Third year, third champion — the CNC Gladiators made a mild surprise in the CEFL Bowl III, beating the Vukovi Belgrade 14-8, capturing their first CEFL title.

Though they were undefeated on the field this year, many thought the Vukovi were favored coming to Vienna, but in the end, the Gladiators finalized their good play at the beginning of the game and turned things around after a 6-0 Vukovi lead after the first half.

The Vukovi scored first, but it didn’t appear that would be the case early on. Though the Gladiators had little success running the ball, Bernhard Kamber kept picking Belgrade’s defense apart, left and right. Their two good drives stalled in the end, and Jordan Green and the Vukovi finally put together a scoring drive, going 95 yards, and capping it with Green passing for 12 yards to Igor Vukoje.

Vukoje probably would’ve been the game MVP had the Vukovi won, catching too many passes to count in this game, but the second half turned out to be a mirrored image of the first. The Vukovi were the ones not capitalizing on their opportunities, and the eventual MVP, cornerback Peter de Gouw knocked the champion down, intercepting a pass and taking it all the way for a 14-6 Gladiators lead.

Quarterback of the Vukovi for most of the second half, Nemanja Petković, had a bad game until that point, but he did complete seven passes in a row at one point. On the Vukovi’s second longest drive of the game, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he led his team inside the 10-yard line, but Bratislav Bošnjak fumbled.

Kamber scored with a 2-yard run middle of the third quarter to put the Gladiators’ up 7-6, a lead they wouldn’t lose.

With the Gladiators 8 point lead, the Vukovi’s hopes died inside the final minute, when David Hailiman intercepted Petkovic for the second time in the game. The last two points were scored when de Gouw took the safety with the clock hitting zero, instead of punting the ball and giving the Vukovi an opportunity to score.