Any Given Saturday in Zurich
Your 2016 Zurich Intruders celebrate their second play-off berth in team history with a little help from their friends.
This week's report is a late summary of the final tournament of the regular season, as we are deeply embedded with the Intruders as they make their post season run to glory. A full write up may follow, but think of this as the NFFL Game Day Final recap.
ZURICH INTRUDERS 45 Rafz Bulldogs 39 (at Zurich Witikon Field): Filling in for absentee starter, QB Todd Teubert played admirably, leading the Intruders by tossing 7 TDs in the tournament opener. J. Boroski hauled in two TDs, and Francis Guay pulled the hat trick, including the game winning score with seconds left to play. The flagophobic Intruders defense surrendered several long scores due to a slew of missed tackles, but managed to hold on, batting away the Bulldogs Hail Mary heave as time ticked off the clock.
Zurich Renegades 45 ZURICH INTRUDERS 41 (same place): Football shaped bombs continued to rain on sunny Zurich field, as both Zurich teams traded touchdown drives until the final whistle. The Intruders last minute gambit fell short, as they allowed their cross-town rivals to score the go-ahead TD with a minute remaining to allow for a final drive. Unfortunately Teubert’s last minute 4th down heave fell a few inches ahead of the Guay's outstretched hands in the end zone, as the Intruders dropped to 6-4 on the season.
St. Gallen Vipers 55 ZURICH INTRUDERS 7: (Zurich, like 2 fields over): Meh. In a game about as exciting as hearing about someone’s fantasy team, the Intruders played their entire roster with their playoff aspirations out of their hands. The low light of the game was an inexplicable Boroski interception toss borne out of benevolent delirium on the final drive, which lead to a late Vipers score. While not a career highlight, the act sealed his candidacy for the Champe Fitzhugh NFFL Man of the Year award for charitable acts on and off the field.
With a Raptors loss later in the day, the Intruders went from “In the Hunt” to in the post season, which they deservedly toasted with free beers provided by the hosts. The 4th seeded Vipers (8-3) await the 5th seeded Intruders (6-5) in the wild card game in Winterthur this Saturday. Though early Vegas odds have the Intruders as underdogs, the fight this team has demonstrated over the 2016 season makes them hard to bet against.