The SWARCO Raiders (7-2) rode a second half surge to a crucial 48-33 victory over the Danube Dragons (5-3) in the final regular season contest Saturday night at Tivoli Stadium. Seattle-native Jason Johnson felt more than comfortable in the constant downpour, tossing four touchdowns, three to Matt Epperson, while completing 21-26 passes for 285 yards. Florian Grein returned from injury to spark the running game, dashing for 124 yards on 16 carries along with two critical touchdowns. The win secures the first place in the regular season for the SWARCO Raiders and a number one seed into the Austrian League Playoffs.
Things did not begin as expected for the silver and black. On the opening drive Grein coughed up the ball, which was returned for a touchdown by Dragons cornerback Andreas Gigl. The SWARCO Raiders would answer as Johnson found Steve Michalski from 34 yards out to even the score at 7-7. Twice more in the half Johnson would connect with Matt Epperson. The final score came with a mere :36 seconds left in the half to give the SWARCO Raiders a 21-14 lead. However, the Dragons showed their resilient spirit, and utilized a number of critical penalties to drive the length of the field for the tying score as time expired in the first half.
The SWARCO Raiders came out in the second half with a newfound intensity and immediately forced a three and out. The offense would capitalize, as Grein would score on the next two possessions (12 & 9 yds.) for a 35-21 advantage. In the fourth, Epperson took a screen pass 52 yards to pay dirt, and later Phillip Magreiter would cap the SWARCO Raiders scoring on an 18 yard sweep.
Jakob Dieplinger would lead all receivers with 8 catches for 87 yards, while Epperson grabbed 6 balls for 96 yards and 3 TD. The SWARCO Raiders return to action in one week, hosting the Porvoo Butchers of Finland in the Eurobowl Semi-final. Kickoff is set for 7:45 pm local time, with all the action available live on the web at live.raiders.at.
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