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Budapest sets sight for the top seed

Goran Košutić

Branimir Milovanović

Manuel Houtz, left, the Gladiators' player of many tasks

Last week’s game in Kragujevac was the last game in the South, and this week in Rudersdorf we’ll have the final game of SELAF’s spring season. The Gladiators host the Budapest Wolves on Sunday in what is their last chance to threaten the Wolves atop the conference North.

The Gladiators haven’t had the best debut season. If their loss in Budapest three weeks ago is not all that surprising, the loss to Belgrade at home was, and it also put them in a situation where a loss on Sunday means Budapest secures the top place in the standings and a home playoff game in October. Since the Wolves have 3 wins and the Gladiators 1 along with 2 losses, a win by Budapest guarantees that even in case both teams finish with a 4-3 record, Budapest gets the edge because of wins in both matches against the Austrian team.

On their part, Budapest has been nearly unstoppable, although the offense has been far more impressive than the defense. They scored 37 points in their first game and exactly 42 in each of their last two games at home; Vasyl Yordan is yet to throw an interception and their running game has produced 193 yards per game, second only to Belgrade.

Fullback Péter Cseperkáló is SELAF’s second leading rusher, but amazingly he has accomplished so on only 18 carries and he also leads the league in rushes of at least 20 yards with 9. They also get plenty of yards from their other running backs, namely István Demeter, who is coming from a strong game against Novi Sad, cracking 100 yards in the win.

In contrast, the Gladiators rely much more on Bernhard Kamber and his arm. He has attempted exactly twice as many passes than Yordan in the same number of games, but hasn’t had nearly as much help from his running backs. Still, their main problem has been lack of available players. It’s tough to compete with the smallest roster in SELAF and players playing multiple positions, especially against Budapest which has the maximum of 53 licensed players.

Another problem for this type of team is injuries. Running back Gerd Ladinig left the game in Budapest after a solid first half, but is expected to play in this one. The Gladiators also expect to have all of their players available this time.

Maybe this is why, against the Wolves, a 21-14 game at one point changed quickly to a 4th quarter blowout, and even why they dropped a 14 point 1st quarter lead in losing to Belgrade.

In case the same thing happens again on Sunday in Rudersdorf, with the kickoff time set for 4PM, the Gladiators will have to battle the Silverhawks for the remaining playoff spot.