THIS GIVEN SUNDAY: STORM STUNNED AS PLAYOFF RACE TIGHTENS
There are no more unbeaten teams in the 2025 European League of Football after the Frankfurt Galaxy finally found a way to stop the upstart Nordic Storm in Week 11.
The 15-point margin of victory in the game at the PSD-Bank Arena was also the smallest of a weekend in which even matchups expected to be competitive wound up with lopsided scores. However, the way that results fell tightened up the playoff race, with both Vienna and Munich joining Nordic at 9-1 and Stuttgart keeping pace at 8-2. With only the Surge yet to lock up their respective division, the two wildcard spots continue to be hotly contested, with Prague, Paris and Rhein at 6-4 and chasing Madrid, who lead the pack at 7-3 going into the mandatory bye week for all teams.
With Frankfurt’s upset of the formbook earns Game of the Week honours, there was little to shout about in way of nailbiters throughout the Week 11 slate, with only the game between Wroclaw and Munich keeping the difference between the teams at 20 points or less. In a defensive slog, the Ravens were more adept at taking the chances that came their way, leading 14-6 at the end of a slow-burning first half before pulling away with three more scores after the interval. Wroclaw put the final points on the board, but was more of a consolation than anything.
Tirol’s visit to Madrid on Saturday evening looked tasty on paper, but a madcap first period, on the grass of Estadio Vallehermoso, appeared to have set the game on course for a blowout. It was full credit to the Austrian side, therefore, that they were able to dominate the second quarter scoring to go in at the break only trailing by 20-23 courtesy of a successful field goal conversion by their hosts. Whether they were merely toying with heir guests or received a rollicking at half-time, the Bravos returned to their first quarter form after the break, stretching away through three third-quarter touchdowns and adding two more in the final period after the Raiders had briefly given themselves life.
Elsewhere, results went very much as expected as Vienna, Paris and Prague crushed their winless opponents — respectively Fehérvár, Cologne and Helvetic — while Stuttgart made short work of a Hamburg Sea Devils side again without quarterback Micah Leon through injury. The Surge levelled the playing field slightly when their starter under center, Reilly Hennessey, was ruled out with a back injury suffered in the warmup period, but backup Lars Heidrich comfortably out-performed his opposite number, erstwhile GFL QB Jaylon Tregle, and the Stuttgart defense chipped in with a brace of turnover touchdowns in a shutout.
The final game of the weekend saw reigning champions Rhein Fire hosting the mercurial Berlin Thunder, a side that had scored as many points against Nordic as Frankfurt did in their win but who have capitulated more often than they should. There was no rumble from the Thunder in Duisburg as the Fire, in their Salute to Service uniforms, turned on an offensive masterclass, with Chad Jeffries connecting with Harlan Kwofie six times for points… in the first half! A 52-0 half-time lead — bolstered by further Jeffries tosses to Mark Pope and Clemens Schuldt —persuaded Rhein to call off the dogs, and both teams played out the second half with homegrown QBs under center. While Rohat Dagdelen guided Rhein to a couple more scores, Berlin’s sole reply came on an exchange of special teams touchdowns when Tyler Foster returned a punt 88 yards to paydirt.
With a mandatory weekend off next up, there are just two games remaining for all 16 teams in the 2025 regular season. Nordic’s slip against Frankfurt could prove costly in terms of a bye through the Wildcard Round as both Vienna and Munich have moved ahead of the Storm on strength-of-victory tiebreakers, leaving the Scandinavian side facing a potential third meeting — and a second in back-to-back weeks — with divisional rival Rhein.
The other opening playoff weekend game currently pits the Madrid Bravos against Stuttgart in Germany, as the Surge are almost certain to clinch the West Division crown after the break, but nothing can be taken for granted, as Paris, Frankfurt, Tirol, Prague and Wroclaw will all be waiting for some sort of upset to vault themselves into the postseason.
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WEEK 11 SCORES
26.07.2025
Vienna Vikings 53 @ 16 Fehérvár Enthroners
Cologne Centurions 7 @ 74 Paris Musketeers
Raiders Tirol 28 @ 54 Madrid Bravos
27.07.2025
Prague Lions 60 @ 20 Helvetic Mercenaries
Nordic Storm 20 @ 35 Frankfurt Galaxy
Wroclaw Panthers 14 @ 34 Munich Ravens
Hamburg Sea Devils 0 @ 48 Stuttgart Surge
Berlin Thunder 7 @ 69 Rhein Fire
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Game of the Week:
Nordic Storm 20 @ 35 Frankfurt Galaxy
Finally!
