Predators 51 - Göteborg 7, Game Recap

I had another great week in Sweden. Spent most of the week hanging out in town grabbing a fika with a player or two. Friday i went fishing with Coach Tyson again. We went to the coast just east of Ahus fishing for a type of Garfish that they call Näbbgädda here in Sweden. I caught like 4 and i think Tyson caught 3. Good Times.

Saturday we held a camp for the U13 teams around the south of Sweden. I think there were 7 or 8 programs represented. The morning we did a skill camp with lots of technique and fundamentals. There were players there ranging from 12 to 8 years old. I roamed around and helped our older players coach their drills for each position. The kids did a great job and all the players learned a lot. Then in the afternoon there were scrimmages. Each team got 2 or 3 scrimmages. For a lot of these kids it was their first ever experience playing American Football. Over all it was a great day with a lot of positive feedback.

Game Day

Bus departure at 7:30 am leaving for Göteborg. It is about a 3 1/2 hour bus trip north west near the coast. I knew the team we were playing was going to be very strong and physical. More then any other opponent yet. I knew though that again we would have an advantage in speed and that if Our defensive could cause a couple turnovers and our Offense came out early and started fast that they would have to play from behind and that they would not be able to keep up with us. We arrive around 11:15 and i do the traditional ARC get off the buss and get a quick sweat and warm up before getting dressed to get the kinks and groggyness of a long bus ride out. It was also by far the hottest day in Sweden yet. Probably around 80 degrees. But for Swedes that is hot. We were very thin depth wise this game. More then usual. I knew we needed to keep our guys hydrated.

The game begins with the "Marvels" receiving the kick off. They come out playing smart on offense and trying to chunk away yards and keep our offense off the field. After a bad snap though they were forced to punt and our offense marched on to the field. After two short throws Phil hit Marcus Johnsson for a 40 yard TD up the middle. Göteborg's next possession took for ever. I think it was 18 plays but only like 55 yards. It took the rest of the 1st quarter and then some. We only had 3 plays on offense all quarter. They were executing their game plan to perfection. Short passes and ground control. Then they were penalized for a chop block which gave them a 2nd and 23 and their first attempt to test our stand out DB Alex Nilsson deep resulted in an INT and kept them from scoring. Our offense was waiting eagerly to get back on the field and our defense did an outstanding job of keeping them out of the endzone and getting us the ball back. 2 plays later they rolled up in press coverage and paid the dear price of 6 points for it as Phil found Sorin Pandrea for a 60 yard TD strike.

Knowing that our defense was very exhausted from the long drive before I decided to onside kick the ensuing kick off to try and get the ball back and give them a break. From the first kick off i saw there center leave early so we dribbled one right at him and the Cover team did a great job and recovered the ball. A couple first downs later we got near the goal line and Alex Nilsson now playing WR in our empty 5 wide set caught a slant off the week side for a TD. We went for 2 and his younger brother Pontus Nilsson caught a slant for the 2 point conversion.

The rest of the game was more of the same. Göteborg played their asses off and hit us harder then any other team we faced. But once they started to throw the ball we were able to keep them off the field. Alex Nilsson had another INT and we finished them off 51-7.

Phil threw for 6 more TDs and ran for 1 TD as well.
Receivers Sorin Pandrea-3TDs, Ben Hornquist-1TD, Marcus Johnsson 1TD, Alex Nilsson-1TD.

Alex Nilsson was again outstanding on Defense. He is in my opinion the best DB in our league. The defensive front had to play the whole game with no subs and they played great. I am very proud that our teams is so evenly balanced. Offense, Defense and Special Teams have had a lot of success so far.

Here are some pics.  Stats and Highlight film to come shortly.