THIS GIVEN SUNDAY: TIROL STUN FIRE, BLOWOUTS CONTINUE
The European League of Football continued to serve up a real curate’s egg in terms of results in Week 8 of the 2025 season, emphasising the performance gap that became a talking point ahead of the weekend.
Once again, the Cologne Centurions went down to a heavy defeat, although the team did manage to improve the average number of points it is conceding per game this season by only allowing Panthers Wroclaw to rack up 54. At the same time, in Stuttgart and Wil, fellow strugglers Fehérvár and Helvetic were also shipping half-centuries, with the Swiss side — regardless of the makeover that started following their inability to fulfil last week’s fixture in Copenhagen — slumping to both the worst result of the week and of their season so far as the Paris Musketeers posted back-to-back 62-point shutouts.
Even the rejuvenated Prague Lions could not avoid the hammer, being brought back to earth after a four-game winning streak by a Vienna Vikings team clearly a tier above the Czech side’s recent victims. Despite heading to the Austrian capital with optimism after road wins in Wroclaw, Hamburg and Frankfurt, the Lions failed to trouble the scorers as Vienna kicked on after an even first period.
On the other side of Austria, however, there was a shock brewing as the Raiders Tirol failed to extend much in the way of courtesy to the visiting champion Rhein Fire. In front of 3,424 fans at the Tivoli Stadium, head coach Jim Herrmann’s team rose to the first-ever meeting with the Fire and, after an early exchange of scores — including another Dijion Walls kickoff return — saw their homegrown players combine with import QB N’Kosi Perry to eventually set up a Jacorey Sullivan touchdown to give the home side a 14-9 half-time advantage. Having seen the Fire march down the field following a Perry fumble late in the third quarter, the Raiders denied the German side with one of their own, pouncing on a Jonathan Scott spill in the red zone before Marco Schneider, Lukas Haslwanter and Jan Wiesauer all contributed to Tirol extending their lead to 21-12. When Fire QB Chad Jeffries lost his grip on the ball, the Raiders were quick to exploit the error with a short-yardage score, only for Rhein to keep things close with an unconverted touchdown from newcomer Mark Pope. With the clock ticking slowly down from the seven-minute mark, Tirol turned to their ground game to kill the game — only for Herrmann to uncork a trick play that saw WR Adrian Platzgummer loft a perfectly-weighted ball to Haslwanter in the corner of the endzone and put the result beyond doubt.
If Tirol’s victory was a surprise, it would have been usurped had the mercurial Hamburg Sea Devils been able to pull off a win over the hitherto unbeaten Nordic Storm. Despite having had the unexpected benefit of a week off following the postponement of their Week 7 game with the Mercenaries, the Scandinavian side looked sluggish early on and allowed Hamburg to keep pace with them through three quarters. Indeed, having seemingly sealed the game by going up 21-7 early in the fourth period, the Storm gave the Sea Devils renewed hope when a fumble deep in their own half was recovered for a touchdown by the home side. Jadrian Clark then led his team down the field before finding WR Brendan Beaulieu for a third score of the game with 1:46 left on the clock… only for opposite number Micah Leon to do the same on the very next drive to reduce the gap to six as RB Chrisman Kyei rumbled in from the three. Just a minute still remained, but the Storm were able to kill the clock and escape with a sixth win of the year.
