The championship game of NFL Europe, World Bowl XII, was played on June 12, 2004 and featured the defending-champion Frankfurt Galaxy against the Berlin Thunder, who finished with the best record.
Berlin, under first-year Head Coach Rick Lantz, went 9-1
and was back in the World Bowl after the absence of a year, having won
back-to-back titles in 2001 and ’02. The Thunder had the developmental league’s
Offensive Player of the Year in QB Rohan Davey. RB Eric McCoo (pictured above) was NFL Europe’s
leading rusher with 669 yards.
Frankfurt finished second with a 7-3 record during the
regular season, although two of the losses came in late-season contests against
the Thunder. The Galaxy also had a first-year head coach in Mike Jones and had
the rushing runner-up in RB Skip Hicks and the second-ranked passer in QB J.T.
O’Sullivan.
There were 35,413 fans in attendance at the Arena AufSchalke
in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The Galaxy had the game’s first possession, but four
plays into the contest a J.T. O’Sullivan pass was intercepted by Berlin DT
Montique Sharpe, who returned it 28 yards for a touchdown. Heinz Quast added
the extra point.
Frankfurt responded by driving 66 yards in 11 plays.
O’Sullivan connected with WR Derrick Lewis three times and a 15-yard facemask
penalty was tacked on to an eight-yard run by the quarterback. However, after
getting a first down at the Berlin 11, the drive stalled and Ralf Kleinmann kicked
a 28-yard field goal.
A promising series by the Thunder ended with WR Chas
Gessner being stripped of the ball while trying to gain additional yards after
a catch and DB Chris Brown recovered for the Dragons. Following a Barcelona
punt, a nine-yard run by Eric McCoo and two completions by Rohan Davey advanced
Berlin to the Dragons’ 29, but McCoo fumbled the ball away. A mishandled snap
gave the Thunder possession again at the Frankfurt 36 and Davey threw to TE
Bryan Fletcher for 17 yards, but once again McCoo coughed up the ball to end
the series.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, and
following yet another Berlin turnover, the Galaxy put together a five-play,
55-yard possession that culminated in O’Sullivan throwing to Lewis for an
eight-yard TD. The drive was highlighted by an O’Sullivan carry of 17 yards
that had a 15-yard personal foul penalty added on. Kleinmann successfully
kicked the point after.
There was still time remaining and, utilizing a hurry-up
offense, the Thunder put together a 51-yard series in seven plays. Jonathan
Ruffin kicked a 38-yard field goal and the halftime score was tied at 10-10.
In the third quarter, an interception of a Davey pass by DB
Lynaris Elpheage led to another scoring opportunity for Frankfurt, but a field
goal attempt had to be aborted due to a bad snap and PK Kleinmann’s pass was
picked off by LB Kevin DeRonde and returned 22 yards. On the next play, the Thunder
utilized trickery as Davey handed off to WR Richard Alston on an apparent
end-around, but he instead passed to a wide-open Chas Gessner for a 60-yard
touchdown. Quast’s conversion put Berlin in front by seven points.
The ensuing kickoff was returned 64 yards by WR Hugo Lira,
but two sacks kept the Galaxy at bay. The Thunder were pinned back at their two
after the punt, but runs by McCoo and catches on swing passes by FB Ed
Stansbury moved the ball all the way to
the Frankfurt 24. A pass into the end zone was incomplete and Ruffin kicked a 42-yard
field goal to extend Berlin’s lead.
The turnovers continued as the kickoff was fumbled by WR
Jason Willis to give the Thunder possession at the Frankfurt 22, and while they
couldn’t reach the end zone, Ruffin added another three points from 40 yards.
Berlin took a 23-10 advantage into the final quarter.
Both offenses bogged down until the Thunder scored once
more on a 69-yard touchdown run by McCoo. Quast kicked the PAT. With Berlin up
by a 30-10 score with six minutes to play, the game appeared to be a rout, but
the Galaxy mounted a comeback. A 64-yard drive in five plays ended with
O’Sullivan throwing to WR Drew Haddad for a 17-yard TD. Kleinmann again kicked
the extra point.
When the Galaxy got the ball back, they drove to another
score. O’Sullivan this time connected with Lewis for a 19-yard touchdown. Kleinmann ‘s point after made it a six-point
game, but that was the last gasp for the defending champs as time ran out on
them and Berlin came away with a 30-24 win.
The Thunder had the edge in total yards (451 to 255),
first downs (22 to 20), and time of possession (32:39 to 27:21). However, in
the sloppily-played contest, both teams turned the ball over five times apiece
and Berlin committed a staggering 16 penalties, at a cost of 154 yards, while
Frankfurt was flagged five times.
Eric McCoo was the game’s MVP as he rushed for 167 yards on
28 carries that included the one long touchdown, making up for the two fumbles.
Rohan Davey completed 19 of 29 passes for 212 yards with no TDs and one
interception. Richard Alston and Ed Stansbury had five catches apiece, for 58
and 48 yards, respectively, and Chas Gessner led the Thunder with 80 yards on
his two receptions.
For the Dragons, J.T. O’Sullivan was successful on 19 of
33 throws for 210 yards and three TDs while giving up two interceptions and
being sacked four times. He also led the team in rushing with 44 yards on seven
attempts. Derrick Lewis caught 9 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
The win gave Berlin a third NFL Europe Championship,
joining Frankfurt for the most in the developmental league’s history up to that
point, although the Galaxy would win a fourth in 2006.
Rohan Davey and Eric McCoo became reserves with the teams
that reached the Super Bowl following the 2004 NFL season, although neither
appeared in that contest. Davey was a backup to New England QB Tom Brady,
throwing a total of 10 passes over the course of the year, while McCoo was
active for one game with the Philadelphia Eagles and rushed for 54 yards on
nine carries.
