In the final week of the 2013 Austrian Football League (AFL) regular season the SWARCO Raiders, sister-team of the Oakland Raiders, host the AFC Rangers. The game will be played on Saturday, June 29. Kickoff at Innsbruck's Tivoli Stadium is at 8:00 a.m. PT (5:00 p.m. CET).
Follow the SWARCO Raiders live on **www.raiderstv.at*. The live stream for this week's game starts on June 29 at 7:45 a.m. PT (4:45 p.m. CET).*
"We can't make the mistake of thinking about the playoffs just yet," said SWARCO Raiders head coach Shuan Fatah. "We want to prepare for the decisive part of the season with a strong performance against the Rangers."
The Rangers have not won a game this season. But in comparison to last year, when they entered the league after many seasons in Division 1 and were shut-out six times they play much improved in 2013. In nine games this season they were shut-out only once. They scored a total of 94 points compared to 77 points total in 2012.
The Rangers and the SWARCO Raiders met ten times in the AFL. The Rangers have won the very first encounter 34-20. All other nine games were won by the Tyroleans. Seven times the teams met between 1999 and 2003. After the Rangers AFL comeback last year the teams played each other three times. The SWARCO Raiders won 52-0 on the road and 62-0 at home in 2012 and defeated the Rangers 42-17 on the road this season.
Overall the SWARCO Raiders have scored an average of 61 points per game against the Rangers and gave up only 17.6 points per game. They scored 73 points or more five times and pitched 3 shut-outs.
In the nine AFL games played QB Kyle Callahan completed 131 of 204 passes for 1,872 yards with 23 touchdowns and 4 interceptions an. He also had 39 rushes for 148 yards and 4 scores. Last weekend QB Adrian Platzgummer started his verz first game. Over the season he completed 9 of 25 passes for 64 yards with one touchdown and 3 interceptions. RB Andreas Hofbauer leads the Tyroleans with 92 carries for 575 yards and 5 touchdowns. RB Lukas Miribung gained 273 yards on 54 rushes with one touchdown. RB/DB Jaycen Taylor had 15 runs for 94 yards und a touchdown. He also caught 10 passes for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.
WR Damaso Tarneller is the team's leading receiver with 38 catches for 617 yards and 4 touchdowns. WR Julian Ebner caught 24 balls for 414 yards and 9 touchdowns. WR/K Clemens Erlsbacher had 25 receptions for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns. WR Talib Wise caught 18 balls for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 10 rushes for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Erlsbacher also excels on special teams. He converted 34 of 35 extra points and kicked 6 field goals. He also had 18 punts for an average of 37.5 yards per punt with 6 punts downed inside the opposing 20. And 27 of his 51 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. On top of that Erlsbacher had 6 kickoff returns for 90 yards. Wise had 3 kickoff returns for 54 yards and 3 punt returns for 87 yards. DB Enrico Martini returned 14 kickoffs for 383 yards. Taylor had 2 punt return touchdowns (65 yards, 78 yards).
The SWARCO Raiders defense is led by LB Florian Hueter and his 41.5 tackles (27 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. LB Chrisoph Schilcher had 34.5 tackles (24 solo) and a tackle for loss. He's followed by LB Fabian Seeber, who had 31.5 tackles (25 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks and a fumble recovery.
DE Philipp Margreiter had 19 tackles (17 solo). He also leads the AFL with 13.5 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. Margreiter also forced 2 fumbles, caught an interception and blocked a punt. DB Markus Krause had 24.5 tackles (15 solo). Martini had 21.5 tackles (16 solo). DL Korbinian Hoffmann had 4 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. DL Maximilian Pichler had 2 sacks. LB Simon Hoser intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown. Krause and Taylor also caught 2 interceptions each. DB Patrick Pilger recovered a fumble. Martini had a pick and a fumble recovery.
The Rangers offense is led by QB Craig Maynard, who completed 60 of 161 passes for 986 yards with 8 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He also leads his team with 108 rushes for 380 yards and 2 touchdowns. RB Maximilian Boder had 32 rushes for 81 yards. WR Stefan Postel has caught 34 balls for 541 yards and 7 touchdown passes.
LB Clinton Snyder leads the defense with 82.5 tackles (57 solo), 6 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, a recovered and three forced fumbles. LB Markus Bernas had 44.5 tackles (25 solo). DB Friedrich Limbeck had 20.5 tackles (16 solo) and DB Lars Gabler had 15.5 tackles (11 solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss. LB Thomas Schaffer had 4 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.
Watch the SWARCO Raiders 2013 season live and as-live for free onwww.raidersTV.at.
