The Barcelona Dragons defeated the Helvetic Mercenaries in Switzerland by a tight score of 23-19. A game in which the Swiss team went into halftime leading 12-3 and, where the Dragons had to wait until the second half to beat a Swiss team which ended up surrendering in the fourth quarter.
Stephen McCluskey scores a two points conversion for the Barcelona Dragons. Credits ©Eric Ribe @ericribe_photografies
Levi Lewis, the quarterback from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, completed a good game (23/36) in which the former Madrid Osos receiver, Iván Iordanov, became the unexpected offensive star for the Barcelona Dragons after scoring two passing TDs to the despair of the Helvetic Mercenaries American DB duo, Ken Hike Jr. and Nazir Streater. The American receiver Imoni Donadelle carried the load for the Dragons offense, along with the veteran running back Toni Montón who appeared when it was most needed to move the chains.
On defense, we had to wait until half-time for the Barcelona front seven to adjust and be able to nullify the threat that American quarterback Carlton Aiken Jr. posed during the first half, in which he scored on a 60-yard run, showing why he is considered a dual-threat. The Helvetic quarterback also managed to complete several passes behind the Dragons' linebackers zone, completing two TD passes to his compatriot Anthony Brown, undoubtedly the Swiss best (and almost only alongside Aiken Jr.) offensive weapon.
The Swiss defense proved to be solid enough during the first half at being able to stop Barcelona's running game, although suffering from the aerial potential displayed by Lewis. LB John Faulk and DL Tim Hähni were omnipresent, leading a defense that went from strength to strength and ended up giving in.
The play of the game was a fake punt in which Dragons punter Samuel Higgs got a valuable first down, receiving an ugly late hit that had to be penalized and which caused a brief fight. The referees were especially permissive in many moments of the match and should have punished several late hits.
The final score reflects well what was experienced on the field: a clash between two teams that fought hard for victory at all times and had plenty of exciting moments during the course of the game. Ultimately ending with the Dragons taking a well-deserved win against Mercenaries.
ANTHEM CONTROVERSY
The controversy of the match was, however, off the field. At the beginning of the game the national anthems were played, (something that is not a common occurrence to hear in ELF games), but the Swiss organization made a crucial mistake by playing an anthem from the Franco dictatorship era. The controversy has jumped to the pages of the Spanish newspapers, and the ELF has apologized for the unfortunate misunderstanding.
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