There will be no tie-breakers to see who plays whom
in the European Division III playoffs. Conference
championship-clinching victories on Saturday saw to
that, as Brussels turned back visiting London Central
14-13 and Ansbach hammered Hohenfels 30-0.
Brussels 14, London Central 13
BRUSSELS, Belgium — The Brigands mounted a fierce
defensive effort to remain unbeaten and claim the
III-North title.
“It was really physical,” said Brussels coach Joe
Fiedler, whose team improved to 6-0 overall, 4-0 in
III-North. Brussels will travel to Ansbach on Saturday
for a European Division III semifinal game against the
unbeaten Cougars.
Travis Keeton got Brussels started when he stripped
London Central quarterback Michael Clark of the ball and
fell on it in the end zone. Andrew Isbell tacked on a
two-point conversion run that would loom large
later.
Daniel Coleman’s 55-yard TD run cut London Central’s
deficit to 8-7 before
Brussels kicker Marc Silos hit
field goals of 17 and 22 yards. Brussels then turned the
game over to the defense, which got 14 tackles from
Isbell and 11 from Keeton, and had four fumble
recoveries and two sacks.
London Central (3-3, 3-1) cut the deficit to 1 with a
one-yard plunge by backup quarterback Jeremy Tibbets
late in the third quarter. But it missed the extra point
and was unable to score again.
Ansbach 30, Hohenfels 0
ANSBACH, Germany — The Cougars claimed the III-South
title by
containing Hohenfels threat Josh Rivera and springing
running back Brandon Hollingsworth for 165 yards and two
touchdowns.
Hollingsworth hit pay dirt on runs of four and 36
yards for Ansbach (6-0, 4-0). The Cougars also scored on
a run by quarterback Shawn Bachtel behind the lead
blocking of Mike Ewing, a 37-yard run by TreVarris
Leaks, and a 33-yard interception return by Russell
Bailey.
Matt Zimmerman led the Ansbach defense with 10
tackles.
Rivera, Robert Bouknight and Perry Helton were the
defensive standouts for Hohenfels, which ends its season
4-2 overall and 2-2 in III-South.
Baumholder 33, Bamberg 14
BAMBERG, Germany — Senior quarterback Matt Calabria
ran for a touchdown and threw scoring passes to Olando
Square and Desmond Isadore as the Bucs (5-1, 3-1)
claimed the European Division III wild-card berth and a
trip to Aviano.
Isadore and Johnny Russell added touchdown runs of 10
and three yards, respectively, for Baumholder, which
rushed for 190 yards and passed for 53 more.
Darryl Wiley ran for a one-yard TD and Jose Urbaez
had a 35-yard TD run for Bamberg, which ends its season
at 3-3 overall and 1-3 in league play. Bamberg rushed
for 240 yards.
Rota 34, Alconbury 6
RAF ALCONBURY, England — At full strength again after
some suspended players were reinstated last week, the
Admirals hammered the Dragon behind three Antwan Edmonds
touchdowns.
Rota, which did not play last season becuase of
security reasons in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks,
won for the first time this season on the field. The
Admirals (3-3, 2-2 III–North) received a pair of
forfeits from Menwith Hill.
Alconbury (1-5, 1-3) scored on a 22-yard TD pass from
David Schiller to Brian Blaska.
Sigonella 14, Vicenza 10
NAS SINGONELLA, Italy — Shawn Crawford, nursing a
sore ankle, scored on an 18-yard sweep, and quarterback
Anthony Turner connected on a 78-yard scoring play with
Paul Nicholson as the Jaguars closed out their season
2-4 overall and 2-2 in III-Italy.
Vicenza (1-5, 1-3) took a 3-0 halftime lead on Sean
Penhallegon’s 20-yard field goal, but a bad punt put
Sigonella on the Vicenza 35 and set up Crawford’s
third-quarter TD run. Crawford finished the game with 65
yards on 18 carries.
Sigonella returned the favor in the fourth quarter,
when Vicenza recoverd a fumble on the Jaguars 23, and
quarterback Matt Holyfield cashed in with a 12-yard pass
for Andrew Mayville.
But the Jaguars mounted a game-ending drive from
their own 16 to run out the clock.
Senior fullback Matt Hoey led the Wildcats with 175
yards on 31 carries. But the Sigonella defense, which
got 16 tackles and two sacks from Chris Nalley, kept the
hard-nosed Hoey out of the end zone.
David Donnigan had a pair of sacks and stole the ball
from the Vicenza quarterback for the
Jaguars.