SWARCO Raiders Drop Opener
March 30, 2009
By Sebastian Stolz
Visit http://www.raidersaufdeutsch.com/
In a battle of two championship teams, the SWARCO Raiders, marketing partner of The Oakland Raiders, fell to the Turek Graz Giants in the Austrian Football League’s season opener. In front of 2,500 fans at Innsbruck’s Tivoli stadium the reigning Eurobowl champion lost 22-29 (0-8; 7-14; 7-7; 7-0) to the defending Austrian champion.
Worse than the loss of the game could be the loss of running back Florian Grein. Last year’s league MVP left the game just seconds before halftime after a helmet-to-helmet hit and did not return. He suffered a mild concussion.
„Our guys didn’t give up and they played hard“, said rookie head coach Santos Carrillo. „Obviously it was not the kind of game we wanted to play. We made too many mistakes, costly mistakes. Still we had our opportunities to turn the game around. We just didn’t take advantage of them. We have a lot of work to do“.
„I’m very disappointed. I hope we can learn from the mistakes we made“, new quarterback Jason Johnson mentioned after the game. But he also realized how close his team was to turn things around. „At the end we were one play away from tying the game“.
Johnson completed 20 of 34 passes for 239 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His friend, wide receiver Matt Epperson had a total of 100 yards (9 catches for 80 yards and one run for 20 yards) and a touchdown.
After winning the coin toss the SWARCO Raiders went three and out. Their defense though started strong, as defensive end Mario Rinner sacked Graz‘ quarterback Chris Gunn on the Giants‘ first snap. After another tackle for loss by linebacker Florian Hueter on the next play and an incomplete pass, the visiting team also had to punt.
The Tyroleans were looking to score on their second drive when Grein broke free for two long runs and tight end Stefan Michalsky caught a 20-yard pass from new quarterback Jason Johnson. But on first down at the Giants‘ 12-yard line, Johnson lost the ball when he got hit from the blind side. Graz recovered and took full advantage of the turnover. The Giants scored on a 33-yard scramble by Gunn. After a successful two-point conversion the Giants were up 8-0. 4:39 minutes were left in the first quarter.
The SWARCO Raiders didn’t find an immediate answer as their offense was still looking for a rythm. Graz was on their way for some more points when Gunn hit wide receiver Wolfrum Hofbauer for a 45-yard gain. Moments later though, the SWARCO Raiders‘ defense came up with a turnover of their own. Cornerback Markus Krause intercepted Gunn. The offensive didn’t get a first down though and had to punt. With 9:12 to go in the second quarter, Graz increased their lead to 15-0 when wide receiver Martin Grassegger scored from 6 yards out.
With the first half nearing its end the SWARCO Raiders‘ offense finally came to life. Johnson started the drive with a 7-yard pass to newly acquired wide receiver Matt Epperson to the 40-yard line. On the next play Grein ran to the opposing 15-yard line. A questionable block in the back penalty negated a touchdown pass from Johnson to Grein. Another penalty pushed the Tyroleans back to the 20-yard line. But it couldn’t stop the SWARCO Raiders as Johnson threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Epperson. It was no surprise that the team’s first touchdown of the season came by the duo that connected on 15 scores last year for Italy’s Catania Elephants. Grein scored on the two-point conversion to make it 8-15 with 3:21 left in the first half.
That was enough time for Graz to score again. With 22 seconds left in the second quarter, Gunn scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The score was 22-8 in favor of the Giants. The Innsbruck’s attempt for a quick touchdown got a huge blow when Grein got hit helmet-to-helmet on a draw play just before halftime.
The second half began with another turnover. This time Graz‘ quarterback Gunn lost the ball when he got hit by linebacker Philipp Margreiter. Defensive Lineman Markus Hechenberger recovered the fumble. Minutes later SWARCO Raiders‘ kicker Robert Balazinec missed a 35-yard field goal. After the Tyrolean’s defense held again, the offense broke through for their second score of the game. Johnson finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andreas Pröller. The score was set up by wide receiver Jakob Dielpinger’s 55-yard catch and run to the opposing 14-yard line. 5:18 were left in the third quarter. The score was 22-15 in favor of Graz.
The visiting team had a much tougher time gaining yardage in the second half, but scored on the very next drive. After Hofbauer broke several tackles for a huge gain, running back Mario Nerad found the endzone from 3 yards out. The extra point was good and Graz extended their lead to 29-15 with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
The SWARCO Raiders‘ offense was marching down the field again when the swirling wind ended the hopes of another scoring drive. Johnson’s deep ball to Dieplinger clearly hit a wall in midair and got picked off. But in the middle of the fourth quarter the home team got another chance – and used it. Set up by three passes from Johnson to Epperson for 44 yards, Johnson finished the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dielpinger. 7:36 were left in the game and the SWARCO Raiders trailed only by seven (22-29).
After a bad kickoff return the Giants had to start from their own 2-yard line. The SWARCO defense forced a three and out and with 6:23 the Tyrolean’s had the ball back. After moving the ball to the 24-yard line, a bad snap, which sailed over Johnson’s head, pushed the SWARCO Raiders back to the 40-yard line. The following pass on fourth down fell incomplete. Graz got the ball back with 2:40 left and ran down the clock.
Next weekend the SWARCO Raiders travel to Klosterneuburg to face the Danube Dragons. Kickoff on Saturday, April 4, is at 5 p.m. CET (8 a.m. PT).
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