If Nordic and Tirol kept supporters on the edge of their seats for longer than was comfortable, however, it was nothing compared to the tension in Madrid, where the hometown Bravos slugged it out with Munich, the kings of the last-gasp win. Given the potential for a repeat of last week’s win over Stuttgart, the Ravens earned themselves a return to Game of the Week status…
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WEEK 8 SCORES
05.07.2025
Rhein Fire 18 @ 35 Raiders Tirol
Prague Lions 0 @ 34 Vienna Vikings
Munich Ravens 43 @ 40 Madrid Bravos
06.07.2025
Cologne Centurions 2 @ 54 Wroclaw Panthers
Fehérvár Enthroners 12 @ 55 Stuttgart Surge
Paris Musketeers 62 @ 0 Helvetic Mercenaries
Nordic Storm 27 @ 21 Hamburg Sea Devils
Bye Week:
Frankfurt Galaxy, Berlin Thunder
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Game of the Week:
Munich Ravens 43 @ 40 Madrid Bravos
Although few might have expected the Raiders to defeat Rhein earlier in the day, the Ravens and Bravos met on a sultry night in Madrid knowing that victory was imperative to retain some sort of status quo with the Austrian side. For the majority of the first half, it appeared that the home team would be the one to keep step with Tirol, as QB Reid Sinnett and WR Aron Cruickshank again dominated proceedings for the Bravos as they extended a 26-9 advantage by the interval. The Ravens, however, have history in such situations, and had already proved their willingness to take the fight right to the final whistle just a week earlier against Stuttgart. Wearing down the Madrid defense with elongated drives, Munich dragged themselves back into the game with an unanswered 20-point third quarter, before the Bravos recovered to help set up a thrilling finish. Both teams scored a brace of touchdowns, on alternating drives, in the final period, and it took a Ravens’ special teams play to decide the result as lineman Etuale Lui rose to block Alvaro Penas’ 31-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
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MVP of the Week
Russell Tabor (Munich Ravens)
He may not have put up the gaudy yardage stats of his opposite number at the Estadio Vallehermoso, but Tabor again showed why many rate him amongst the best quarterbacks in the ELF by exuding composure in the face of a 17-point half-time deficit. The American import was 21-of-31 for 264 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and added 53 rushing yards and a score on the ground as he personally kickstarted the Ravens recovery, ensuring that they were in position to keep top spot in the South Division when Madrid saw their last-gasp field goal attempt denied.
UPS
Lars Heidrich (Stuttgart Surge)
Taking the view that winless Fehérvár would not pose a threat, the Surge took the decision to rest several starters and give their homegrown backups a chance to gain vital playing time. With regular QB Reilly Hennessey on the bench, Lars Heidrich took the opportunity to throw for 291 yards and three scores, including combining with WR Mike Harley Jr for two touchdowns and 191 yards, as the Surge dominated as they had assumed.
Reid Sinnett (Madrid Bravos)
Even in a losing cause, Sinnett continued to extend his numbers at the top of the ELF’s quarterback stats, going 35-of-43 for four touchdowns and 426 yards in the 40-43 thriller against Munich.
Hamburg Sea Devils
With their last three games comprising high-scoring shutouts against Nordic Storm and Madrid Bravos and a home defeat by the Prague Lions, few would have given Hamburg a shot at staying close to the Scandinavian side in their rematch at the Hohe Luft Stadium. But that’s exactly what they did, taking advantage of a lacklustre Storm performance to trade blows with the last unbeaten team right to the final bell.
DOWNS
Prague Lions
Four victories on the bounce would be enough to give anyone a shot of optimism, let alone a team that has struggled to put one in the win column in past seasons, but the Lions came up against an opponent far stronger than any of their recent conquests and were humbled to the tune of 34 points as they were shutout by the Vienna Vikings.
Helvetic Mercenaries
It would have been harsh to expect the Mercenaries — with a new head coach and midseason signings in Wil for less than a week — to miraculously turn things around, but all involved would surely have hoped for better than the 62-point shellacking they took from Paris at the start of a run of four home games against top opposition. Prayers up for the Swiss side.
Fans of competitive games
With rumblings of discontent appearing on social media and leaking into the mainstream press over the preceding week, the last thing the ELF would have wanted at the weekend were blowouts, but they got four in seven games, including two shutouts. If the top teams are yearning for more competitive fixtures each weekend, something clearly needs to be done.
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SEEN AND HEARD
- “We were very confident; it was a tough fight and a cool game. I didn’t expect us to win so decisively, but sometimes things just go our way. I’m very happy with the team; we were in great form and deserved to win. Our coaching staff is doing a great job, and when each of us does our job, we’re a very good team.”
Raiders Tirol WR Marco Schneider
- “We played very good football in all phases today. It’s a motivational boost; you know you can beat the best teams. The atmosphere was incredible; it’s just a great pleasure to play here.”