After nine games unbeaten (including a walkover, on paper, against the Helvetic Mercenaries), the Nordic Storm have been denied a perfect debut season — but it wasn’t one of the current powerhouse teams that took the Scandinavian side down. Instead, the Galaxy — who have spent the year deciding whether they should be competitive or not — excelled in all areas, picking off the usually flawless Jadrian Clark no fewer than four times, including twice for pick sixes, and blending their solid kicking game with a sprinkling of touchdowns from the arm and legs of QB Jameson Wang. Dominating the scoring either side of half-time in increasingly wet conditions, Frankfurt were far enough enough to withstand a late Storm surge that saw Clark connect with both Edwin Almeida and Brendan Beaulieu in the fourth quarter to at least make the final score respectable.
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MVPs of the Week
Chad Jeffries & Harlan Kwofie (Rhein Fire)
While homegrown wide receiver Harlan Kwofie is rightly getting plaudits for his record-breaking six touchdown haul against the Berlin Thunder, quarterback Jeffries was the arm behind each of those — and two more — as he racked up eight before half-time. Remarkably, while Jeffries was piling up touchdown tosses, he only threw for a regular 306 yards, completing 22 of his 24 pass attempts. Kwofie, meanwhile, caught just nine of those passes in all, but took six to paydirt as he piled up 154 yards receiving at an average of 17.11. The Fire have just 24 passing scores through ten games of the 2025 campaign (out of 39 total), but feasted on a Thunder pass defense that is second only to Cologne in terms of its generosity.
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UPS
Lars Heidrich (Stuttgart Surge)
Thrown into the fray after starting QB Riley Hennessey went down in the warm-up, Heidrich did all that could have been expected of him in a 48-0 win over Hamburg, with figures of 20/30 for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
Frankfurt Galaxy defense
Facing a Nordic Storm team that put a 35-point shutout on them in Copenhagen, the Galaxy turned the tables with four interceptions of Jadrian Clark, two of which were returned to the house by LBs Toby Naylor and Louis Achaintre.
Reece Horn (Vienna Vikings)
Former spring league wideout Horn has been an ELF stalwart since joining the league in its second season, and has now joined an exclusive club by posting his 50th career touchdown in Europe after fruitful spells in both Frankfurt and Vienna.
DOWNS
Helvetic Mercenaries
Any hopes the Swiss side may have harboured going into their game with Prague appeared to have been extinguished when the home side vaulted into an early lead on special teams and defensive touchdown. Helvetic fought back to level the game, only to see the Lions tighten up in all facets and pull away again before the half. With their remaining games on the road in Paris and Prague, a winless season for the Mercenaries is looming large.
Riley Hennessey (Stuttgart Surge)
Missing the game against Hamburg after injuring his back in the pre-game wasn’t a major blow, but Hennessey will want to be back under centre for the Surge’s remaining games to ensure they have the best chance of a high playoff seeding.
Jadrian Clark (Nordic Storm)
Flawless through the first half of the regular season, Clark doubled his entire interception tally in the defeat against the Frankfurt Galaxy at the weekend, with two errors being returned for touchdowns. Clark hasn’t looked at his best since the win over Rhein and, despite throwing for 381 yards and two scores, Nordic will hope the bye week provides a chance to get right before the postseason kicks in.
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SEEN AND HEARD
- “The veterans are stepping up, trying to teach all the players who haven’t been there in recent years what Jim Tomsula taught us. That’s how you grow as a player.”
Rhein Fire WR Harlan Kwofie - “We wanted to remain undefeated and trained hard and with concentration throughout the week.”
Nordic Storm HC John Shoop - “We played brilliantly against a great team; our hard work over the past few weeks was rewarded today.”
Frankfurt Galaxy HC Richard Kent - “Defense doesn’t just win championships.”
Frankfurt Galaxy LB Toby Naylor - “In the first half, we executed our game plan fairly well, especially on defense – at least from what I saw from the sideline. Offensively, we lacked execution. We shot ourselves in the foot at key moments, with missed passing concepts, protection issues or unnecessary flags. These are things we need to fix as players. It’s not about one person being at fault — we all can do better. For the last two games, we have to go in with the mindset that there’s no room for mistakes. That’s the approach we had today, but we couldn’t fully carry it out.”
Wroclaw Panthers WR Przemyslaw Banat - “We have two games left in the regular season, and we know we can win them. The goal remains the same: reach the playoffs and compete for the championship. Panthers Nation, we need your support during these final weeks of the regular season!”
