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Can't believe it

Goran Košutić

Dejan Danailov

The Vukovi Belgrade overcame a 13 point deficit in the final minute and a half to beat the Budapest Wolves by a point in the CEFL Bowl, capturing the SELAF title for 2007 in the process. The comeback was complete with Jovan Golušin’s second touchdown run from the two yard line with three seconds on the play clock.

After Peter Cseperkalo ran over 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-13 it appeared that the Wolves managed to finally put the game away. Not so, said the Vukovi, though it looked on their sideline like even they didn’t believe in a comeback. Hard to blame them for that, but pretty soon it was clear there’s still football to be played when Briton Burge hit the future game MVP Pavle Tasić to cut the difference to six.

His brother Andrej was the one that executed the ensuing onside kick and it was recovered by Belgrade with 25 seconds to go – the ball was recovered by, who else, Pavle Tasić. The Vukovi obviously had little time, but they could not be stopped at this point, and the 52 yard they needed to cover quickly turned to seven. After interference was called on Andrej Tasić in the end zone, Golušin did his thing again, plowing through from the 2.

The Wolves have much to regret – not only they lost a game that was practically over and done with, but they also dropped a 20-0 lead from the first quarter and a half, to a team that appeared lost. Krisztian Papp intercepted Burge for the second time this season, and the only one to do so this year, after which Laszlo Csizmazia ran for the score subbing for the injured Istvan Demeter. With Vasyl Yordan passing, Csanad Kiraly made it 13-0, and Krisztian Piros outran the whole Belgrade team on his 78 yard touchdown reception.

But Yordan’s performance fell off dramatically from that point on, as he was intercepted at the last play of the half by safety Ivan Ristić, and the other Belgrade safety, Ivan Nedeljković, did the same twice in the second half.

The Vukovi scored after one of the interceptions when Andrej Tasić cought a 31 yard pass from Burge. They couldn’t score more, and it was back and forth for the rest of the game. Even before Cseperkalo’s run Budapest had a good chance to clinch it, but Gabor Sviatko missed a long field goal.

“I can only thank the players for not giving up. Hat down for not quitting and fighting to the end”, said their coach Aleksandar Hadži-Pavlović, his first year on the job.

Indeed, not much more to say after an ending like this. The MVP award ultimately went to Pavle Tasić, though there were many deserving candidates – his late game heroics were too hard to overlook.

For the next year, Belgrade gets to hold the trophy.