Vikings decide Austrian-Hungarian duel clearly in their favor
The first visit of the Vienna Vikings to First Field in Szekesfehérvár, near Budapest, brought the champion team a never-threatened away victory. The team of Head Coach Chris Calaycay beat the Fehérvár Enthroners with 41:12 and kept the spotless white vest. After the 5th round of the European League of Football, only three out of 17 franchises can boast of such a record: Besides the Vienna Vikings, the Stuttgart Surge and Rheinfire Düsseldorf 2023 are still unbeaten.
On offense, Offensive Coordinator John Shannon relied on the bearish running game against the Hungarians. Due to a minor injury, Finnish running back Karri Pajarinen was forced to rest against the Enthroners, which brought the two Wegan brothers - Florian and Anton - into the fold. The Vikings are the only team in the European League of Football with more rushing touchdowns (14) than passing touchdowns (9) after the fifth week of play, which speaks for the outstanding work of the Vikings O-Line.
Twice quarterback Chris Helbig ran himself into the Hungarian end zone, and twice it was Flo Wegan who rushed for a total of 153 yards on 24 carries. In addition, Anton Wegan recorded a 68-yard touchdown run in his first game of the season and rushed for 87 yards on 4 attempts. Nickel Benjamin Straight also entered the scoring list with a pick six.
Run Game of the Vikings unstoppable
US wideout Weston Carr was also the man for the long balls at first field: With just two catches, he recorded 101 receiving yards. Italian WR Jordan Bouah contributed another 50 yards with 4 receptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Homegrown linebacker Moriz Elmauthaler finished the day as the Wiener's tackle leader (7 TCK). Luis Horvath, Elmeri Laalo and Christoph Kellner each added six tackles to their stats.
The full focus of the reigning ELF champions is now on the next opponent. On Sunday they are guests in Innsbruck and contest the Battle For Austria Part1 against the Raiders Tirol (4-1). Kickoff at Tivoli Stadium is at 16:25. HC Calaycay's mindset is already fully set for the Raiders today, Monday: "We have to prepare, we have to execute. And we have to do better than we did against the Enthroners. We will look very closely at the things that went wrong in the last few games and prepare for Innsbruck next Sunday. "