CEFL Championship is nearing its end. Four best teams which are still in competition will arrange the CEFL Bowl XVI membership in the semifinal games this Saturday.
CEFL Championship semifinals
Saturday, 4 June, 17:00 CET
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns — Flash de La Courneuve
Live stream: https://sportdeutschland.tv/schwaebisch-hall-unicorns/cefl-schwaebisch-hall-unicorns-vs-flash-de-la-courneuve
First semifinal game is played in Schwäbisch Hall, where the Unicorns will host the Flash from La Courneuve. The German team is the 2021 champion and they’re looking to repeat this season. French contenders will do everything they can to steal it away from them. This game will be broadcast on the Sportklub TV and the webcast is also secured.
The Unicorns were seeded in the CEFL Championship, which means they have skipped the first round. Their only game so far was against the Swedish champions Örebro Black Knights, and the score was uneven, 58-7. Before that, the Swedes have bested the Danish champions, Copenhagen Towers, making the Unicorns now sort of a Northern representative in the semifinals.
Their opponent, the Flash, have played the first round in Badalona against the Dracs. Beating the Catalans 49-7, they’ve advanced to the second round. In it, they’ve traveled to play Thonon Black Panthers and outscored them with 45-27. Their end of the bracket was composed of French and Spanish teams, so it could be stated that they are Western semifinalists.
German national championship has begun only recently and the Unicorns have played just two games so far. One of them was versus Saarland Hurricanes, second placed team in last season’s Southern Conference of the GFL. They’ve won both games by hefty margins, raising their hopes of winning the top position in the South again this year.
Meanwhile, the French league is all but over. The Flash have coasted through it unscathed, no rival coming even close to beating them. The smallest margin from their 9 national wins so far was 20 points. They’ll play just one more national game until the playoffs, visiting the Black Panthers who will try to claim the top spot in the North.
Unicorns’ quarterback, Reilly Hennessey was good for 4 touchdowns against Örebro Black Knights, 2 of which went to wide receiver Tyler Rutenbeck. Linebacker Luis Bach recorded an interception and returned it for a score and Tim Stadelmayr booted 3 field goals.
Signal caller of the Flash, Conor Miller threw 2 touchdowns on Badalona Dracs and 5 versus Thonon Black Panthers. Running back Guillaume Buquet rushed for 2 scores in the first round, as much as Jason Bofunda, who split his production between the 2 rounds.
CEFL Championship semifinals
Saturday, 4 June, 18:00 CET
Calanda Broncos — E-R Parma Panthers
Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhKGjukzSzg
In the second semifinal game, Calanda Broncos will play host to E-R Parma Panthers. The Broncos ended their journey in the semifinals last season but they still remember their 2019 performance, when they went a step further. The Panthers are the current champions of Italy and they’ve joined the CEFL Championship this season.
The home team is the champion of Switzerland from 2021 and they were seeded this season, missing the first round action. In the second round, they’ve met with the Budapest Wolves. The Broncos were heavily favored but the visitors were neck and neck throughout most of the game. In the end, the Swiss have put it to bed with a 7 point differential, 35-28.
E-R Parma Panthers are the third and only remaining seeded team. Their quarterfinal matchup versus Vienna Danube Dragons went smoothly in their favor in the first period. They’ve lost their offensive mojo in the second half, but their defense saved the day, limiting the opponent to only 7 points. In the end they triumphed with 21-10 and placed in the semis.
The Broncos have just 2 more games to play in the regular season of the Swiss national league. Their current record is 7-1 and their only loss has come to Bern Grizzlies. They’ll have a shot at returning the favor next weekend though, when they meet again to decide the leader of the standings. Either way, the Broncos will host the national semifinal game.
Parmigiani (official demonym for Parma residents) have already played all of their regular season games in the national league. They occupy second spot in the standings so they’ll wait for their opponent from the wild card round. Florence Guelfi are the favorites who could visit them in the national semifinals and the Panthers have won their first matchup by 3 points.
Broncos’ offensive leader, William Andries posted 2 touchdown passes in their first CEFL Championship outing in the quarterfinals. Running back Brecht Deboosere also added 2 scores over the ground, while defensive back Matthias Tanno had a pick 6.
The Panthers played a defensive duel during most of their matchup against the Danube Dragons. Their linebacker-turn-running back Dauson Dales pushed through for 2 short touchdowns and quarterback Brook Bolles added one score over the air.