The 2007 regular season officialy ended on Saturday in Kragujevac with the home team losing their seventh game and finishing the season winless. The Gladiators took the win easily, scoring three times in the first quarter for a 35-7 final score.
The Boars last game in 2007 was also likely the last game or last opportunity to play for many of the older players on the team. Their younger players also saw some playing time, but some like Vladimir Radenović played both offense and defense – Radenović in particular played surprisingly well for someone who’s primarily an offensive lineman. The Gladiators were with their typical away game team, meaning just barely enough players to put a team together.
It wasn’t a pretty sight, the game being played on a rain soaked muddy field and with poor attendance. Whatever hopes the former champions had quickly vanished after two first quarter turnovers led to touchdown passes by Bernhard Kamber to newcomer Johannes Widner.
Between those, Kamber also passed to Jürgen Hromek for a 14 point lead.
The offensive player of the year candidate also scored on a quarterback sneak to make it 29-0. The Wild Boars weren’t even close to scoring, but they also didn’t make a stand on defense until the final seconds of the half, when Kamber’s pass was intercepted by Predrag Šćekić with time running out.
It was a sign of slightly better play for the home team, but more on defense than on offense and not nearly enough to turn the game around. Still, the Boars’ score in the final half they played this year was positive – despite holding the ball more, like they did throughout the game, the Gladiators’ Manuel Houtz scored on just two short field goals and the Boars scored seven on a 1 yard touchdown run by Aleksandar Ristić.
It was Houtz who muffed the ball while fielding a punt in the final five minutes and the Boars’ took advantage of the best scoring opportunity they had in the entire game.
“I wouldn’t say easy. Bernie and I still need to get into a rhythm. We hadn’t played together in six years so we still need to work on that”, said Widner about the game, and also his season thus far. He has four touchdowns in just two games this year. He’s also very optimistic for next week. “I honestly expect to win, but I haven’t seen Belgrade except on film from the previous game and it was a close game. Of course I can’t go into a game expecting to lose. If we play like we did in the first half we have a good chance. In the second, Kragujevac played better, but we were off”, added Widner.