The Giants won the coin toss and decided to start on offense. After a strong quarter of both defenses, it was 0-0 at the change of quarters.
The second quarter started with a touchdown by Prague quarterback Javarian Smith. The Grazer Offense might not score in the following drive. The defense kept Prague well in check and they managed to force some turnovers on downs. Shortly before half-time, the Black Panthers decided not to play the fourth attempt, but to turn it into a field goal. At 0:10 we went into halftime.
The Panthers also started the third quarter strong. The Prague quarterback gave his team another touchdown. The Graz Giants were then finally able to score points with a wide pass from Tyrone Williams to Julian Kapillari and shortened the lead to 7:17. The Black Panthers responded with a touchdown from Jan Stiegler and extended their lead to 7:24.
A strong drive with a long run by Raphael Komeyli-Birjandi, who was tackled just before the end zone, was then completed by a pass from Tyrone Williams to Johannes Schütz with a touchdown. The subsequent PAT was blocked. The third quarter ended with a score of 13:24.
In the last quarter, the Black Panthers once more worked their way through the Grazer defense and once more it was QB who converted the points and extended the lead to 13:31. Then Raphael Komeyli-Birjandi scored a touchdown for Graz. The two point conversion was intercepted by the opponents and the game ended with 19:31 and a loss for the Giants.
“It was a tough fight – both teams had their moments. However, the Prague Black Panthers managed to turn those moments into points more often,” said head coach Doug Adkins.
Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants vs Panthers: 19:31
(0:0/0:10/13:14/6:7)
SCORES:
Project Spielberg Graz Giants: Kapellari 1TD, Kager 1PAT, Schütz 1 TD, Komely-Birjandi 1TD
Prague Black Panthers: Smith 3TD, Mandik 1FG and 4PAT, Stiegler 1TD
Photos: Lisa Portenschlager