Raiders Tirol RB Lukas Haslwanter - “Compliments to Tirol. We didn’t finish things. We did things well, but not well enough. That’s my responsibility. When the game was close, we had opportunities we could have capitalised on. We need to analyse that for next week, be self-critical, and move on from there.”
Rhein Fire HC Richard Kent - “We didn’t play to our standard. Indiscipline like flags or the kickoff return touchdown simply can’t happen. We need to look at what beat us today — in this case, ourselves.”
Rhein Fire DT Jason Chikere - “We played a good match. We managed to fix the mistakes we made last week in Hungary, which allowed us to score many more points in today’s match. The beginning of the match was a bit difficult for us as an offense, but the second half definitely belonged to us. We accomplished everything we had planned. We are happy with the result. We have a whole week of hard work ahead of us to properly prepare for the rematch with Prague Lions. We thank the fans for their support! Stay with us, because we will fight persistently for the play-offs in each next match.”
Panthers Wrocław TE Mateusz Wojakiewicz - “I think we started too slowly on offense. We can’t afford to do that anymore; we have to be focused from the beginning. We can’t waste one or two drives and then suddenly wake up. What was particularly positive today was that we played without an American on defense or Reilly Hennessey on offense and still dominated. This shows the strength of our team and that we can do something like that. Lars Heidrich deserved this chance, and he did very well.”
Stuttgart Surge HC Jordan Neuman
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STATS BLITZ
Lukas Haslwanter (Raiders Tirol)
19 carries, 100 yards, 1 touchdowns
1 reception, 35 yards, 1 touchdown
Osaruonamen Ogbevoen (Raiders Tirol)
16 tackles
Chad Jeffries (Rhein Fire)
28 completions, 42 attempts, 363 yards, 1 touchdown
Mark Pope (Rhein Fire)
5 receptions, 94 yards, 1 touchdown
Ben Holmes (Vienna Vikings)
29 completions, 36 attempts, 317 yards, 4 touchdowns
Florian Bierbaumer (Vienna Vikings)
6 receptions, 65 yards, 2 touchdowns
Aron Cruickshank (Madrid Bravos)
9 receptions, 97 yards, 2 touchdowns
Pablo Araya (Madrid Bravos)
10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss
Justin Rodney (Munich Ravens)
14 carries, 88 yards, 1 touchdowns
Malik Stanley (Munich Ravens)
10 receptions, 169 yards, 2 touchdowns
D.J. Irons (Panthers Wroclaw)
17 completions, 23 attempts, 163 yards
13 carries, 122 yards
Dawid Brzozowski (Panthers Wroclaw)
13 carries, 88 yards, 4 touchdowns
Zaire Ugapo (Panthers Wroclaw)
11 tackles, 2 sacks
Kai Hunter (Stuttgart Surge)
7 carries, 42 yards, 2 touchdowns
Mike Harley Jr (Stuttgart Surge)
6 receptions, 190 yards, 2 touchdowns
Brock Domann (Fehérvár Enthroners)
29 completions, 50 attempts, 301 yards, 2 touchdowns
Jon Cole (Fehérvár Enthroners)
12 receptions, 150 yards, 2 touchdowns
Jaylon Henderson (Paris Musketeers)
9 completions, 13 attempts, 119 yards, 2 touchdowns
3 carries, 23 yards, 3 touchdowns
Nicholas Khandar (Paris Musketeers)
10 carries, 98 yards, 2 touchdowns
Micah Leon (Hamburg Sea Devils)
22 completions, 30 attempts, 221 yards
Chrisman Kyei (Hamburg Sea Devils)
21 carries, 100 yards, 1 touchdown
Nazir Streater (Hamburg Sea Devils)
14 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception
Jadrian Clark (Nordic Storm)
21 completions, 31 attempts, 296 yards, 4 touchdowns
Brendan Beaulieu (Nordic Storm)
10 receptions, 175 yards, 3 touchdowns
Hugo Dyrendahl (Nordic Storm)
14 tackles
William James (Nordic Storm)
11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss