We showed up to Stockholm ready to perform against the most respected club in Sweden when it comes to title defense. Title defense is something that the Crusaders have new experience with having won the Swedish title for the first time in 2010. Title defense is going particularly well with 8 wins and no losses to speak of thus far in league play. This weekend a 28-0 beating of the most jeweled club in Sweden was not as easily earned as it may sound. The game this past weekend was quite different than games past for the Crusaders. The main difference, mistakes with penalties and turnovers kept the Swedish giant at bay for the majority of the first half. Two lost fumbles and many called offensive penalties allowed the Crusaders to only earn 8 points at the break. The defense for the Crusaders was anything but slowed. With recently departed QB Cody Hawkins back home in Colorado the Mean Machine turned to a wing-t offense that while it was unpredictable at times, did not have the firepower to part the Crusader defensive unit. A few first downs was all that the Blue and Red mustered on the day due mainly to the stout front that the Crusaders brought. Time and again there were off white jerseys splitting the offense and making big hits on the left out to dry Mean Machine ball carriers. The one pass that was thrown during the game was intercepted by Fredrik Isaksson, the 7th Crusader defender to mark an interception on the season. Fred Ice also noted after the game that he did indeed intercept 100% of the passes thrown in the contest, but I digress.
The offense highlighted it's second half with a run play by Christian Forsman from the 1 yard line in which he took the ball and bounced to the sideline just dodging two would be tacklers and utilizing a great block by Fredrik Eklund he bolted into and beyond the SMM secondary and rolled down the sideline for a 96 yard TD. 97 yards was endzone to endzone at the Zinken in donwtown Stockholm. Backed up by a stellar SMM punt, the offense created this highlight for the ages most exciting because he scampered all the way down the sideline with his left tackle Thomas Falkelind leading the charge. At 6'5, 270lbs. this large Swede sprinting down the field made for one heck of a blockade. The win was the 22nd in a row in Swedish play for the Crusaders dating back to the championship game of 2009. Beating such a long lasting force in the Super Series at their home stadium is the type of victory that should be one of the most treasured for a club that is on the rise, and it is definitely one of the sweetest victories that I have ever been a part of in Europe.
In the other game the Tyreso Royal Crowns defeated the Orebro Black Knights 20-7. The game was a toss up until the final two minutes when the Crown scored their third touchdown and put the game out of reach. At 1-6-1 the first year club from Orebro has been eliminated from playoff contention. With the TRC win and the SMM loss the Royal Crown have surged forward in their course to have a home playoff game the weekend of September 3rd. At 6-2 they are still 2 games behind the 4th highest team in Europe, the Carlstad Crusaders, and pending a Crusader defeat this coming weekend they may be set up for a share of the regular season title.
