DODEA-Europe football (Stars and Stripes)
Two teams clinched top seeds in their respective DODEA-Europe football conferences, and the playoff field is set.
The Ramstein Royals shut out the Kaiserslautern Raiders on Friday to earn the top seed in the 11-man north division and stay unbeaten along with Stuttgart, which took the top spot in the south division.
The International School of Brussels topped Aviano on Saturday in nine-man action, clinching the top spot and ensuring it’ll be an all-Benelux final. AFNORTH clinched the No. 2 seed with Aviano’s loss.
Naples secured the last playoff spot in 11-man football with a 35-2 victory over Vilseck. The Wildcats will travel to play the Royals.
Eleven-man
Ramstein 17, Kaiserslautern 0: Friday at Kaiserslautern, the Royals wrapped up the top seed in the north division by shutting out their crosstown rivals.
Shaun Young had 23 carries for 191 yards and two scores for Ramstein (6-0), which will host either Naples or Vilseck next week in one semifinal. Drew Varholy added another 69 yards on the ground and Xavier Schumacher passed for 115 yards.
After a scoreless first quarter, Young scored from 50 yards out to give Ramstein a touchdown advantage at halftime. He then hit pay dirt from 85 yards away in the third quarter to put the Royals up by two scores before Lincoln Bump’s 25-yard field goal ended the scoring.
Will Schmeidel had eight tackles and Varholy seven to pace the Royals defense, with Jackson Kerin and Chris Farrington each adding six. Freddie Robinson picked off two passes and Young grabbed another interception.
Kaiserslautern (4-2) will travel to play against south champion Stuttgart in the other semifinal next weekend.
Lakenheath 41, Wiesbaden 0: Friday at Lakenheath, the Lancers exploded for 29 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Warriors.
Lakenheath (2-4) started the fourth quarter with quarterback Oskar Feletar connecting with Milo Stroman for a 32-yard score. Kieren Lander kicked a 37-yard field goal, and James Arthaud found the end zone twice.
Jaden Fontane ended the scoring with a 29-yard TD.
Stroman had himself a game, amassing 130 rushing yards on 10 carries. Included in that was a 66-yard score to make it 12-0 before halftime.
Arthaud totaled 98 yards on the ground, and he added a 20-yard receiving touchdown from Parker Grimm.
Fontanez chipped in with 46 yards on the ground.
The Lancers stymied Wiesbaden (0-6) defensively. They forced six turnovers en route to the shutout.
Fontanez paced Lakenheath with 7.5 tackles and a forced fumble. Wesson Roney recorded six tackles for a loss, while Stroman picked off two passes.
Naples 35, Vilseck 2: Saturday at Naples, the Wildcats secured a semifinal berth by scoring all their points in the first half.
Terry Herbert III and Diondre Tilo each scored twice. Herbert had 18-yard and 1-yard runs for TDs, while Tilo had a 1-yard run and caught a 16-yard pass from Ryan Hernandez. Joshua Banks had a 26-yard run at the end of the half.
Tilo and Phoenix GoOco had nine tackles each for the Wildcats.
Nine-man
Rota 46, Sigonella 16: Friday at Rota, the Admirals picked up their second straight victory and still have a chance to finish the season without a losing record.
Daniel Guido rushed for 141 yards and four scores and passed for 80 yards and another score for Rota (2-3). Leland Colangan ran for 75 yards and another touchdown, and Lucca Guido caught a TD pass.
Jaden Naylor had 9.5 tackles for the Admirals and Leon McFarland had 8.5 and an interception. Christian Cervantes and Xavier Lozada also picked off passes.
Ryan Minard passed for one touchdown for Sigonella (1-4) and also returned an interception for a score. Max Kinney caught Miniard’s scoring pass.
Rota visits Aviano next weekend to end its season, while Sigonella travels to play AFNORTH.
International School of Brussels 52, Aviano 29: The Raiders ended the Saints’ postseason chances with a road victory on Saturday.
No other information was available.