JEEP Bowl has brought us the most exciting duel between the two Serbian football powerhouses so far. The Wild Boars have put the first points on the scoreboard with a field goal by Srdjan Ruzic early in the first quarter. SBB Vukovi would have trailed a much higher score if not for their defense in the first quarter and wide receivers Marko Maric and Anthony Washington moving the chains. They have answered late in the first half with a short touchdown run by quarterback Shaun Rutherford. That has kept the score at intermission to a defensive 7:3.
Some great plays were seen in the second half by Wild Boars’ Ken Hale and Shane Wong. After a field goal by the Vukovi, Hale has returned an ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, tying the score at 10. Vukovi took the lead again with another rushing touchdown by Rutherford in the next drive and the Wild Boars answered with Ike Whitaker’s pass to Wong who ran for 80 yards after catch for a touchdown. With a missed point after touchdown, the score was 17:16. It seemed the Vukovi had an easy job of bleeding the clock when they took the ball two and a half minutes before the end. However, their runs were short of first down and the Wild Boars had welcomed a chance to win the game with their last drive beginning at 56 seconds before the final whistle. Quarterback Ike Whitaker was sure not to miss the opportunity, connecting with his receivers to put the ball on SBB Vukovi’s three yard line with four seconds left in the game. However, Wild Boars’s kicking team was not as successful as it was early in the game and SBB Vukovi’s special team had blocked it leaving the final score unchanged at 17:16.
Next week brings us two games in CEFL, both on Saturday at 4PM. The Silverhawks are welcoming SBB Vukovi in Ljubljana, and the Docler Wolves are hosting the Wild Boars in Budapest.