The ELF Rundown: Week Nine Brings More Excitement
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The ELF Rundown: Week Nine Brings More Excitement

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With nine weeks down in the ELF’s 2024 season, things are taking shape in the league with just several weeks left to play. The trends continue to remain relatively strong, although we did have a couple of small surprises this weekend.

One of the big storylines from week nine: the Vienna Vikings secured the Eastern Conference regular season title for a third straight season. This organization has been quite consistent in the ELF, and still hasn’t lost in 2024.

Let’s take a look at what went down in Europe on July 20th & 21st.

Fehervar Enthroners vs. Milano Seamen

The weekend opened up with the Fehervar Enthroners picking up their second win of the ELF season. The Enthroners took down the Milano Seamen 27-17, and impressively have won two games in a row, after an 0-6 start.

QB Jack Mangel is settling in at his position, throwing for 284 yards and three touchdowns in this game. The Enthroners offense struggled on third downs (1-12), but were able to make enough big plays to secure a 27-3 lead, one that Milano couldn’t overcome.

Zach Bronkhorst has had some up and down play for the Seamen this season. He threw for just 88 yards and two interceptions, as Milano picked up just seven first downs (1-11 on third downs) in this one. The Seamen don’t have much life left, but were picking up some late momentum – and now appear to be too far back in the standings to make much of any type of run.

Madrid Bravos vs. Paris Musketeers

Paris and Madrid faced off as two heavyweights in the Western Conference. It was Paris who ultimately came out on top, with a 29-13 victory. The Musketeers were able to make a couple of big plays to pull ahead – with a blocked punt returned for a score in the 1Q, and then a fumble six to put the game away late in the 4Q.

Honestly, neither offense necessarily impressed too much in this one. Paris did put up 463 yards of offense, but a lot of what they were able to accomplish was because of those aforementioned big plays. Zach Edwards was efficient on the day, and did enough to help the Musketeers get the much needed win.

Madrid had a rough time in third down scenarios (2-10), and turned the ball over one too many times. The Bravos are a good football team, but played a messy game that in turn cost them in this important matchup at home against a divisional rival.

Berlin Thunder vs. Vienna Vikings

When these two teams faced off earlier this year, Berlin actually had a lead for most of the game, but blew it late. This time around, the Vienna Vikings took care of business from start to finish, taking down the Thunder 34-9 in dominant fashion.

The Vikings didn’t do anything to necessarily blow anyone away in this game, but they minimized their mistakes, which led to an efficient outing. Ben Holmes had another fantastic performance, throwing for over 250 yards and three touchdowns, with just four incompletions and no turnovers. Reece Horn now leads the ELF in receiving yards, adding 98 more to his tally this weekend.

One of Berlin’s struggles is their inability to run the football. They had just 57 rushing yards against the Vikings, providing QB Jakeb Sullivan with very little support. The Thunder have had a tough time putting up points against the stronger competition in the ELF, and this was another example of exactly that this weekend.

Stuttgart Surge vs. Wroclaw Panthers

The Stuttgart Surge arguably have the most complete roster in the ELF, and that was on full display this weekend. In a 40-0 blowout win, the Surge stayed undefeated, taking it to the Wroclaw Panthers who have yet to discover what their identity is this year.

Reilly Hennessy had another big day for Stuttgart, with 282 yards and a touchdown. WR Darrell Stewart Jr. made his return and was phenomenal – taking a kick back to the house to pull ahead by 33 points in the third quarter. He ended with 99 receiving yards on the day.

Wroclaw has seen a few QB’s this season, and neither have lived up to expectations. Granted, it hasn’t been an ideal scenario with the organization this year, one who just recently made a coaching change. Matthew Vitale threw for only 74 yards, while tossing three interceptions in the loss. The Panthers were 1-8 on third downs, posting just 145 yards of offense en route to this loss.

Munich Ravens vs. Helvetic Mercenaries

This was a rather unique game between Munich and Helvetic. The Mercenaries’ QB, Carlton Aiken Jr., went down early with an injury. So the team ended up playing with WR Anthony Brown at quarterback – who surprisingly played decently well all things considered.

That said, Helvetic was no match for the Munich Ravens without a true QB. The Ravens put up 55 points, dominating after the game was tied at 10 in the second quarter. Chad Jeffries lit up the stat sheet, throwing for 342 yards and five touchdowns. WR Malik Stanley contributed nicely, with 130 receiving yards and a score of his own.

Helvetic, in all honesty, didn’t play a poor game. Their defense struggled mightily – but the offense did what they could. A couple of turnovers and mistakes made the score look a lot worse than it actually was. Hopefully, Aiken will be healthy enough to return next week.

See also

Rhein Fire vs. Frankfurt Galaxy

The Rhein Fire look poised to potentially repeat in the ELF. In this game against Frankfurt, the first half was actually relatively equal. Rhein had just a 14-13 lead at halftime – before outsourcing the Galaxy 34-1 in the final two quarters.

The offensive duo that we can’t stop talking about: Jadrian Clark, and Glen Toonga. Clark was on fire, no pun intended, throwing for 262 yards and two touchdowns, with just three misses on the day. Meanwhile Toonga posted 100 rushing yards of his own, with four scores. Toonga’s 23 touchdowns this year set an ELF record for rushing TD’s in a season. We still have a few games left.

Matthew McKay struggled in his second start with Frankfurt. He didn’t turn the ball over, but had just 143 yards passing. Frankfurt was a team that some thought could do some damage in the ELF this year, but their lack of cohesiveness and consistency has resulted in a 2-5 record.

Cologne Centurions vs. Hamburg Sea Devils

The Cologne Centurions have begun to put it together as of late. After a rough start to the year, they’ve picked up a couple of wins in a row, and now sit at 3-4. They took it to Hamburg this week, and while the final score was 32-25, this was a matchup that the Centurions dominated.

Isaiah Weed has looked very comfortable over the past few weeks in this offense. He’s played solid football throughout the year, but especially in these last two games. Weed threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 90 rushing yards and a score on the ground as well. Cologne’s defense was tremendous as well, forcing three turnovers on the day.

D’Angelo Fulford hasn’t quite settled into Hamburg the way we thought he could. Fulford threw for just 72 yards and three interceptions, as the Sea Devils offense was putrid throughout most of the affair. Without a punt return for a touchdown and a late interception, Hamburg probably wouldn’t have cracked double digits. They have quite a bit to figure out as an organization, and need to find ways to get Fulford to be more productive and efficient.

Final Thoughts

The playoff picture is becoming clearer with each and every week. Vienna has already clinched their spot, and there’s some movement within each conference. In particular, the Central Conference is a close battle to watch between Munich and Tirol, as they both battle for leverage at the second seed.

If you missed our ELF Recap from week eight, you can check that out here.

For those wanting to keep up with all the games here in the states, you can acquire ELF Game Pass here.

What are your thoughts on week nine action in the ELF? Which teams and players impressed you? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!

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