Football: Vikings suffer shipwreck in ELF final

In front of 41,364 fans in Schalke 04’s home stadium, the Düsseldorf Rhein Fire defense took the teeth out of the previously undefeated Vikings. The Germans took the ball from the Viennese five times and thus played a key role in defending their title. The efficient Düsseldorf offense around quarterback Jadrian Clark and running back Glen Toonga did the rest, putting a total of six touchdowns on the scoreboard.

Rhein Fire, last year’s final winners against Stuttgart Surge, can now call themselves record winners with their second title in the fourth edition of the European league. The Vikings, who had crowned themselves in their first ELF season in 2022, missed the “perfect season” without defeat. In the regular season, the Austrian capital club had won all twelve games and also won the semi-final.

Downhill after dream start

The championship game started well for the Vikings in front of the record crowd in the Schalke Arena. US quarterback Ben Holmes finished the first attack series with a touchdown pass to fellow countryman Reece Horn. But Fire countered with a run by league MVP (most valuable player of the season) Toonga. On the other side, Finnish Vikings running back Karri Pajarinen lost the ball to the opponents twice in a row. Head coach Jim Tomsula’s team responded with touchdowns by Harlan Kwofie and again by Toonga.

In between, the referees made a controversial and rare decision against the Viennese. An intercepted ball by Viking Cole Coleman was cancelled out by a penalty against his teammate Nikolaus Huszar in his own end zone. Instead of Vikings having possession of the ball, there was a safety and thus two points for the Fire. Horn reduced the 6:23 deficit with another touchdown after a Holmes pass. But the Germans had the last word before the break through Kelvin McKnight, who made it 30:13.

The Vikings were unable to stage a comeback in the second half. Instead, Rhein Fire scored touchdowns from Tim Sauerland, Bryan Winter and Tyrone Alexander. Noah Toure had the last word for the Viennese, for whom a successful season ended in a bitter debacle. Calaycay was named coach of the year at the ELF gala on Saturday, and his protégé Noah Toure received the award for “Offensive Rookie of the Year”. Aleksandar Milanovic, whose career was drawing to a close, was named “Man of Honor”.

European Football League