THIS GIVEN SUNDAY: VIKINGS HOLD ON IN REVENGE GAME
Week three of the 2025 European League of Football season felt like the proverbial game of two halves, with Saturday’s slate producing blowouts and shutouts, before Sunday showed just how competitive the league can be.
The weekend’s early games all but confirmed that the Fehérvár Enthroners and Cologne Centurions will be this season’s backmarkers as both took heavy defeats at home without managing to lay a blow on their visitors. The other expected underdogs, however, both showed their fighting spirit, albeit with the Prague Lions trouncing the hapless Enthroners before the under-manned Helvetic Mercenaries showed their mettle in keeping the Bravos on their toes in Madrid.
Sunday’s schedule was always expected to be the better half and, aside from the Nordic Storm exciting their fans at Gladsaxe Stadium with a shutout win over the Berlin Thunder — after another quick start floored the visitors, who later stemmed the tide — the other two games went down to the wire. The game of two halves analogy also perfectly suited the Paris Musketeers visit to Frankfurt, where a torrential downpour that forced the teams to take shelter, provoked a turnaround after the Galaxy had stormed into a commanding early lead. Paris went for two to take the lead with less than a minute on the clock, but still allowed enough much time — and too many easy yards — for Frankfurt to steal back the win with a last-gasp field goal.
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WEEK 3 SCORES
31.05.2025
Prague Lions 40 @ 0 Fehérvár Enthroners
Raiders Tirol 68 @ 0 Cologne Centurions
Stuttgart Surge 53 @ 14 Hamburg Sea Devils
Helvetic Mercenaries 35 @ 47 Madrid Bravos
01.06.2025
Berlin Thunder 0 @ 35 Nordic Storm
Paris Musketeers 27 @ 29 Frankfurt Galaxy
Vienna Vikings 12 @ 7 Rhein Fire
Bye Week
Munich Ravens, Wroclaw Panthers
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Game of the Week:
Vienna Vikings 12 @ 7 Rhein Fire
It may have been the lowest-scoring game of the weekend, but the rematch of last year’s ELF Championship encounter proved enthralling to the last.
In front of 10,000 spectators, the majority of whom were backing the home side on their return to Düsseldorf after an 18-year hiatus, the Vikings appeared in control early on, building on a long kickoff return from Amani Dennis and then establishing their ground game — principally through Johannes Schütz in the absence of RB1 Karri Pajarinen — either side of an opening drive touchdown from WR Noah Touré. Although the ensuing two-point was intercepted in the endzone, and two subsequent field goal attempts went begging, the Fire were unable to overcome the lingering six-point deficit as the Vikings defense — now with former Rhein LB Aaron Donkor in their ranks — denied them anything of substance.
A blocked field goal was as close as the reigning champions came to opening their acount before the half but with no further scoring from either side, the slim margin between them remained… until Vikings QB Ben Holmes threaded a ball to WR Daniel Schwam early in the fourth quarter, exactly doubling the visitors’ lead as, again the extra point attempt failed. The Fire hit back immediately, however, as QB Chad Jeffries connected with WR Rory Starkey Jr over the middle and Rhein’s standout player did the rest to complete a 70-yard score.
With the Merkur Spiel-Arena finally alive, the Fire dominated the final ten minutes, sparked further by an Omari Williams interception. However, the Vikings defense stiffened, more than once turning their hosts away with scoring opportunities on the line, and emerged as relieved victors when Jeffries’ last-second heave sailed over the head of his intended receiver.
Incredibly, after going unbeaten in both 2023 and 2024, the Vikings have now not lost a regular season encounter in 1002 days…
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MVP of the Week
Ryan Rimmler (Frankfurt Galaxy)
The Frankfurt kicker may not possess the typical wiry frame associated with the position, but did not lack for the steely composure required to perform under pressure with the game on the line in Sunday’s lunchtime bout with the visiting Paris Musketeers. After the Galaxy had seen their early dominance washed away by a downpour, they entered the final minute trailing by a single point, but put Rimmler in a position to be the hero with a string of long gains. The 27-year-old German then held his nerve to convert with just two seconds left on the clock, sending Frankfurt to 2-1 through the opening weeks of the season.
UPS
Adrian Platzgummer (Raiders Tirol)
With QB1 Conor Miller sidelined for the foreseeable future, Platzgummer again converted successfully from wideout to lead the Raiders from under center in Week 3, albeit aided by not having to go toe-to-toe with anyone ‘stronger’ than Cologne. With a big fat zero on the board in opposition, Platzgummer could enjoy himself, feeding running backs Jan Wiesauer (110yds/3TDs) and Tobias Bonatti (84/1) prodigiously as Tirol vaulted into a 45-0 half-time advantage. Of the team’s 494 total yards, 356 came on the ground, but the temporary QB did account for three scores through the air, two of the to US import Jacorey Sullivan.
Omari Williams (Rhein Fire)
His fourth-quarter interception of Vienna QB Ben Holmes might have come to naught on Sunday, but the takeaway ensured that Williams moved to the top of the ELF’s all-time leaderboard. Now on 14 takeaways, the 29-year-old American — who includes the first-ever ELF title with Frankfurt amongst his accolades — will look to distance himself from the crowd as the Fire pursue a third straight crown.
