Only one more step stands between the Paris Musketeers and the championship game. On Sunday, August 16 at 3:00 PM, at PSD Bank Arena in Frankfurt, the Musketeers will face the Nordic Storm in the semifinals of the inaugural European Football Alliance championship. It is a daunting challenge for Paris, given how dominant the Scandinavian side has been throughout the season. But after a regular season that was far from straightforward, the Musketeers arrive in Frankfurt with one certainty: in a win-or-go-home game, anything can happen.
Paris had to fight hard to secure its playoff berth. After opening the season with three wins in its first five games, the Musketeers went through a five-game losing streak that cast serious doubt over their chances of reaching the BIG4. But when it mattered most, Paris delivered a complete performance against the Raiders Tirol, winning 33-12 on the final day of the regular season to punch its ticket to Frankfurt.
However, if Jack Del Rio's men want to keep their season alive, they will need to show a very different face from the one seen in their two previous meetings with the Storm. The Scandinavians won 48-16 in Copenhagen before handing Paris a crushing 41-3 defeat in Bondoufle. In that second matchup, the Musketeers were held to just 174 yards of total offense, while Zach Edwards was sacked eight times.
Protecting Edwards will therefore be one of the keys to the game, along with finding greater balance on offense. Jason Bofunda ranks among the EFA's top running backs with 468 rushing yards, while the Paris quarterback has added 354 yards on the ground himself. Through the air, Hugo Tekedam remains one of the Musketeers' main weapons, and Paris will need to find ways to put him in favorable situations. Torin Justice should not be overlooked either, as his impact has continued to grow with each passing game.
It is difficult to imagine a more formidable opponent. Nordic finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, wrapping up its campaign with an emphatic 55-7 victory over the Munich Ravens, who had decided to rest several of their key players, to secure the top seed. The Storm's only loss of the season came in Munich, a 37-34 defeat.
The danger starts with an extremely well-rounded offense. Jadrian Clark has established himself as one of the EFA's premier quarterbacks this season, with Brendan Beaulieu emerging as one of his most dangerous weapons. During the Storm's most recent trip to Paris, the duo tormented the Musketeers' defense: Clark threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns, with Beaulieu accounting for 231 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Paris will therefore need to put Clark under pressure and will look to EFA sack leader Demarco Artis to lead the pass rush, while the league's leading tackler, Ilan Barbaras, will once again have a major role to play.
And when Nordic turns to its ground game, the Musketeers will have to contain Glen Toonga, the EFA's leading rusher with more than 1,000 yards. That ability to threaten defenses both through the air and on the ground goes a long way toward explaining why the Scandinavians have won nine of their ten games this season.
On paper, there is no question that Nordic Storm enters the semifinal as the favorite. Two meetings, two convincing victories and an almost flawless regular season: every indicator points toward the Scandinavian side. For Paris, the challenge will therefore be to turn this semifinal into a completely different game from the previous two.
Limiting turnovers, protecting Edwards, establishing the running game and, above all, preventing Nordic from building an early lead will be essential. The Musketeers may have endured an inconsistent season, but their decisive victory in Innsbruck allowed them to regain some positive momentum at exactly the right time.
On Sunday in Frankfurt, Paris will have nothing left to hold back. A victory would erase much of the frustration from a difficult regular season and, more importantly, send the Musketeers to the EFA Championship Game on August 29 in Innsbruck.
To get there, they will have to accomplish something no team has managed since Munich in late June: take down the Nordic Storm.
