Friday 16th May
New Wrinkle In Old Rivalry As Austria Wins At Wembley

By Jason Compton
FWL.org.uk

LONDON (AP)- The value of Austria's league-leading stingy defense showed itself as Matt Mauck and company provided enough late heroics to lift the DarkKnights over the London Monarchs in a 20-13 finish that punctuated the first page of a new chapter in the storied rivalry between the two EFC West rivals.

Typified by years by the personal contest between Mario Kreiner, founder of the DarkKnights, and Jason Compton, then-GM of the Monarchs, the home-and-home series is one of the few in the FWL which can truly be said to have significance no matter what the standings say. Tinkering with the league's divisional formats briefly knocked the games down to a once-annual affair, and departures by both GMs have tempered the spirit of the contests somewhat in recent years. This season brought Compton's return to the front-office—but on the other side of the Channel. With well-traveled GM and league commissioner Paul Johns manning the helm for the Monarchs, the contest of egos was not in play, but the result on the field was of keen interest to both sides as jockeying for playoff positioning begins in earnest.

London looked set to defend its home field as the team scored 13 first-half points and flustered the visitors, inducing offensive mistakes and a missed 37-yard field goal attempt by embattled Austrian kicker Owen Pochman. But ball control and key stops on third down kept the game from getting out of hand.

After a ropey, unproductive first half, Mauck and the offense took the field after a stalled London possession opened the third quarter and scored quickly, Mauck finding Michael Jennings on a fly route, burning the London zone. That put the DarkKnights back by only a field goal, and with London's offense held scoreless for the remainder of the game, Austria's offensive coordinator Josh LaRocca was able to put together two scoring drives. The game's final touchdown came as a shock to both sides, as a fullback draw on second and 17 caught the London defense completely off-guard, allowing William Delahoussay to rumble 29 yards for the score and the win.

The game was the second straight start for Matt Mauck at quarterback, who replaced Curt Anes after a 16-13 home loss to the Scottish Claymores at midseason. Anes has completed just 53 percent of his passes this year with a league-leading five interceptions. Last week's start against Barcelona was uninspiring but the team stayed with Mauck, who rewarded confidence with a 25-for-34 day, with one touchdown strike and no interceptions. The running game broke loose for a few big runs—notably in the fourth quarter, when the Monarchs' defenders were gassed—but was otherwise stifled for three quarters by London's front seven.

As they have all season, Austria backers traveled poorly to the game, leaving the Monarchs partisans free to lustily boo the hated DarkKnights. While Austria head coach John Solomon received a smattering of polite applause for his years of faithful service in Monarchs colors, the crowd unleashed a torrent of abuse when the in-stadium camera trained on the suite hosting visiting GM Jason Compton. The names and faces may change, but the fans showed conclusively that the rivalry remains.

Dreams Of a Contender

With the victory, Austria improved to 6-3 on the season. With five weeks left to play, the DarkKnights hit the true teeth of their schedule.
Three consecutive home games are bookended by road contests against the EFC's top teams.

Next up are the Amsterdam Admirals, defending league champions and, like AFC champ Mexico, undefeated on the year. The DarkKnights drew the daunting assignment, shared by the San Antonio Riders, to play both FWL Bowl teams on their home fields this year. "The Scheduling Committee did us no favors, but one of the first things you learn in competitive football is that you can't control who you play," Compton says of the tall order.

Following the Amsterdam tilt, the DarkKnights stage a three-game home stand at Kreinstadion, opening with the second game of the year against London. Normally such a close time frame dampens a rivalry, but word out of Vienna is that the exciting finish at Wembley is setting the stage for the first home sellout of the year. Do DarkKnights fans finally believe in their new-look team?

The final game of the year is a trip to Scotland, where the division-leading Claymores always play tough. With the Claymores at 7-2 and a game up in the head-to-head standings against Austria as well, realistically the DarkKnights must win at least three of its next four as well as winning in Scotland in order to have any chance at the EFC West title. If the EFC's top teams hold serve, Austria would finish the season as the #3 playoff seed and face the Claymores in Scotland in the wild card round. That is something the Austrian front office would desperately like to avoid, as many of the ex-London staff remember a similar situation in Season 10. London hosted Scotland in Week 14, then traveled to the Claymores to open the playoffs—and lost both games.