Guelfi Firenze Upsets Milano in Italian Bowl XLI


The Milano Seamen have been the New England Patriots of Italian football winning six Italian bowl titles.  Guelfi Firenze from Florence, won their first title with a 21-17 upset of Milano.  Guelfi avenged a 62-28 thumping by Milano in the 2019 championship game.

Milano scored first midway through the first quarter with a 36-yard field goal after a 56-yard drive. Guelfi responded immediately with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cosimo Casati for a 7-3 lead.

After the Seamen scored their first touchdown in the second quarter, Guelfi answered before halftime with a 17-yard pass from quarterback Andrea Fimiani to Jared Gerbino to give Guelfi a 14-10 lead at the intermission.


As the two teams came out of the locker room they again tightened up on defense, offering very little until the end of the third when Seamen quarterback Luke Zahradka strung together an 88-yard drive, capping it himself with a two-yard run.

With the Seamen now up 17-14, Guelfi opened the fourth quarter with a 16-play, 80-yard, six-minute, touchdown-scoring drive to put Guelfi back in front 21-17.

Despite two more chances for the Seamen, the Guelfi defense stood up with an interception from Ryan Lonzar on the first drive and a turnover on downs on the second. The game ended with another life-sapping, five-minute drive from the Guelfi with Jared Gerbino picking up several first downs to run out the clock.

You can watch a replay of Italian Bowl XLI on YouTube.

Guelfi's first title was the culmination of a season-long crusade that saw both highs and lows. After a season-opening loss to the Parma Panthers, the team rallied after the arrival of head coach Art Briles in week two and turned things around.  They only dropped a 56-47 loss to Milano in week seven after that.

Guelfi finished the regular season at 6-2 then pounded Bologna 49-0 in the first round of the playoffs.  They won a thrilling 19-14 semifinal over Parma.

Milano finished the season undefeated at 8-0 then topped Ancona 41-21 in the semifinals after a bye in the first round.

(Thanks to American Football International for details on the Italian Bowl)


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