After a 231-day break, the Austrian Football League is back in season: The start of the AFL 2024 took place at the American Football Center Innsbruck, where the Swarco Raiders Tirol beat the Rangers Mödling 45-2. There was also an impressive home win in the second game on Saturday. The AFC Vienna Vikings beat the Telfs Patriots 83:7! The highlight of the first AFL weekend will be on Sunday: The Thalheim Graz Giants will welcome the Prague Black Panthers at 2 p.m. in the ASKÖ Stadium Eggenberg (to the live stream). The duel between the Salzburg Ducks and defending champion Danube Dragons will take place on July 6th at the end of the regular season.
16.03., 15:00: Swarco Raiders Tirol vs. Rangers Mödling 45:2 (0:2, 10:0, 21:0, 14:0)
Both the Swarco Raiders Tirol and the Rangers Mödling finished last season in the bottom half of the table. This year both teams have ambitions to play higher and are starting the season with a new head coach and an import quarterback with college experience. For the Raiders these are Dominik Bauer and Kason Martin, for the Rangers they are Benjamin Bräuer and Shazzon Mumphrey.
The first points of the season went to the Rangers, a safety put the guests in the lead. The Raiders scored their first touchdown in the second quarter. Running back Tim Tonko ran five yards into the end zone. Lorenz Kriwak scored the extra point and added a 40-yard field goal shortly before halftime – the score was 10:2 at halftime. In the third quarter the home team increased, Martin presented himself as an excellent playmaker in his debut, found Simon Pilger and Kriwak kicked to make it 17:2. The Raiders stayed on the trigger: Jakob Timmermann, like Felix Kantner, put six points on the scoreboard. The score was 31:2 going into the final period of the game, and the Raiders offense was still unstoppable for the Rangers defense. Tonko celebrated his second touchdown. Kantner and Kriwak scored the final points in front of 700 spectators at the AFZ Innsbruck. Final score 45:2 – a brilliant start to the season for the Raiders!
Tim Tonko, RB SWARCO Raiders Role: “It feels incredibly good, we performed incredibly well, all phases of the game were incredibly good. The safety was a wake-up call, then the engine started running. There’s a lot going on this year – this win was a statement. I think we can give every team a challenge.”
Benjamin Bräuer, Head Coach Rangers Mödling: “In the first half, the defense kept us in the game, but we didn’t produce much offensively. It goes back to the drawing board, we have to learn from it to look better. It’s football, it happens.”
Statistics
16.03., 16:00: AFC Vienna Vikings vs. Telfs Patriots 83:7 (27:0, 20:0, 36:7, 0:0)
An hour after the Raiders and Rangers, the AFC Vienna Vikings and the Telfs Patriots also started the new season. The new head coach for the Viennese team is Benjamin Sobotka. He succeeded Ivan Zivko, who remained with the club as offensive coordinator. With Florian Wegan, Sobotka can rely on an absolutely top-class RB. The Patriots have a new sports director, Benjamin Pfeifer, and a new head coach, Hunter Schmidt.
The favored Vikings overran the Patriots and ended their first drive with a touchdown by Kevin Wojta. Wegan also made it into the end zone after a pass from quarterback Nico Hrouda, as did Markus Bernas after a fumble and again Wojta. Dominik Trebo had his sights set well and hit the bars four times. The sides changed for the first time at 28:0. It continued in the same vein: Maximillion Fine scored his first touchdown in Austria, and Dennis Markovic-Juric also caught a Hrouda pass in the end zone. Sandro Djukic made it 47-0 at halftime. After the break, the enthusiastic fans at the Ravelin first saw a touchdown from Leonhard Foidl and a two-point conversion completed by Armin Reichhardt. Tobias Pfeiffer continued the scoring fireworks (61:0). But there was also a sense of achievement for the Patriots: Marco Holzknecht scored the only touchdown for the guests. Afterwards, Foidl, Sandro Djukic and Manuel Zellhofer as well as Kicker Trebo completed the Vikings festival – 83:7!
Benjamin Sobotka, Head Coach Vienna Vikings: “We were well prepared and trained well throughout the week. Of course I didn’t expect it to be so clear. We played very well, the score we conceded was an inaccuracy. Everyone has shown that they can play football, everyone deserves to be on the field. The next game at the Panthers will be the first real indicator.”
Statistics
Austrian Football League, Week 1
16.03., 15:00: Swarco Raiders Tirol vs. Rangers Mödling 45:2 (0:2, 10:0, 21:0, 14:0)
16.03., 16:00: AFC Vienna Vikings vs. Telfs Patriots 83:7 (27:0, 20:0, 36:7, 0:0)
17.03., 14:00: Thalheim Graz Giants vs. Prague Black Panthers >>> to the live stream
06.07., 16:00: Salzburg Ducks vs. Danube Dragons
Results, live streams, schedule, table, data and statistics
2024-03-16 22:52:36
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