The Danube derby between the teams sharing the same name was the second game of the CEFL Championship’s Week 1. Belgrade SBB Vukovi hosted Budapest Wolves and emerged victorious at the end. It was a boon for offenses with both teams’ quarterbacks posting 4 touchdowns each.
The game got off to a great start for SBB Vukovi, when Joshua Cartwright connected with Nolan Corpening for a touchdown early on, giving them the lead, 7-0.
The Wolves tried to fight back, but their first drive was cut short when Strahinja Jeremić intercepted a pass from Bencsics Márk. The home team capitalized on the turnover over Željko Stegnjaja who booted a field goal to extend their lead to 10-0.
The visitors got on the board when Bencsics found Czirók Márton for a long touchdown pass, followed by a successful two-point conversion by an unlikely duo. On a broken PAT, kicker Storcz András hit defensive lineman Borek Dávid to narrow the gap to 10-8.
It didn’t take much for SBB Vukovi to respond by Cartwright and Corpening linking up once again to make it 17-8.
Hungarian team found the opposing end zone again with a lengthy scoring play when Bencsics tossed a rocked to Varga Péter for 17-15.
Belgraders then extended their lead first by Petar Bajalica grabbing a rainbow pass in the namesake’s red zone and then by Aleksandar Mlađen taking a direct snap and pushing through to up the score to 24-15.
As the first half drew to a close the visitors were within a hair’s breadth of the goal line before time ran out on them.
After the intermission, they struck back with a rushing touchdown from Gombos Dávid, cutting the lead to just two points at 24-22.
SBB Vukovi answered with a field goal from Stegnjaja, followed by a long scoring sprint from Cartwright, running off to 34-22.
The home team continued to dominate, first defensively, when Petar Derikonjić stripped the ball from Bartos Ferenc and SBB Vukovi’s Nikola Treskanica jumped on the ball. Then, on the offense, Mlađen found his way through the goal line defense on another direct snap for 41-22.
Undeterred, the Wolves responded with Bencsics first locating Varga for a TD, and then Bartos for a two-point conversion, making it 41-30.
An extended scamper by Cartwright was all it took for SBB Vukovi to raise the bar to unreachable 48-30.
Not backing down, the visiting team managed to lower the spread with another Bencsics to Czirók combo and then Gombos rushing for a deuce, but it was all she wrote as the final score stood at 48-38.
CEFL Championship story continues for SBB Vukovi which will travel to E-R Parma Panthers next. Their second round game is scheduled for 13 May. On the same day, Budapest Wolves will host Bucharest Rebels in the second CEFL Cup semifinal.