RB Andreas Hofbauer rushed for 152 yards on 13 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. Photo by Schellhorn.
With an impressive 81-0 (27-0; 20-0; 27-0; 7-0)-win over the Salzburg Bulls in the final week of the 2011 Austrian Football League (AFL) regular season the SWARCO Raiders, marketing teammate of The Oakland Raiders, secured home-field advantage throughout the AFL playoffs. The 81-0 victory also was the Tyroleans biggest win in the AFL in team history.
Led by RB Andreas Hofbauerthe SWARCO Raiders dominated in all three phases of the game. The 18-year-old Hofbauer rushed for 152 yards on 13 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 19 yards. "I'm excited to be a part of this offense. We're getting better every week", said Hofbauer. "Give credit to the Bulls. They never gave up and kept on fighting throughout the whole game".
RB Florian Grein carried the ball 6 times for 44 yards and two scores. The SWARCO Raiders gained a total of 297 rushing yards and scored 9 touchdowns on the ground. QB Kyle Callahan also had two rushing touchdowns. He also completed all six of his passes for 92 yards. QB Damaso Tarneller completed 5 of 9 passes for 104 yards and two Touchdowns an. WR Andreas Pröller caught 4 balls for 63 yards.
The SWARCO Raiders defense gave up only 85 total yards and allowed only four first downs. They forced ten punts and three turnovers. DE Mario Rinner and DL Max Pichler each recovered a fumble and DB Andreas Bertsch caught an interception.
Playing without standouts WR Talib Wise and S John Clements the SWARCO Raiders still managed to start the game with a bang when WR Enrico Martini returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. K Christian Kellner added the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 11:45 left in the first.
The Bulls had to punt after only three plays on their first possession, giving the Tyroleans the ball back at Salzburg's 39-yard line. Hofbauer opened the drive with a 14-yard run. Then Grein rushed for 22 yards. On the next play he scored from 3 yards out. The extra point went wide, but the SWARCO Raiders were up 13-0 with 9:45 left in the first.
After the Bulls' second three-and-out and a punt the Tyroleans fumbled on the first play from scrimmage at midfield. But Salzburg gave the ball right back. After a bad snap Rinner recovered the ball at the opposing 35. Hofbauer then raced 34 yards. On the next play Callahan scored on a 1-yard keeper. The PAT extended the lead to 20-0 with 5:35 left in the first.
Salzburg punted for a third straight time. Starting at midfield Callahan handed the ball to Hofbauer, who ran to the opposing 28. Callahan then found Pröller for 7 yards and WR Christian Willi for 15 yards. He finished off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Kellner added the PAT to give the SWARCO Raiders a 27-0 lead with 1:45 left in the first.
Again the SWARCO Raiders defense forced a punt. The offense got the ball back at their own 36. Callahan opened the drive with an 11-yard pass to Willi. Then he found Pröller at the Bulls 27. A penalty moved the ball back, but Grein gained 10 yards on the next play. That was followed by a 20-yard pass from Callahan to Pröller. Grein scored from 2 yards out to give the Tyroleans a 33-0 lead with 9:55 left in the second quarter.
The SWARCO Raiders got the ball back at their own 36 after the fifth straight Bulls punt. Tarneller entered the game at quarterback and started with a 12-yard pass to Willi. After a short run by Hofbauer Tarneller faked a handoff, then threw a 42-yard touchdown strike to WR Pascal Maier. The PAT extended the lead to 40-0 with 6:50 left in the second.
Salzburg punted again. This time the Tyrloeans failed to score when a field goal try went wide. The Bulls regained possession at their own 20, but turned the ball over on downs when QB Dustin Willingham's fourth-down pass hit the ground. The SWARCO Raiders took over at the Bulls 28. On second down Hofbauer eluded several defenders and scored on a 28-yard run. K Emmanuel Trinkl added the extra point for a 47-0 lead with 80 seconds left in the second.
The second half started with a big play by the SWARCO Raiders defense when Bertsch picked off a Willingham pass and returned it to the Bulls 22. A few plays later Tarneller threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to WR Clemens Erlsbacher. The PAT was good and the home-site was up 54-0 with 10:25 left in the third.
The defense stepped up again, forcing a punt after just three plays. WR Jakob Dieplinger returned the ball to the Bulls 19. On the drive's first play Tarneller ran to the 4-yard line. Next up was a 4-yard touchdown run by Hofbauer. The SWARCO Raiders extended their lead to 60-0 with 7:50 left in the third.
After another Bulls punt the Tyroleans started at the opposing 44. Hofbauer and Tarneller moved the ball deep into Salzburg territory. Hofbauer finished off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. After the PAT the SWARCO Raiders lead 67-0 with 4:40 left in the third.
The Bulls next possession ended with a turnover when Willingham fumbled the ball and Pichler recovered the fumble at the Bulls 26. After two Hofbauer rushes Tarneller pitched the ball to Erlsbacher, who ran 16 yards into the endzone. After the PAT the score was 74-0 with 1:55 left in the third.
A sack by DL Johannes Leithmayer lead to the next Bulls punt. The Tyroleans started their next drive at their own 45 with third-string QB Philipp Brugger in the game. He also moved his team deep into Bulls territory. The drive ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Bertsch. After the PAT the SWARCO Raiders were up 81-0 with 8:10 left in the fourth.
The defense stopped the Bulls one more time and the offense just ran down the clock. Next Saturday, May 28, the SWARCO Raiders host the Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna in the Eurobowl semifinals (kickoff at 10:45 a.m. PT).
