FWL Bowl XV
Austria DarkKnights 20 San Antonio Riders 17 ot
(Play by Play)
San Antonio 0 14 0 3 0 -- 17
Austria 0 7 3 7 3 -- 20
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
San Antonio - Slatter 7 pass from Bishop (Tarle kick), 3:25
Austria - Hatchette 7 pass from Anes (Anderson kick), 8:10
San Antonio - Williams 24 pass from Bishop (Tarle kick), 14:11
Third Quarter
Austria - Anderson 31 FG, 10:34
Fourth Quarter
Austria - Simonton 23 pass from Anes (Anderson kick), 11:14
San Antonio - Tarle 25 FG, 14:06
Overtime
Austria - Anderson 30 FG, 4:49
Austrian GM Mario Kreiner came back to the league several seasons
ago and totally revamped Austria, the team was very poor when he arrived but
thanks to a lot of great trades and some good drafting Austria are on top
of the world again.
It wasn't easy as San Antonio put up a great fight, they went
conservative in the final seconds and settled for a FG where a touchdown could
have won the game. Austria also fumbled in overtime but recovered so the Riders
had a great chance to win the game.
On paper after the game the DarkKnights seemed to dominate
the stats, they had 22 first downs compared to San Antonios 13 and rushed
for nearly twice as many yards as the Riders. San Antonio knew they had to
try something different if they wanted to get past Austria, they changed their
offensive style which is hindsight wasnt a great move as the offense didnt
rack up as many yards as they had in previous playoff games.
The trash talking Kreiner was quiet before the game and it
proved to be an excellent bowl final, both teams missed FG's in the first
half, somehow Austrian kicker John Anderson one of the best there is hooking
a simple 17 yarder ! The shortest FG you can attempt ! After an interception
San Antonio scored first on a touchdown strike to TE Tony Slatter but the
DarkKnights came straight back on a touchdown pass from Curt Anes to Matthew
Hatchette who despite an injury still played the game and played well. After
an exchange of punts the Riders moved the ball downfield again and Michael
Bishop threw his second touchdown, this time to veteran WR Stepfret Williams
who had played in FWL Bowl VI when these two teams met many years ago. The
veteran was starting because of injury and played well and hauled in a 24
yard strike just before the end of the half. The halftime score was 14-7 to
San Antonio which surprised many people.
The Riders had to punt at the beginning of the 3Q and Austria
drove downfield and kicked a FG to cut the lead to 14-10. Both teams punted
several times and Austria even went for it surprisingly on 4th down but failed
after a long drive, it didnt matter though as Michael Bishop was picked off
two plays later which Austria then converted into a touchdown as Anes threw
his second touchdown this time to Ken Simonton from 23 yards out. San Antonio
now trailed for the first time 17-14 but Michael Bishop led his team on a
late drive with 3:46 left in the game. San Antonio converted a tough 3rd down
then Bishop hit WR Dane Looker for a huge 30 yard gain to the DarkKnights
14 yard line. With 1:49 left and a 1st down on the DarkKnights 14 yard line
it appeared the Riders may take the lead. After a 5 yard run on 1st down the
Riders went conservative, a 2 yard run on 2nd down made it 3rd & 3 but
surprisingly the Riders went to run the ball again and this time were held.
Out came Jim Tarle for the FG which was good and the game went to overtime
soon after. Perhaps it was a mistake to run the ball 3 straight plays at the
end of the game, on the other hand if Bishop had thrown an interception people
would have said the opposite and that the Riders should have ran the ball
and be safe.
The game headed to overtime and Austria won the all important
coin toss, a few plays later on 2nd down on their own 34 yard line Curt Anes
fumbled the ball, there was a huge pileup but in the end HB Ken Simonton recovered
the ball, it was a huge play and seemed to deflate the Riders defense. A key
play happened next, on 3rd & 13 Curt Anes hit WR2 Cecil Moore for 31 yards,
Moore has been criticised in the past for not making enough big plays but
this was a huge play. Anes then went back to pass again and hit KeyKowo Bell
for a 16 yard gain and then Simonton for a 10 yarder. The DarkKnights were
knocking on the door and a few plays later they set up John Anderson for a
30 yard try to win the game, the kick was good and Austria had won a great
FWL Bowl.
Congratulations to Jason Hink, Jason has had some morale deflating
playoff losses the last few years but his Riders surprisingly won the AFC
crown and put up a great FWL Bowl showing. For Austria it was the dream controversial
GM Mario Kreiner was after. Kreiners comments are often not to be taken seriously
but they still upset some GM's but Kreiner who arrived back in Austria just
4 seasons ago now had won another FWL Bowl. The surprising star was Curt Anes,
Kreiners comments earlier in the season hurt Anes and put a lot of pressure
on him, but Anes who survived a nightmare first season in Austria has been
brilliant since and after the DarkKnights went from a conservative offense
to a big play one the DarkKnights and Anes have excelled. Anes threw for 360
yards and 2 touchdowns and was rightly named MVP. Matthew Hatchette who at
P-1 was a surprise starter by Kreiner who often benches players despite having
a broken toenail had a great game with 10 catches for over 100 yards and HB
Ken Simonton had a good game rushing and receiving. The DarkKnights secondary
did their job limiting Riders WR Dane Looker to just 3 catches and just 1
big play, Looker had 102 catches in the regular season (2nd best) but had
just 3 catches including 2 in the first 3 quarters which was one of the keys.
GM of the Year was also announced, Amsterdam GM Niki van den
Berg was odds on favourite to win it before the shock EFC Game loss, due to
beating two great teams in the playoffs and another in the FWL Bowl GM of
the Year was given to Mario Kreiner who narrowly beat Niki for the award.
Congratulations to Mario who made more good trades this year and who has a
very strong squad for next season.
Thanks to everyone who took part this season, its been a very
good year with many many close playoff games and many nailbiters this season.
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