Date: 14 Apr 2012
Home: Poznan Kozly - 0
Away: Wroclaw Devils - 34
Wroclaw Devils deal Kozly 34-0 defeat in home opener for Poznan.
The Wroclaw Devils went to Poznan on Saturday afternoon without star quarterback Krzysztof Wydrowski, but they were still able to spoil Kozly's opening home game of the year in recording a 34-0 whitewashing of the home team. Kozly remain the Topliga's only winless team after the season's first three weekends, while the Devils sit in a second-place tie with the 2-1 Gdynia Seahawks.
The difference on offense showed for Wroclaw, who were unable to get an offensive touchdown until the Poznan defense tired in the fourth quarter. That defense couldn't be blamed, however, as the Kozly offense was shutout for the second time this season. They had some chances in this game, as the Devils offense made mistakes under Wydrowski's inexperienced replacement, Aleksander Karganovic, but the Wroclaw defense made sure that he didn't need to do much in his debut at the position.
The two teams combined for just one first down in the first quarter and it was the Devils defense that started the scoring in the second quarter, when the battle for field position that had slowly tilted in Wroclaw's favor finally resulted in a safety. Krzysztof Wis booted a 39-yard field goal later in the quarter, and Kozly were unable to take advantage of a pair of turnovers to leave the score at 5-0 at the half.
The game continued to hang in the balance well into the third quarter, when it turned into the Krzysztof Wis Show. Playing defense as well as kicking, he intercepted a pass and took it 60 yards to the end zone for the game's first touchdown. Wis then pinned Poznan deep on the kickoff, and the resulting drive ended in another defensive touchdown for Wroclaw after a bad snap ended up on the ground in the end zone. Wis kicked another field goal before the end of the quarter, and by that point it was 21-0 for the Devils. Niles Mittasch converted two late Kozly turnovers into his seventh and eighth touchdowns of the season.
After three weeks of play in the Topliga, a clear divide is beginning to open up between the top three teams in the league and the bottom three. Both the Devils and Kozly will take on opponents from the other 'half' in their next games, with Wroclaw remaining on the road to face the 1-2 Dom-Bud Krakow Tigers on April 21 and Poznan also hitting the road to play the Seahawks on April 22.