A tough loss to the Vikings

Jakob Dieplinger cuts outside on a long reception on Monday in Vienna.

I don't know what it is about the Vikings.  Despite my own nordic heritage, I have been haunted by the "Vikings" since I have been a football player, dating back to my days as a member of the Rogers Rams, playing our cross-town rivals, the Puyallup Vikings.  Puyallup High, under the guidance of legendary coach Mike Huard and his three deep-ball throwing sons (Damon, Brock, and Luke) ran off a decade-long streak against my high school.  Now on Monday, my new team the SWARCO Raiders faced off against the Vienna-version, and in a physical game they came out on top, 23-15. 

Vienna opened the game with a field goal, but we marched the ball down the field late in the first quarter.  Despite a number of penalties, I found Matt Epperson on a fifteen yard TD to make it 7-3.  Our defense played tough the rest of the half, and with the clock winding down at the end of the second quarter I scrambled and hit Matt on a 40 yard bomb for another TD.  The only problem was I was ruled to have stepped over the line of scrimmage.  Major momentum shifter - the half ends.

In the second half, Vienna came out with intensity and scored two quick TDs.  They have a bruising running game, and their backs combined for 247 yards on the ground.  For some reason, offensively we could get nothing going, and suddenly the ball was bouncing the wrong way.  A pair of fumbles on our part and a pair of field goals for them gave Vienna a 23-7 advantage half-way through the fourth.

We didn't give up, and I found receiver Andy Pröller from 20 yards out & Matt on the subsequent two point conversion to make it 23-15.  We recovered the onside kick and had one final shot from 50 yards out for a miraculous finish.  On the last play of the game, I rolled left, but was smothered before I could throw it to the endzone.  Final score: Vienna 23, Raiders 15.

As a team, we have a lot of work to do in order to improve, and will have a short week before taking the field again.  While I am disappointed in the result, I am proud of our effort and know that we will figure it out.

OTHER WEEK 3 RESULTS:

Danube Dragons 57, Graz Giants 50

WEEK 3 STANDINGS:

Graz Giants 2-1

Vienna Vikings 2-1

Danube Dragons 2-1

SWARCO Raiders 1-2

But even better than my report, let's go to a "BABELFISH TRANSLATION" of the Game Report from the League Website.  This always cheers me up:

Only 15 points had to accept the Raiffeisen Vikings against the otherwise so strong Offense of the Tyroleans. The Swarco Raiders fumbelten the ball equal three times toward their opponents, besides Quarterback Jason Johnson four times became gesackt. On the other page the Running Backs of the Viennese, Marcus Nolan and Josiah Cravalho erliefen, altogether 247 yards. Too much from view of the Swarco Raiders, which summarize in their press sending: " This Vikings is better than one believes, because one must stop once their run play."