Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parma Panthers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Win |
| Danube Dragons Vienna | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 | Loss |
Second quarterfinal game and first on the program this Saturday was played in Italy. E-R Parma Panthers have welcomed Vienna Danube Dragons in what turned out to be a defensive contest. The home team started strong, gliding to early lead in the first half. They lost momentum after the break, but the Austrians couldn’t quite catch up.
Both teams started cautiously and had to punt when they couldn’t hack it.
It took two big plays from the Panthers’ pair of players to finish the drive. Brook Bolles closes in with a pass to Simone Alinovi and then finds him again for first points.
Panthers: Brook Bolles 24 yard pass to Simone Alinovi, PAT is good, 7-0
Danube Dragons passing plays are inefficient. When the home team takes the ball again Bolles rushes himself and then gets sacked by Destiny Idiahi. This doesn’t faze him as he connects with Dario Zatti for 36 yards. The ball is pushed into the end zone from there.
Panthers: Dauson Dales 1 yard rush, PAT is good, 14-0
The visitors’ quarterback Chad Jeffries moves the chains with his legs, but not over the air. After his team punts, the Panthers continue where they left off when Bolles gets intercepted by Martin Brinskelle.
Austrian team now has starts the drive on their opponents’ 25 yard line. Running back Matthias Löcker breaks tackles before the last defender finally gets him down inches away from the end zone. They try to run it in 3 times but the home team’s goal line defense is stronger and they have to kick.
Danube Dragons: Felix Deutschmann 18 yard field goal, 14-3
Bolles keeps the ball to get ahead of the chains and delivers a rainbow pass to Tommaso Felisa for big yards. On a QB draw he gets to the 1 yard line and Dales takes over from there.
Panthers: Dauson Dales 1 yard rush, PAT is good, 21-3
Jeffries links up with Uzay Nafile for first down, and then takes off for 22 yards and once again for 18 yards. He flings it to Camron Lewis and the ball is on the 1 yard line. Panthers’ secondary is up to the task on all 4 downs, forcing turnover on downs before the half time break.
When the Panthers take over in the third period, Bolles goes deep to Tommaso Finadri but their offense gets stopped. They try a long field goal which gets blocked and Linus Gantar returns the ball to the Italian 34 yard line.
Danube Dragons are much better this time. Jeffries runs for 19 yards and then flips the ball to Gold who carries defenders on his back and finally breaks in.
Danube Dragons: Chad Jeffries 18 yard pass to Lukas Gold, PAT is good, 21-10
In the next series Bolles rushes again but the home team doesn’t do much. The visiting quarterback legs it himself but then fumbles and Panthers’ Gianmarco Grossi recovers on the opposing 31 yard line.
It’s the last quarter by now and their offense seems to be tired backing themselves off with penalties. The Viennese can’t do better either and teams trade a couple punts.
When the visitors get the ball back Jeffries digs for Gold. Then their team goes through a déjà vu when Jeffries lobs it 49 yards to Lewis who’s tackled by Giovanni Caccialupi a yard from the goal line. From there, a good passing defense and a pair of holding calls set the Danube Dragons back. On the 4th down Jeffries shoots for the end zone to Lewis again but a sure touchdown is defended by Flavio Zanardi.
Italian team bleeds the clock by running the ball to put the final score at 21-10. With this win E-R Parma Panthers are the second team to place in the semifinals.