The Bergamo Lions closed their participation in the Eurobowl qualifying round with a heartbreaking victory against the Tyrolean Raiders. The Innsbruck team played a marvelous game and put the Lions against the wall during the whole game. However, the experience and poise of the Bergamo team showed throughout the match and in the end gave the Lions their 10th straight victory of the season. With this result, the Lions will have to play the Ancona Dolphins in the Eurobowl quarterfinals while the Raiders will be travelling east to play the Vienna Vikings.

Even though the game in itself did not have any significance for either team (as far as getting a better position in the final standings), both clubs played a quality football game that kept the 1,500+ fans on the stands cheering throughout the entire match. It is a shame that we cannot say the same about the officials. There were several calls during the game that were mistaken and that affected both teams. The final score could have been different if the proper calls would have been made. Anyway, officials are part of the game and both teams have to play every match regardless.

The first team to strike was Innsbruck who caught the Lions off-guard and a little sleepy during the first quarter. On the opening kick-off the Raiders called a deep on-side kick and manage to recover the football on the Lions 25-yard line. Two plays later Raider QB Geoff Buffum connected with WR Benjamin Dieplinger for the opening touchdown of the game. The Raiders attempted a two-point play but failed to convert (6-0).

The Lions first drive of the game worked adequately enough (4 first-downs) but fell short of the end zone. The Lions were forced to punt and the Raiders went right back to work. Another touchdown pass from Buffum to WR Luke Ware plus the two-point conversion (14-0) set the stage for the Lions comeback.

The second Raider touchdown was a wake-up call for a stunned Lion team that could not understand what was happening. The kick-off return provided the spark that was needed to ignite the powerful Bergamo offense. Maurizio Barbotti returned the ensuing kick-off 70 yards giving the offense an excellent field position. On the very next play Dino Bucciol found Federico Bianca in the end zone for the first Lion touchdown of the game. Lafata converted the PAT and the Lions were back in the game (14-7).

The Bergamo defense made the proper adjustments and practically shut out the Raider offense throughout the remainder of the first half. The Raiders still got some yards but the bend-but-not-break approach used by the Lions paid off and they manage to keep the Raiders out of the end zone, forcing them to punt twice and intercepting a pass (Davide Donnini).

Offensively, the Lions scored two more times during the first half. The first touchdown came on a 15-yard pass from Dino Bucciol to James Pazak after an impressive 14-play drive. The very next drive was no different and after running 10 plays Marco Polizzi dove into the end zone to give the Lions the lead in the game for the first time; lead that they would never give up (14-21).

The second half turned out to be an offensive battle. Both offensive units came out strong and ignited the sky with a ton of aerial fireworks. Innsbruck struck first when QB Geoff Buffum connected with WR Andreas Pröller who made a marvelous run after the catch carrying the ball 50+ yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and we had a 1-point game (20-21).

Dino Bucciol did not wait too long to bring his team back. Another impressive drive (13 plays) finished in the end zone with a 12-yard pass from Bucciol to James Pazak. Lafata converted the PAT and the Lions increased their advantage by 8 points (20-28).

The Raiders were not about to give up and they answered immediately with an effective drive. They managed to move the ball downfield until they had a 1st and goal on the Lions 2-yard line. The Lions defense played a tremendous series here and they forced the Raiders to go for it in 4th and 1. The Raiders called and end around play with WR Jason Tibbits who barley got into the end zone. The touchdown was good tough so the Raiders got close in the scoreboard. Innsbruck attempted the 4th 2-point conversion of the game and this time around they succeeded so the game was tied with one quarter to go (28-28).

Another 12-play drive executed by the Lions offense set the stage for the grand-finale. Dino Bucciol led the Lions to the 5th touchdown of the game with his accurate passing and his opportunistic running. The highlight of the drive was the fact that once the Lions were on 1st and goal on the Raider 8-yard line two penalties backed them up all the way to the 35-yard line. With 1st and goal from the 35-yard line it only took three plays for the Lions to score (a 21-yard pass to Barbotti, a 9-yard screen pass to Verzeri, and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rocchetti). Lafata converted the PAT and the score moved to 28-35.

The Raiders were not done yet and they kept on fighting. A fantastic kick-off return by Christopher Smith gave Innsbruck great field position and a few plays later Geoff Buffum found a wide-open Benjamin Dieplinger in the end zone to add more excitement to an already exciting game. The Raiders attempted their 5th two-point conversion of the game but this time the Lions stopped it so the score was still favorable to the Lions 34-35.

The Lions attempted to take as much time as possible off the clock during their following drive. However, they could not kill the clock completely and the Raiders had one last shot with 3 minutes remaining in the game. They got close enough to win the game but the Lions defense responded and stopped the Raiders in their tracks. Danilo Nessi deflected a pass on 4th down and 5 that ended the Raider hopes.

It was the best game played this year so far. There was a lot of excitement, quality football, intensity and fun. We hope to have more games like this in the future.

Next week, the Lions will restart their quest for the 4th straight Championship title in Italy. After 3 weeks of Eurobowl participation the Lions will face their first Italian opponent in one month. The game will be quite interesting because the Lions will be travelling to Milan to play their old-time rivals, the Legnano Frogs. The Frogs are still undefeated this year (6-0) and the game will decide who qualifies in first place (home-field advantage throughout the play-offs). Kick-off is at 19:30 at the Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan.

Carmen Barocio