Wroclaw Panthers LB A.J. Wentland
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STATS BLITZ
Jon Cole (Fehérvár Enthroners)
9 receptions, 149 yards, 2 touchdowns
Aleksandr Borkovic (Fehérvár Enthroners)
12 tackles
Ben Holmes (Vienna Vikings)
17 completions, 23 attempts, 308 yards, 6 touchdowns
Yannick Mayr (Vienna Vikings)
4 receptions, 108 yards, 2 touchdowns
Florian Bierbaumer (Vienna Vikings)
4 receptions, 55 yards, 2 touchdowns
Alexander Watholowitsch (Vienna Vikings)
10 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup
Jaylon Henderson (Paris Musketeers)
23 completions, 38 attempts, 323 yards, 6 touchdowns
7 carries, 28 yards
Austin Mitchell (Paris Musketeers)
4 receptions, 67 yards, 3 touchdowns
Austin Osborne (Cologne Centurions)
4 receptions, 103 yards, 1 touchdown
Juan Lua (Cologne Centurions)
11 tackles, 1 pass breakup
Michael Ofosuhene (Cologne Centurions)
10 tackles
Reid Sinnett (Madrid Bravos)
27 completions, 39 attempts, 363 yards, 5 touchdowns
4 carries, 44 yards, 1 touchdown
Justus Seeling (Madrid Bravos)
16 carries, 148 yards
8 receptions, 89 yards, 2 touchdowns
Pablo Arraya (Madrid Bravos)
12 tackles
Lukas Haslwanter (Raiders Tirol)
19 carries, 140 yards, 1 touchdown
1 reception, 14 yards
Aaron Maddox (Raiders Tirol)
13 tackles
Jan Mayerhofer (Raiders Tirol)
10 tackles
Javarian Smith (Prague Lions)
10 completions, 16 attempts, 134 yards, 2 touchdowns
10 carries, 30 yards, 2 touchdowns
Adam Zouzelka (Prague Lions)
10 carries, 128 yards, 2 touchdowns
William Patterson (Prague Lions)
2 carries, 12 yards
89-yard punt return touchdown
Jakub Smutny (Prague Lions)
2 tackles, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 touchdown
Devan Burrell (Helvtic Mercenaries)
1 carries, 90 yards, 1 touchdown
5 reception, 88 yards
3 tackles
Jameson Wang (Frankfurt Galaxy)
25 completions, 41 attempts, 273 yards, 1 touchdown
18 carries, 100 yards, 1 touchdown
Brevin Easton (Frankfurt Galaxy)
8 receptions, 128 yards
Toby Naylor (Frankfurt Galaxy)
4 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 touchdown
Louis Achaintre (Frankfurt Galaxy)
4 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 1 touchdown
Bijon Harris (Frankfurt Galaxy)
10 tackles, 2 pass breakups
Brendan Beaulieu (Nordic Storm)
6 receptions, 150 yards, 1 touchdown
Luke Glenna (Nordic Storm)
11 tackles
Chad Walrond (Nordic Storm)
10 tackles
Russell Tabor (Munich Ravens)
10 completion, 23 attempts, 150 yards, 1 touchdown
10 carries, 69 yards, 2 touchdowns
D.J. Irons (Wroclaw Panthers)
21 completions, 34 attempts, 214 yards, 1 touchdown
13 carries, 85 yards, 1 touchdown
Darrell Stewart (Wroclaw Panthers)
13 receptions, 122 yards, 1 touchdown
1 carry, 3 yards
A.J. Wentland (Wroclaw Panthers)
18 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Louis Geyer (Stuttgart Surge)
5 receptions, 115 yards, 2 touchdowns
Michael Harley Jr (Stuttgart Surge)
5 receptions, 98 yards, 1 touchdown
Nikolas Knoblauch (Stuttgart Surge)
11 tackles
Luis Bach (Stuttgart Surge)
10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss
Raphael Zistler (Stuttgart Surge)
3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 touchdown
Lasse Engel (Stuttgart Surge)
2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 touchdown
Nazir Streater (Hamburg Sea Devils)
10 tackles
Rick Baunacke (Berlin Thunder)
12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Paul Seifert (Berlin Thunder)
10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss
Tyler Foster (Berlin Thunder)
3 receptions, 8 yards
88-yard punt return touchdown
Clemens Schuldt (Rhein Fire)
5 receptions, 112 yards, 2 touchdowns