Defense too strong: Surge beat Vikings dramatically

The European League of Football 2025 season is over and we have a new champion. In a dramatic, the Stuttgart Surge defeated the Vienna Vikings to win their first championship in history.

Stuttgart Surge @ Vienna Vikings 24:17

Vikings come out hot

The 2024 runner-up Vikings struck first with a touchdown drive on their opening possession as quarterback Ben Holmes found receiver Reece Horn on a 4th & 10 for a first down and then later in the drive for a touchdown. 

Later in the first quarter, Vikings' defender Nikolaus Huszar intercepted Surge quarterback Reilly Hennessey leading to a 45-yard field goal from Dennis Tasic giving Vienna a 10-0 lead. 

Watch the Championship Game highlights here!

Surge respond before the half

After forcing a punt following two sacks on Ben Holmes, the Surge offense took over. Quarterback Reilly Hennessey found Louis Geyer for a touchdown late in the first quarter. However, on the next series, the Vikings answered right back with a touchdown run from Karri Pajarinnen.

During the second quarter, the Surge defense terrorized the Vikings, pressuring and sacking Holmes often. They ended the half with a meticulous 10 play drive that was capped off with another Louis Geyer touchdown as the hometown hero caught a 14 yard pass from Reilly Hennessy, cutting Vienna’s lead to 17-14. 

Near stalemate third quarter

After halftime, Surge running back Tomiwa Oyewo, who had been quiet the whole first half, took a screen 63 yards that led to a Stuttgart field goal, tying the game at 17.

After trading punts back and forth, the Vikings created a huge play as Ben Holmes found tight end Florian Bierbaumer, who made an incredible diving catch for a 27 yard gain. Holmes then converted a 4th down on a sneak to keep the drive alive. 

Yet just when the lead looked to swing to the Vikings, Surge defensive back Mitch Fettig intercepted Ben Holmes in the end zone, giving the ball back to the Surge just prior to the start of the fourth quarterback

Just as it looked like Stuttgart was going to take their first lead of the game, Hennessy threw to the end zone but was intercepted by Divine Buckrham on an acrobatic catch, keeping the game tied at 17. 

The hometown hero scores again

Guess who? Geyer once again scored for the Surge on the next series. This time, catching a 21-yard touchdown pass for the third score of the game, giving the Surge a 24-17 lead with under 8 minutes to play.

The Surge defense stepped up sacking Holmes again, forcing the Vikings into a 4th and 18 situations. Holmes threw up a prayer to Bierbaumer, but the ball fell incomplete.

On fourth down, the Vikings made a crucial mistake and jumped offsides, giving the Surge new life with a first down. The defense responded afterward, forcing a punt, giving the Vikings one last chance with 51 seconds left. 

One last chance for Vienna

With 51 seconds left, the Vikings took over at the 27-yard line down 42-17 with no timeouts. The Vikings crossed midfield but simply ran out of time. On one last play of the game, Yannick Mayr came close after a lateral from Reece Horn, but Mayr was caught by the Surge defense, winning the game. 

Surge win the championship for the first time

The Stuttgart Surge completed the turnaround from worst to first under head coach Jordan Neuman. Neuman took over a 0-12 Surge team in 2022 and led them to the title game in 2023 where they lost to the Rhein Fire. After another playoff loss last year in the Semi-finals, the Surge finally broke through, winning the title in front of over 36K fans in Stuttgart.