a touchdown drive that saw TE Paul Kavadia Lenhardt find paydirt right on half-time to regain the advantage.
Once in front, the Galaxy were not to be denied a second time. The defense rose to the occasion, putting relentless pressure on Edwards and claiming six sacks that continually stifled the Musketeers offense, while Garbers hooked up with Adria Botella Moreno and Tyler Foster to open an 18-point cushion entering the final quarter.
Paris rallied late, with their own defense forcing repeated Frankfurt punts that allowed Edwards to engineer scoring drives resulting in a touchdown for Lokmen Nadjem and a Dean Faithfull field goal, but the home side remained a full score behind when their ensuing onside kick attempt fell out of bounds. Although Frankfurt’s final drive failed to see out the clock, Edwards had a single snap from deep in his own half with just two seconds on the clock, and the Musketeers’ attempts to emulate the French rugby team died on the vine.
The victory, Frankfurt’s third in four games, suggests the Galaxy are peaking at exactly the right point of the season, while Paris may find themselves looking over their shoulder rather than upwards as their slump to 3-3 leaves them just two games clear of the improving Prague Lions and eternally unfortunate Raiders Tirol.
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Munich Ravens 32 @ 24 Raiders Tirol
The Munich Ravens continue to clear every hurdle placed in front of them, and their 32-24 victory over the Raiders Tirol in Innsbruck not only preserved their unbeaten record at 6-0 but also gave them the first qualifying spot for the semi-final weekend en route to a possible return to the Austrian city.
Back on the opening weekend of the EFA season, the Ravens beat Tirol 58-30 in a game that said more about the Raiders’ potential than Munich’s potential for a perfect season and, for much of the Week 8 afternoon, the German side looked set for another routine victory. Quarterback Russell Tabor again directed an offense that raced into a commanding 26-3 half-time lead through touchdowns from Justus Seelig, Malik Stanley, Konstantin Stricker and Marvin Rutsch, while an aggressive defense repeatedly frustrated Tirol, highlighted by Bijon Harris’ first-half interception of opposite number Steven Krajewski.
To their credit, however, the Raiders again refused to disappear. Running back Tim Tonko ignited the mini-comeback with two touchdowns, including one through the air from Krajewski, only for Munich’s back-up QB, Lewin Adrom, to get himself on the scoresheet with a short-range effort. Toni Rabensteiner’s long scoring run reduced the deficit back to eight points in the fourth quarter, but Munich always seemed to have just enough breathing room to withstand any late surge, and inked their place in the BIG4 line-up as a result.
For the Raiders, meanwhile, slipping to 0-6 in an exact reversal of the Ravens’ record again overshadowed a solid all-round performance, with the second-half response continuing a recent trend of increasingly competitive performances under head coach Shuan Fatah.
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Week 9 will see all six of the EFA’s teams in action, after Nordic and Prague enjoyed a hard-earned bye, with the Czech team hosting a Paris side looking to return to winning consistency. The two clubs played out a one-sided first meeting just a matter of weeks ago, before Prague claimed their first win of the season over Tirol before their week off. The Raiders, meanwhile, can’t catch a break and welcome the Storm to Tivoli Stadium, no doubt hoping the narrow margins that separated them first time around will this time fall in their favour. Sunday’s sole fixture then pits the league’s two German entities against each other, with Frankfurt taking their much-improved form to Munich as the Ravens attempt to remain unbeaten for another week.