Penza, 19 December 2011. PenzaNews. American football team from Penza lost the game to their rival Raiders52 team from Nizhniy Novgorod on Saturday, December 17 in “Volga Bowl” final. Alexey Kazantsev, the head coach and captain of “Phoenixes” said: “The first half of the game was not going well for us with three downs and one out on the forward line. The defense started letting Nizhniy Novgorod players closer and closer to their blocking zone and failed to react to the numerous shifts of their attacks”.

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“So in the first half of the game we missed two touchdowns”, added he.

According to Alexey Kazantsev, the forward line had nothing to show as the players either lost the ball or stopped their advances shortly after appearing on the field.

The captain said: “During the second half we managed to correct the defense and come up with an attack scheme. We managed to get through well. The defense managed to block any advances of the offensive team to their end zone and made two tackles while the forward line was able to score one touchdown. However, it was too late with the last quarter drawing to its end”.

The score 12:6 remained the same till the end of the game, and Nizhniy Novgorod players won Volga Bowl 2011.

Alexey Kazantsev said: “Thanks to all the fans who came to support us in such cold weather, and also even more thanks to those who stayed until the end. Special thanks to those who supported us during the season. We would have a break in the next two weeks and then start a new season”.