Bratislava Monarchs use stellar defense and air attack to annihilate Brno Alligators, 50-3
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you Alligators, make Gatorade. I’m funnier in real life… honest. The Bratislava Monarchs blew out their rivals the Brno Alligators on Saturday with a 50-3 victory at Monarchs field. The Alligators’ offense never got anything going against the stingy Monarchs defense and quarterback Marek Galka had a great touch all day as the Monarchs improved to 2-0 in the Czech league. Canadian defenders Ben Rush (DE) and Matt Walker (S) made the most of their Monarchs debut by combining for 7 tackles and a take away each (in the first half): a fumble recovery by Rush and an interception by Walker.
Six different Monarchs scored 7 touchdowns with 5 coming in the first half. The opening drive was capped by a 6 yard touchdown run by Stefan Slovak. While the defense held the Alligators to 3 straight 3-and-outs, the offense rolled on virtually all of their possessions in the first half. The only hiccup came when Galka threw an interception (which led to another Alligators 3-and-out), which he made up for by picking one off himself when he played free safety in the second half. Galka found receiver Martin Katuninec in the end zone twice for 2 touchdowns. Marek Belicka also contributed with a touchdown catch of his own in the first half. The defense forced 3 turnovers in the first half including a Peter Rosinsky (CB) interception return for a touchdown. The score at halftime was 36-0.
The second half saw a more conservative play by the Monarchs as running up the score is not proper football etiquette. However, tight end Marek Balog had an impressive catch in tight coverage in the end zone and running back Jozef Pito punched the ball in from 1 yard out for the second touchdown of the second half and final score of the game. It was all Monarchs on this day as the game was never really close. The Monarchs hope to continue their winning ways as they take their show on the road starting next weekend.
Notes:
Next Game: Saturday May 7th vs. the Ostrava Steelers in Ostrava, CZ. Kick-off at 3pm. In the season opener on April 16th, the Monarchs beat the Steelers 35-9.
In the inaugural game of the first season of the Slovak league on Friday April 22nd the Monarchs beat the Nitra Knights 21-7 and beat the Zilina Warriors 31-6. The Slovak league games are played on a shorter field with only 7 players per side.
This was most likely Marek Galka’s last game as quarterback in the Czech league. The Monarchs are welcoming Parker Siemens from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies this week. Siemens will play quarterback and Canadian teammates Ben Rush and Matt Walker will play defensive end and wide receiver, respectively. Galka will go back to his original free safety position on defense.
Photos courtesy of Matus Kelemen, headline picture: wide receiver Marek Belicka (10) stiff-arms a defender on his way to the end zone