Patriots quarterback Rohan Davey tallied four touchdown passes to lead the Berlin Thunder to a 31-27 come-from-behind road victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy on Saturday evening. Davey found Patriots teammate Chas Gessner for his league-leading sixth touchdown reception to seal the victory in the final stanza. With the win, the World Bowl bound Thunder improved to 7-1 and regained sole possession of first place in NFL Europe.
The Patriots signal caller started the game strong, completing eight of 11 passes for 138 yards and two scores in the first half. The Thunder got on the board first with a 21-yard field goal and then jumped out to an early 10-0 lead when Davey found fullback Ed Ieremia-Stansbury for a 1-yard touchdown toss with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter.
The Galaxy bounced back with a pair of Skip Hicks 1-yard touchdown jaunts early in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead. On the next possession, Davey, the former Louisiana State standout, marched Berlin down the field on a three-play, 64-yard drive that was capped off with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Eric McCoo. The Patriots quarterback found a streaking Richard Alston over the middle for a 47-yard completion to set up the score.
Trailing 20-17 at the beginning of the third quarter, Davey gave the Thunder the lead again with a 28-yard touchdown strike to Alston. The former 2002 fourth-round selection completed all four of his passes on the nine-play, 67-yard drive.
Frankfurt grabbed the lead back on the next possession when J.T. O'Sullivan found tight end Chad Hayes for a 15-yard touchdown reception to give the Galaxy a 27-24 advantage with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Trailing in the fourth quarter for the third time in the last four weeks, the opportunistic Berlin offense took advantage of a Frankfurt interception deep in their own territory to capture the lead for good. Two plays after the turnover, Davey found Gessner for a game-winning 13-yard touchdown toss. The former Brown University standout finished the game with five catches for 59 yards.
Davey completed 16 of 25 passes for 225 yards for a 99.2 quarterback rating in the contest. He leads the NFLEL with 18 touchdown passes and a 109.6 QB rating.
Other productive Patriots in Berlin's victory include Jamil Soriano, who started at right guard and was a member of an offensive line that blocked for Thunder runners to accumulate 119 rushing yards on 28 carries. Lawrence Flugence started at linebacker and collected three tackles, while Scott Farley saw action in a reserve role at safety.
David Pruce got the start at left tackle for the Galaxy and opened holes for Frankfurt runners to gain 79 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
In other action across the pond, the Scottish Claymores upset the Amsterdam Admirals 19-17. Amsterdam safety Jason Perry registered 10 tackles (8 solo) and a sack in the loss. Buck Rasmussen started at right defensive tackle for the Admirals and tallied two defensive stops. The Cologne Centurions outlasted the Rhein Fire 7-6 in another NFL Europe showdown.
Despite the loss to Berlin last week, Frankfurt clinched a berth in the World Bowl and set up a Thunder/Galaxy title tilt on June 12. This week's Berlin matchup against the Scottish Claymores can be seen on DIRECTV at 9:00 AM on Saturday, May 29.
Notes
In eight starts for the Thunder Davey has completed 108-of-178 passes for 1,495 yards and 18 touchdowns with just five interceptions for a 109.6 passer rating. He leads NFLEL in both touchdown passes and passer rating and has also rushed 21 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns. … Gessner has started all eight games for Berlin, recording 32 receptions for 481 yards and an NFLEL-best six receiving touchdowns. … Soriano has started all eight games at right guard for Berlin. … Defensively, Flugence has eight starts at linebacker for the Thunder. He's tallied 38 tackles, 2.5 sacks and four passes defensed on the season. … Farley has started five of eight games played, recording 28 tackles, two passes defensed and one fumble recovery from his safety spot with Berlin. … Perry has started all eight games at safety for Frankfurt, notching 48 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and three passes defensed. … Pruce has eight straight starts at left tackle for the Galaxy. … Rasmussen has started two of four games played since joining the Admirals midway through the season. … Berlin sits atop the NFLEL standings with a 7-1 mark, followed by Frankfurt at 6-2, Amsterdam, Cologne and Rhein all tied at 3-5 and Scotland at 2-6. … This week's schedule has Berlin at Scotland (9:00 a.m., DIRECTV) and Frankfurt at Rhein (1:00 p.m., NFL Network) on Saturday. Sunday has Amsterdam traveling to Cologne for a matchup that will be played on tape delay at 2 p.m. on FOX.
