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Panthers topple Lions in a sloppy rematch

Teams fumble their way to the playoffs

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 13th, 2007 issue

STEPHANIE ANDERSON/The Prague Post
Panthers QB Jacob Shrum eludes Lions DB Stanislav Jantoš June 10.
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About the league

Czechs have played organized American football since shortly after the 1989 revolution in the Česká liga amerického fotbalu
The league's five teams are part of the European Federation of American Football, and the league's champions participate in international play
The Lions play home games at Charles University, Bruslařská 10, Prague 10, and the Panthers hold court on the Slavia athletic grounds at Vladivostocká, Prague 10

If anything, June 10’s rematch between Prague’s crosstown American football rivals, the Lions and the Panthers, resembled the preliminaries to a prizefight. The rivals measured each other, but neither was willing to come out swinging — yet.
With playoff berths assured, both teams seemed content to concede their final regular season meeting, as the Panthers’ 28–14 road victory played secondary to the looming postseason drama.
“We didn’t show much today,” said Panthers coach John Srholec. “The next time we meet, it’s for the marbles.”
It took just three plays for the undefeated Panthers to score, a 38-yard scamper by running back Jan Vrba. Then both offenses stumbled — literally. The Lions’ first drive ended when quarterback Libor Navrátil and running back Michael Geisler collided and the ball popped loose. Throughout a sloppy game, the Panthers fumbled six times while Lions receivers dropped five passes.
“We controlled the game offensively, but it’s no good if you fumble the ball away,” Srholec said.
By halftime, with the score 6–0 in favor of the Panthers, the outline had become clear: The Panthers ran the ball at will out of the option, but couldn’t sustain a long drive. The Lions, without running backs Michal Formánek and Jordan Dornan, looked to the air.
“We didn’t have our running game today so we had to rely on the pass,” said Navrátil, who completed 12 of 30 passes with two touchdowns and a costly interception. “We have three weeks to work on our mistakes.”
The game’s turning point came on the Lions’ second possession after the half. A draw play on third down caught the Panthers defense by surprise. But big defensive lineman Che Johnson tripped up the ball carrier, Martin Meyer, with an outstretched arm, forcing fourth down. The Lions attempted to punt, but the snap sailed over Navrátil’s head. A wild play ended with Johnson recovering for the Panthers on the Lions’ five yard line.
From there, the Panthers pushed in an easy six, a dive by quarterback Jacob Shrum. Running back Ondřej Víšek then scored two third-quarter touchdowns for the Panthers. The Lions countered late, with touchdown strikes to tight end Martin Hamza and wideout Aleš Daňhel.
The Panthers host Příbram June 17 then travel to Bratislava. The Lions are idle until July 1, when they visit Příbram.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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