Vikings lost in the ELF final against Rhein Fire

The Vienna Vikings lost the final of the European League of Football (ELF) and thus missed out on their second title. The Viennese team of head coach Chris Calaycay had no chance against defending champions Rhein Fire in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday and lost to the Germans 20:51 (13:30). For the Vikings, who were very prone to making mistakes in the final, it was their first defeat this season after 13 wins. Fire, meanwhile, won their second ELF championship in a row.

The championship game started well for the Vikings in front of a record crowd of 41,364 spectators in the Schalke Arena. US quarterback Ben Holmes finished the first offensive series with a touchdown pass to fellow countryman Reece Horn. But Fire countered with a run by league MVP (best player of the season) Glen 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.

Decision against the Vikings

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 Touré received the award for “Offensive Rookie of the Year”. Aleksandar Milanovic, whose career was drawing to a close, was named “Man of Honor”.