Jul 14th 17:30, by Alex Malchow
Sunday Recap: Rhein Fire dominate, Surge stay undefeated
In front of roughly 20k fans in Volkspark Stadium, the Rhein fire jumped out to a 21-nothing lead as star running back Glen Toonga crossed the thousand-yard mark on the season scoring the first three touchdowns of the game. Harlan Kwofie got into the action scoring the next two touchdowns as the game quickly got out of hand. Toonga's three scores inch him closer to the single-season rushing touchdown record, only three away from Madre London's record of 22.
The Fire spread out of the wealth as a staggering six players scored including Kevlin McKignt Jr, offensive lineman Yasir Raji, Maximilian Siemssen, and Leo Hoeltker all scored for the defending champions.
The Rhein Fire racked up over 500 yards of offense as they cruised to a 61-23 win in front of a packed house. Toonga was a standout in this one rushing for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns as Jim Tomsula's team moved to an impressive 7-1 record, retaining the top spot in the tough western conference.
Next week, the Rhein Fire will face the Frankfurt Galaxy, while the Sea Devils will face the Centurions in Cologne.
The home team struck first in this one as the underdog Raiders finished a 13-play drive with a touchdown run from Tobias Bonatti. MVP candidate Reilly Hennessey responded by running in a touchdown himself as the Surge tied up the game. After a short field goal from the Surge's Lenny Krieg, Bonatti ran in a short touchdown giving the crowd in Innsbruck something to cheer about, giving them a 13-10 at the halfway point.
The Surge, however, answered by scoring on the first drive of the third quarter. Hennessey found former Raider Yannik Mayr for a 21-yard touchdown. After a missed extra point the Surge held a three-point lead. The Raiders quickly answered with a field goal of their own after a good drive from N'Kosi Perry.
The Surge started the fourth quarter taking back the lead as Hennessey ran in his second score of the day, silencing the crowd. The Surge then snatched the momentum further as CFL veteran Raheem Wilson intercepted Perry taking it back for a touchdown.
Just as the Surge seemed to be pulling away the Raiders hit a field goal and quickly recovered a fumble. Bonatti scored a short touchdown cutting the lead to 25-30. The Raider's defense stepped up forcing a punt. Tirol got the ball back inside their own five-yard line with two minutes left, in a classic two-minute drill to win the game.
N'Kosi Perry used his legs and arm to push the Raiders down the field, crossing the 50-yard line. Perry found a receiver inside the 20-yard line only to have the play taken back because of a hold. With only a few seconds left, he threw a pass that was intercepted by Nick Wenzelburger to end the game.
Next week, the Surge will face the Panthers at home, while the Raiders are on a bye week.
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