Saturday, March 23, 2024
HomePreviewLights. Action. Football.

Lights. Action. Football.

Two teams currently leading their conferences have thus far played a total of six games, with the Novi Sad Dukes winning all four in the South to already clinch a playoff spot and the Budapest Wolves getting to 2-0 with two convincing wins in two weeks. The game on Sunday will not only feature the only two undefeated teams in SELAF, but it will also be a night game, adding to the drama. Meanwhile, prior to that game the Silverhawks will make the trip from Ljubljana to Belgrade, where they will on Saturday play the Vukovi.

It has been another poor start to the season for the Silverhawks, who haven’t won in Serbia in their last three games going back to last year. They were shut out again in Novi Sad this season and have just one win against Serbian teams in away games, and even that one is against a former SELAF team, the Legionaries.

Part of the reason for these, in most cases, convincing losses is that the Silverhawks usually go on away games with an incomplete team. This time, while they will again play in Belgrade with less than the whole team, they will have four of their American players that were unavailable for the trip to Novi Sad.

The Vukovi on their part would be extremely disappointed with anything less than a win, especially because of a possible Dukes’ loss in Budapest that would even the teams in the loss column. The game will be played at the usual place, Ada Ciganlija in Belgrade, and will start at 4PM. The only difference is the ticket is free of charge this time because of the Belgrade Sport Fest.

A day later, the Wolves host the Novi Sad Dukes with the kickoff time set for 8PM. The game won’t be played at the Wolves’ usual BVSC Stadium, moving to MAC Stadium on Margaret Island instead.

Dukes’ 4-0 record is no surprise considering they currently lead SELAF in most statistical categories, including their quarterback Čaba Juhas, who is the league leader in both passing and rushing yards. In four games Juhas has nearly equaled his last year’s production in the passing game, and already superseded the rushing totals from 2006.

The Wolves’ players in general haven’t had the chance to pile up those totals because of playing just two games, but Juhas’ counterpart Vasyl Yordan has been equally if not more impressive, passing for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, and also being benched for most of the second half in Ljubljana.

While Novi Sad’s players recognize that this will be the toughest game they will have played this year, and the Wolves probably the toughest opponent in two SELAF years, their attitude is they won’t give up before the game is played. With them also having secured a playoff spot already, it could be enough to make this an interesting game.

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