Photo: Svenja Sabatini
On Sunday, September 8, 2024, the two finalists from last year will meet in the semifinals of the European League of Football: The Stuttgart Surge will host Rhein Fire in the battle for a place in the 2024 Championship Game, which will be played in the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. The Surge’s most important home game to date will kick off at 3:15 p.m. and promises to be a top-class match.
As the second-best team in the league in terms of record and point difference, the Stuttgart Surge skipped the wildcard round of the playoffs and qualified directly for the semifinals, which Rhein Fire had to play for last week. Even though the Madrid Bravos were the only team so far this season to beat Rhein Fire in Week 3 with a score of 22:10, the German team was able to prevail by a clear margin and knocked the Spaniards out of the playoffs with a score of 40:10. Rhein Fire quarterback Jadrian Clark set up a total of four touchdowns, all of which were scored by wide receiver Harlan Kwofie. Two more touchdowns were scored by running back Glen Toonga.
These three players also form the “magic triangle” that has made Rhein Fire’s offense so successful this season. Running back Glen Toonga scored a total of 32 touchdowns and 1,630 rushing yards in 13 games this season. With these performances from Toonga, Rhein Fire was able to establish itself as the league’s number one rushing offense. The team ranks 11th in passing, which should not be misleading: Quarterback Jadrian Clark threw the ball for a total of 2,303 yards in 13 games, scoring 31 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. One of his favorite targets was the aforementioned Harlan Kwofie. The homegrown receiver, who grew up in Düsseldorf, caught six touchdowns in the regular season – as did his position colleague Kelvin McKnight Jr., with whom he forms the Düsseldorf team’s defining wide receiver duo.
In the regular season, Rhein Fire’s offense scored an average of 39.08 points per game and generated 387.42 yards of gain. Also notable is the efficiency on fourth downs, which was 71.43 percent this season. But Rhein Fire was also strong on defense: the team ranks first in yards allowed as well as points allowed. Defensive players such as ex-NFL player Aaron Donkor (8.5 sacks, 14 TFLs), Marius Kensy (88 tackles), Omari Williams (3 INTs) and Janek Wenke (8 sacks, 11 TFLs) contributed to this.
But Stuttgart doesn’t have to hide from anyone, not even from Rhein Fire: On average, the Surge offense scores more points (47.08 per game) and more yards (432.75 per game) than Düsseldorf. Stuttgart is also in no way inferior to Rhein Fire in fourth down efficiency with an efficiency of 68.18%. Surge QB Reilly Hennessey is having an outstanding season and has a wide range of effective and dangerous players on offense, including Louis Geyer (13 TDs, 854 yards), Yannick Mayr (8 TDs, 811 yards), Darrell Stewart Jr. (4 TDs, 367 yards), Jan Pietsch (4 TDs, 335 yards), Nico Wiedmann (4 TDs, 197 yards), Nicolas Khandar (4 TDs, 686 yards), Levin Liebenow (4 TDs, 459 yards) and Kai Hunter (4 TDs, 367 yards), which puts the Surge in second place in the league in both passing and total yards and even leads the league in scoring.
Rhein Fire running back Toonga will also face the second best rushing defense in the league in Stuttgart. Here, too, the Surge’s outstanding teamwork is evident: Sasan Jelvani (8 TFLs), Luca Siebert (6.5 TFLs), Neville Krüger (9 TFLs) and Sadik Busch (5 TFLs) have worked together as a unit this season and taken away the offenses’ attacking opportunities. The Surge is also very strong in passing defense, which is reflected in the 6 INTs by Raheem Wilson, 5 INTs by Mitch Fettig, 4 INTs by Nick Wenzelburger, 3 INTs by Chad-Adri Walrond, etc.
On September 24, 2023, the Stuttgart Surge lost 34:53 in the championship game in Duisburg’s Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena and had to watch as Rhein Fire won the title. On September 8, 2024, there will be revenge in the semifinals in Stuttgart’s GAZi Stadium on the Waldau. In front of an expected record crowd, the Stuttgart team will give everything to pave the way to the final with a win against Rhein Fire.
Semi-final at the GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau: Surge welcomes Rhein Fire for a rematch of the 2023 final!
On Sunday, September 8, 2024, the two finalists from last year will meet in the semifinals of the European League of Football: The Stuttgart Surge will face Rhein Fire for a place in the 2024 championship game, which will be played at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The Surge’s most important home game to date kicks off at 15:15 and promises to be a clash of the best kind.
As the second-best team in the league in terms of record and points difference, the Stuttgart Surge skipped the wild-card round of the playoffs and qualified directly for the semifinals, which the Rhein Fire had to play for last week. Though the Madrid Bravos were the only team to beat the Rhein Fire this season, 22-10, in Week 3, the German team came out on top, knocking the Spanish side out of the playoffs with a 40-10 victory. Rhein Fire quarterback Jadrian Clark set up a total of four touchdowns, all of which were scored by wide receiver Harlan Kwofie. Two other touchdowns were scored by running back Glen Toonga.
These three players also form the “Magic Triangle” that has made the Rhein Fire offense so successful this season. Running back Glen Toonga has rushed for a total of 32 touchdowns and 1630 rushing yards in 13 games this season. With Toonga’s performance, the Rhein Fire has established itself as the number one rushing offense in the league. The team ranks 11th in passing, which should not be misleading: quarterback Jadrian Clark has thrown for a total of 2303 yards and 31 touchdowns against 7 interceptions in 13 games. One of his favorite targets was the aforementioned Harlan Kwofie. The local boy, who grew up in Düsseldorf, caught six touchdowns in the regular season – just like his position mate Kelvin McKnight Jr., with whom he forms Düsseldorf’s formidable wide receiver duo.
But Stuttgart doesn’t have to hide from anyone, not even the Rhein Fire: on average, the Surge offense scores more points (47.08 per game) and gains more yards (432.75 per game) than Düsseldorf. The Stuttgart team is also in no way inferior to the Rhein Fire in fourth down efficiency with an efficiency of 68.18%. Surge QB Reilly Hennessey is having an outstanding season and has a wide range of effective and dangerous players on offense, including Louis Geyer (13 TDs, 854 yards), Yannick Mayr (8 TDs, 811 yards), Darrell Stewart Jr. (4 TDs, 367 yards), Jan Pietsch (4 TDs, 335 yards), Nico Wiedmann (4 TDs, 197 yards), Nicolas Khandar (4 TDs, 686 yards), Levin Liebenow (4 TDs, 459 yards) and Kai Hunter (4 TDs, 367 yards), making the Surge second in the league in both passing and total yards and top in scoring.
Rhein Fire running back Toonga also faces the second-best rushing defense in the league in Stuttgart. The Surge’s outstanding teamwork is also evident here: Sasan Jelvani (8 TFLs), Luca Siebert (6.5 TFLs), Neville Krüger (9 TFLs) and Sadik Busch (5 TFLs), for example, have played together as a unit this season and deprived the offenses of opportunities to attack. The Surge is also very strong in passing defense, as evidenced by Raheem Wilson’s 6 INTs, Mitch Fettig’s 5 INTs, Nick Wenzelburger’s 4 INTs, Chad-Adri Walrond’s 3 INTs and more.
On September 24, 2023, the Stuttgart Surge lost 34-53 in the championship game at Duisburg’s Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena and saw the Rhein Fire take the title. On September 8, 2024, they will get their revenge in the semifinals at Stuttgart’s GAZi Stadium. In front of what is expected to be a record crowd, Stuttgart will be looking to pave their way to the final with a win over Rhein Fire.
Author: Sascha Müller
