The Bratislava Monarchs fell behind in the first half again, but there was no coming back and making the game at least a little bit interesting this time, as the Vukovi cruised to a 53-0 victory.
What was thought of as a more competitive game than the previous game in Belgrade, that the home team won by 74 points, turned into a similarly convincing win. Still, the Monarchs made a better impression than what the score says, playing better in the first quarter that ended scoreless.
“We came out a little flat in the first half”, said William Blocker of their first quarter struggles.
The Vukovi finally scored with an 11 yard run by Željko Kostić, before what proved to be the Monarchs’ undoing – poor quarterback and special teams play – reared its ugly head. The Vukovi got the ball twice on the opponents 6 yard line, thanks to a Dimitrije Cvijović interception and later a bad snap in a punt situation.
Mario Lugonja caught a touchdown pass and Kostić scored the second of his three total touchdowns to give his team a 20 point lead at halftime.
Unlike the game in Austria where the Monarchs were able to come back, not to win, but to make the game interesting, in Belgrade it was quite routine for the home team; they scored 33 points in the second half, with two touchdowns on defense. Marko Bates made an interception and ran 28 yards for the score and after Jordan Green found Aleksandar Lazović in the end zone to make it 39-0, defensive end Stefan Gajić picked up a fumble and scored on a 47 yard return.
Green put the finishing touches on the game with a quarterback sneak, after yet another poorly executed punt by the Monarchs.
Despite the 53 point loss, Bratislava didn’t leave such a bad impression, especially in the first half, when they were a few plays away from making it a competitive game. Belgrade’s running back Uroš Milić left the game early in the second half after a hard hit; he injured his knee, but that was just one of the hard hits the Monarchs put on the Vukovi.
Nevertheless, the Vukovi are clearly the number one team in the league currently, demonstrating dominance that was not seen in the prior two years of the league. As for the Monarchs, it’s not what they had in mind when they joined the league, and their coach and team president Milan Mudry, upset after the tough loss, said he is leaving the team.