Photo: Svenja Sabatini
The end of the 2024 regular season of the European League of Football is just around the corner. In Week 14, a lot is at stake in Switzerland against the Helvetic Mercenaries: With a win, the Stuttgart Surge would move straight into the semifinals, which will take place in two weeks. A big advantage would be that the Surge would have home advantage in the game before the championship game in Gelsenkirchen. If they lose to the Mercenaries, the Stuttgart team would have to play the wild card round next week and then have to play the semifinals away from home. The goal for the team around head coach Jordan Neuman is therefore clearly defined: A win is a must!
The Mercenaries will do everything they can to prevent that. Even though the Swiss franchise is in last place in the Central Conference and has only won one game so far, while losing ten, head coach Bryan Billy’s team is highly motivated. After the upheaval within the franchise at the start of the season, the way has been paved both structurally and athletically to attack again in the coming season. This can be illustrated, for example, by wide receiver Milan Spiller. The Swiss has caught 5 touchdowns in 11 games for the Mercenaries and gained 927 yards – he is not many yards away from breaking a record: Anthony Mahoungou currently leads the list of Most Receiving Yards by a European Receiver with 984 yards.
After losing to the Surge in Week 6 (50:07 for the Surge in the Reutlingen stadium at the Kreuzeiche), the Swiss regained their confidence in Week 7 when they surprisingly defeated the Milano Seamen 16:10. A week later, the Mercenaries made it very difficult for the Vienna Vikings and were on the verge of inflicting the Viennese team’s first defeat of the season. Even though the Vikings won the game 49:40, the Swiss made a big statement. For example, despite the loss, the Helvetic Mercenaries were ahead of the Vikings in first downs (22:19) and total offense yards (520:431). In the fourth quarter, the Mercenaries scored 22 points, showing that they are always a force to be reckoned with.
The Swiss team’s defeats in the following games were more significant: 23:55 against the Munich Ravens, 28:42 against the Tirol Raiders, 03:49 against the Vienna Vikings in the return match and 13:38 against the Munich Ravens in the return match. Nevertheless, the Mercenaries should not be underestimated, especially since they were able to strengthen their team before the signing deadline: They brought in a new quarterback in DeAndre Clayton, who also got a new target in wide receiver Terryon Robinson. Robinson has caught 264 yards and scored three touchdowns in three games played so far. QB Clayton has 665 passing yards, 148 rushing yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions in three games.
Stuttgart will not underestimate the Helvetic Mercenaries and will give everything for a win. Louis Geyer can also break a record on Saturday: He is only 44 yards away from overtaking Jean Constant and becoming the ELEVEN all-time receiving leader. Jean Constant currently has 2824 yards, Louis Geyer has 2780 yards. So there is a lot at stake in this encounter. The game will take place on Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the Kleinfeld Stadium in Kriens.
Preview Week 14: Match for the direct semi-final spot in Switzerland
The end of the 2024 European League of Football regular season is just around the corner. In Week 14 in Switzerland against the Helvetic Mercenaries, there is a lot at stake: A win would see the Stuttgart Surge advance directly to the semi-finals, which take place in two weeks’ time. A big advantage would be that the Surge would have home court advantage in the game before the Championship Game in Gelsenkichen. In the event of a defeat against the Mercenaries, Stuttgart would have to play out the Wild Card round next week and would then have to play the semi-final away from home. The goal for the team led by Head Coach Jordan Neuman is therefore clearly defined: A win is a must!
The Mercenaries will do everything in their power to prevent that. Even though the Swiss franchise is in last place in the Central Conference and has only won one game and lost ten so far, Head Coach Bryan Billy’s team is highly motivated. After the upheaval within the franchise at the start of the season, the path has been paved both structurally and athletically to attack again in the coming season. This can be illustrated, for example, by wide receiver Milan Spiller. In 11 games for the Mercenaries, the Swiss has caught 5 touchdowns and gained 927 yards – not many yards short of breaking a record: So far, Anthony Mahoungou leads the ranking of Most Receiving Yards by a European Receiver with 984 yards.
After the defeat against the Surge in Week 6 (50:07 for the Surge at the Reutlinger Stadion an der Kreuzeiche), the Swiss team regained their confidence in Week 7 when they surprisingly defeated the Milano Seamen 16:10. A week later, the Mercenaries made it very difficult for the Vienna Vikings and were on the verge of inflicting their first defeat of the season. Even though the Vikings won the game 49:40, the Swiss team put down a big marker. Despite the defeat, the Helvetic Mercenaries had the edge over the Vikings in first downs (22:19) and total offense yards (520:431). The Mercenaries scored 22 points in the fourth quarter and thus showed that they are always a force to be reckoned with.
The Swiss team’s defeats in the following games were much more severe: 23:55 against the Munich Ravens, 28:42 against the Tirol Raiders, 03:49 against the Vienna Vikings in the second leg and 13:38 against the Munich Ravens in the third leg. Nevertheless, the Mercenaries should not be underestimated, especially as they were able to strengthen their squad before the signing deadline: They picked up a new quarterback in DeAndre Clayton, who has also gained a new starting center in wide receiver Terryon Robinson. Robinson has caught for 264 yards and scored three touchdowns in three games so far. QB Clayton has 665 passing yards, 148 rushing yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions in three games.
Stuttgart will not underestimate the Helvetic Mercenaries and will give everything for a victory. Louis Geyer can also break a record on Saturday: He is only 44 yards short of passing Jean Constant to become ELF All-Time Receiving Leader. Jean Constant currently stands at 2824 yards, Louis Geyer at 2780 yards. So there is a lot at stake in this match-up. The game will take place on Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 18:00 at the Kleinfeld stadium in Kriens.
Author: Sascha Müller