Reid Sinnett (Madrid Bravos)
After Week 2’s mixed bag in the loss to Frankfurt, Sinnett showed further progress intergating with the Bravos offense as he racked up five touchdown in Madrid’s victory over the Helvetic Mercenaries. The Swiss team did not roll over as might have been expected, forcing Sinnett to be on top of his game and, although he threw one interception, the sometime NFL player contributed 285 yards (more than the Mercenaries managed in total) as part of the team’s 467 overall. While WR Aron Cruickshank has proven to be a favourite target, Sinnett is also finding rhythm with RB Justus Seelig, connecting with the German for two scores through the air, including one of 70 yards.
Prague Lions fans
The Lions are hoping for an uptick in fortunes in the first full season under their new ownership group, but suffered defeat in each of their opening games, both at home, against Vienna and Hamburg. Unlike some of their expected ‘competition’ in the lower half of the power rankings, however, they were not crushing defeats, and Prague showed what they are capable of offensively by putting up an unanswered 40 points on the hapless Enthroners in Hungary to get off the mark in the win column. The visitors outgained their hosts by 303 yards to 194, as QB Javarian Smith and RB Adam Žouželka led the offense in all three phases, but there is still work to be done.
Helvetic Mercenaries fans
In similar vein to the Czech counterparts, the Mercenaries have shown fight in the past couple of weeks, despite reportedly having a far smaller roster than some of their more illustrious counterparts. While the early stages of their encounter with the Bravos in Madrid suggested an easy win for the home side, the Mercenaries did not make it comfortable for Reid Sinnett & Co, and even outscored their hosts in the final period as QB Isaiah Weed accounted for three scores through the air, including a first in the ELF for former NFL player Keelan Cole. The defense will need to tighten up as they have yet to concede less than 44 points in a game, but the supporters should be lifted by the battling display.
Nordic Storm fans
In stark contrast to Prague and Helvetic, a loss would have been unthinkable for the many new Storm fans that filled Gladsaxe Stadium for the Copenhagen-based team’s home debut — and they were duly rewarded with a first half performance that effectively sank the visiting Berlin Thunder. Although the third quarter remained scoreless, QB Jadrien Clark went 22-of-38 for 296 yards and three touchdowns, although there were at least two others chalked off by the officials, as the league newcomers moved to 3-0 ahead of next weekend’s visit by the Frankfurt Galaxy.
DOWNS
Taulia Tagovailoa (Hamburg Sea Devils)
The most heavily-hyped debut in recent ELF history didn’t even warrant a mention in Hamburg’s postgame press release after the Sea Devils fell into a 40-point hole before half-time against a ‘re-Surge-nt’ Stuttgart team bouncing back from their Week 2 shutout in Paris. Replaced by Moritz Maack — who at least put the home side on the board after the break — Tagovailoa will need all time he can get after only being in Europe for seven days before being thrust into action.
Jack Del Rio (Paris Musketeers)
Going for two after launching a 23-point fourth-quarter comeback was a brave move by the Musketeers’ new head coach, designed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And it would have worked had Paris not allowed a long kickoff return and subsequent 27-yard QB scramble that put Frankfurt in position to kick a last-gasp field goal. Two two-point defeats either side of a hard-fought 6-0 win over Stuttgart will be hard to stomach.
Enthroners & Centurions fans
This is going to be a loooooong season for the faithful supporters of the ELF’s two weakest teams. When you ship 40 points at home to fellow strugglers Prague, it is clear that you need more than a big name under center but, if anything, Cologne’s plight is even worse than their Hungarian counterparts as they have now conceded 131 points in just two outings either side of an early bye week. In a division where they have to face Frankfurt, Paris and Stuttgart twice, — and have yet to meet them this season — that is going to be painful viewing for Centurions fans.
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SEEN AND HEARD
- “It’s just my job, I always have to be ready for it.”
Frankfurt Galaxy K Ryan Rimmler - “It was obviously cool to play in front of our own fans. Football isn’t just about results — it’s also about the passion you show on the field. We’re now turning our attention to the game against Berlin and want to come back stronger.”
Hamburg Sea Devils RB Chrisman Kyei - “They came out, jumped on us and built the lead [so] we had to make a choice — are we going to continue to fight one play at a time or pack it in? I was very proud of our guys for coming out and competing hard each and every play.”
Paris Musketeers HC Jack Del Rio - “I’ve been in enough games and I’ve seen things happen. First, we’ve kick the ball and then cover it, and then we’ve got to play defense and not allow them to move down into position [to score]. We knew once the kick went out of bounds that it was only going to be another 10 yards or so before this monster over here [Ryan Rimmler] would kick a three. But that’s football — you play it all and you don’t take anything for granted.”
Paris Musketeers HC Jack Del Rio - “To me, the sign of good football teams are those that, regardless of the situation, keep playing hard and [Paris] certainly did. It ended up being a really great game for our fans — and it was a great game, in my opinion, for the league because that’s going to keep a TV audience glued. That’s what you want, even if it’s not easy on my heart or Jack’s.”
Frankfurt Galaxy HC Bart Andrus - “Of course, we imagined the start would have been different. But there’s no point in burying our heads in the sand. In the second half, we worked hard and put two solid drives on the field — we’re building on that now.”
Hamburg Sea Devils HC Lee Rowland - “The atmosphere was fantastic. Our fans showed what this club is all about – it gave me goosebumps. Even if not everything went well on the pitch, we now have to keep working hard.”
Hamburg Sea Devils GM Mark Weitz