European League of Football
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Rhein Fire celebrates victory in first home game
The Düsseldorf team from the European League of Football impressively beat the Istanbul Rams 42:12. The team is well prepared for the top game against Barcelona Dragons.
At the beginning, the nervousness was clearly noticeable in the first home game after a 15-year break. The Rhein Fire American Footballers had to put the “soft soap” out of their hands before they could put on a convincing performance against the Istanbul Rams. But then things went like clockwork for Düsseldorf in the European League of Football (ELF). In the end, the Rhein Fire won their third ELF game of the season with a 42:12 victory over the Turks in Duisburg’s MSV stadium. “It was pretty crisp what Rhein Fire did in the first home game,” summed up ELF commissioner Patrick Esume at half-time. “It feels like before.”
The Düsseldorfers have drawn level with the Barcelona Dragons in the ELF Southern Division and participation in the semi-finals is still a possibility. Only the leaders of the three ELF Conferences and the best runners-up qualify for the post-season.
The guests from the largest Turkish metropolis scored the first points. Fires Daniel Schuhmacher had already missed a field goal attempt when the Rams’ Australian playmaker Jarred Stegman made a short pass to his own teammate. For a long time, however, that was the only thing that the Istanbul team could count on the field. The Düsseldorf players couldn’t know that yet and needed some time to get over their nervousness.
The defense brought the hosts into play. Defense back Omari Williams, in particular, excelled by intercepting a slegman pass and launching a counterattack. Anyway, Williams convinced with some “big plays”. The 1.86 meter tall defender intercepted another slegman pass (interception) and repeatedly picked up a ball dropped by the Rams (fumble). So the Americans repeatedly forced the momentum onto the side of the hosts.
And the playful momentum picked up on the offensive led by quarterback Matt Adams. From the second quarter, after pass recipients Nathaniel Robitaille and Timothy Knuettel had regained their catching security and running backs Jason Aguemon and Daniel Rennich were able to show off their speed, the Rams didn’t have too much to oppose. And when ex-Panther player Harlan Kwofie showed great form as a wide receiver, the “fair” was read for the people of Istanbul. Tight end Florian Eichhorn opened the scoring at the beginning of the second quarter. Robitaille took turns with Kwofie and in the middle of the final quarter Rhein Fire was clearly ahead 35:6. Time to take Adams out of the game and let Rohat Dagdelen, who was born in Düsseldorf, direct the role. And the 25-year-old showed that he also has a lot under his arm, because with him as quarterback, running back Jason Aguemon still managed the touchdown for a 42:6 lead. The fact that the Rams were still able to score six points was due to a slight lack of concentration in the feeling of certain victory.
Despite the clear success, the Rhein Fire trainer team was not consistently satisfied. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to finally play a Rhein Fire home game again,” said Fire head coach Jim Tomsula, who was also Düsseldorf’s professional footballer head coach in his first life. “But the Rams kept putting us back in the game with a few mistakes. We have to improve in all areas. In particular, not so many kicks should be blocked by us. That’s a job for the Special Teams Coach and that’s me.”
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