WR Damaso Tarneller (Photo: Schellhorn)
On Sunday, May 11 the SWARCO Raiders, sister-team of The Oakland Raiders, play at the Danube Dragons. It's a matchup between the second and third-place teams of the Austrian Football League (AFL). Kickoff at Vienna is at 6:00 a.m. PT (3:00 p.m. CET).
Follow the SWARCO Raiders live on **www.raiderstv.at*. The live stream for this week's game starts on May 11 at 5:45 a.m. PT (2:45 p.m. CET).*
The SWARCO Raiders have a 3-1 record and sit in second place in the AFL while the Dragons are in third place with a 2-2 record.
"We're in for a fierce battle", said SWARCO Raiders head coach Shuan Fatah. "The Dragons were able to secure a surprise victory last weekend. But we'll be very confident, too and we want to keep our winning streak alive".
Both teams enter the contest on a high confidence level indeed after huge wins a week ago. The Dragons stunned the Prague Black Panthers, winning 28-25 on the road. The Black Panthers were the heavy favorites after almost beating the Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna the week before. Speaking off the Vikings, they lost for the first time since Eurobowl 2012 last Saturday when they fell 22-20 to the SWARCO Raiders. It was the Tyroleans first win over their archrival since Austrian Bowl 2011.
The SWARCO Raiders now hold a three-game winning streak in the AFL. They also have won seven straight against the Dragons. Three of those games were shutouts. Since the 2011 season the Tyroleans have scored an average of 33.7 points per game against the Dragons while giving up only 12.1 points per game.
The last meeting between these two was in week 2 when the SWARCO Raiders won 44-20 in their season home-opener. Last season the Tyroleans won 24-0 at home and secured a 45-31 victory on the road. In 2012 they won 31-7 at home and celebrated a 35-27 victory on the road. In 2011 the Tyroleans won 28-0 in the regular season and beat the Dragons 29-0 in the AFL playoffs.
The SWARCO Raiders have won 14 of 16 matchups against the Dragons. The only two defeats came in 2010.
Back then one man was not even on the SWARCO Raiders roster; RB Andreas Hofbauer. And after sitting behind iconic RB Florian Grein he finally blossomed. In his last two games against the Dragons Hofbauer gained 178 yards on 20 carries (8.9 yards per carry) and scored 4 touchdowns. He is one of the league's most dangerous players this season. Hofbauer has rushed the ball 55 times for 400 yards and 8 scores. He also caught 5 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.
RB Lukas Miribung had 5 carries for 27 yards and a touchdown. RB Markus Wenzel gained 12 yards on 4 carries.
QB John van den Raadt completed 60 of 122 passes for 812 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He also had 46 rushes for 347 yards and 5 scores. In the first meeting with the Dragons van den Raadt threw for 322 yards.
WR/K Clemens Erlsbacher caught 16 balls for 209 yards. WR Adrian Platzgummer caught 12 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown. WR Julian Ebner had 9 catches for 136 yards. He hauled in 5 passes for 101 yards against the Dragons in week 2. WR Damaso Tarneller caught 9 balls for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Erlsbacher also remains the focal point on special teams. He kicked 5 field goals and 12 extra points. He had 13 kickoff returns for 322 yards and punted 12 times for 495 yards (41.25 yards per punt).
LB Fabian Seeber leads his team with 20 tackles (15 solo) and 0.5 tackles for loss. LB Florian Hueter also had 20 tackles (17 solo), including 3.5 tackles for loss. He also caught an interception and scored a safety in the BIG6 game against the Calanda Broncos. DL Philipp Margreiterhad 19.5 tackles (15 solo), 5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. He also forced a fumble. LB Simon Hoser had 16 tackles (13 solo), a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
DB Markus Krause had 14 tackles (12 solo) and caught 2 interceptions. DB Simon Muigg also picked off 2 passes. He also had 8.5 tackles (7 solo) with 2 stops for loss. DB Arno Andreas had 15 tackles (14 solo). He caught 2 interceptions in the BIG6. DB Andreas Achammer had 17 tackles (16 solo) and a tackle for loss. DB Simon Unterrainer had 7.5 tackles (6 solo) and a tackle for loss. DB Enrico Martini had 3.5 tackles (3 solo) with one tackle for loss.
DL Maximilian Pichler had 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and 2.5 tackles (2 solo). DL Ralf Stefanitsch had 3 tackles (3 solo) including a sack. DL Reinhard Pardeller had 7 tackles (6 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss. DL Korbinian Hoffmann also had a sack and 2 tackles for loss as well as 9 tackles (7 solo). DL Philipp Popp recovered a fumble, had 2.5 tackles (1 solo) and 0.5 tackles for loss. DL Manuel Jovic had 4.5 tackles (3 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss.
QB Cary Grossart ist he signal caller for the Dragons. He completed 73 of 126 passes for 893 yards with 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also ran the ball 33 times for 186 yards. In the teams' first meeting Grossart threw for 261 yards and ran for 89 more yards.
His biggest weapon is WR Thomas Haider, who caught 30 balls for 358 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. WR Georg Pongratz had 18 catches for 233 yards and 2 scores. WR Johannes Prammer had 13 catches for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. RB Dominik Kecskemeti ran the ball 28 times for 127 yards and scored once. RB Rene Verhoeven had 14 carries for 38 yards.
On defense LB Niko Stieldorf leads his team with 18.5 tackles (12 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. DB Matthias Rebl had 17 tackles (15 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss. He also caught 2 for the Dragons 3 interceptions. The third pass was picked off by DB Maximilian Katzenbeisser. LB Martin Winkler had 9.5 tackles (7 solo), 2 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. DB Schahin Gholami had 9 tackles (7 solo), 2 tackles for loss and a sack.
Watch the SWARCO Raiders 2014 season live and as-live for free onwww.raidersTV.at.
