Preview Italian Bowl 2025 - A Tale of 2 Teams

For the second time in Italian Football’s history, the championship game will be played outside of Italy’s borders in the United States, and just like last time, in Toledo at the Glass Bowl.

After a long journey, Guelfi Firenze and Dolphins Ancona will face each other to determine which team will take home the Gionni Colombo Trophy, named after one of the pioneers of the Italian movement. Only one team will leave the United States as the Italian Football League champions on June 28th, at the end of the 44th Italian Bowl.

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Cammino Delle Due Squadre

After a new format was introduced by FIDAF and the Italian Football League, both Dolphins Ancona and Guelfi Firenze were put in two different groups thanks to their position in the 2024 standings. Ancona played in Group A with the defending champions Panthers Parma, Frogs Legnano, Rhinos Milano, Lions Bergamo and Warriors Bologna, while Guelfi Firenze were the first team in Group B thanks to their Italian Bowl participation last year with Giaguari Torino, Aquile Ferrara, Pirates Albisola, Lazio Marines and Skorpions Varese.

Ancona started their season with new head coach Rik Parker, a former player in 1991 and quality coach since 2019. He stepped in to replace Roberto Rotelli after his 12 year stint as the HC of the Dolphins, adding some new import players. Collin Di Galbo has left the team after four years, replaced by Blake Eaton, while Blue Team’s own Mike Gentili and NCAA D1 FCS Champion Tyler Terhark were the last two US players announced during the offseason. The Dolphins went 9-1 during the regular season, only losing against the Legnano Frogs in Week 1 (20-14). After that loss, the green and orange hit nine straight wins and finished their first phase of the tournament in first place in Group A. Thanks to their great placement during the regular season, they were able to start their journey from the semifinals, where they faced the 2-time champions of Italy Panthers Parma, beating them 20-14 on a last-minute TD by RB Teo Flamini and closing their dynasty (for now).

On the other side, Guelfi Firenze also changed a lot of things, starting with the HC Byron McAdams and continuing with the import players announced during the Fall/Winter period. The big change was the introduction of former Frogs Legnano player Eystin Salum, already a big name in the Italian Football League, followed by another blue team player, Frankie Stola, and Colin Schooler, former Texas Tech and Arizona player. Despite some big names coming, other players ended their spell in Florence (ex: Diego Rinaldi and Leonardo Pasquotto, who were playing for Aquile Ferrara during this season).

Since the start of the year, Purple Rain was the trend, as Guelfi Firenze ended their regular season with a 10-0 record and no rivals, winning just one game with less than 30 points scored, against Ferrara in Week 12 (26-6). The home semi-final was played against Frogs Legnano, another team that won the IFL offseason, bringing back some of the players who composed the Milano Seamen roster both in the Italian Football League and in the ELF. Guelfi won that game 35-23 and officially booked their stay in Toledo for the 2025 Italian Bowl.

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Dichiarazioni

Both teams spent their week in Toledo, participating in media activities and enjoying the experience of American football in the United States, as the main focus is the final that both teams will play tomorrow.

Valentino Rotelli, Dolphins player, and Guelfi HC Byron McAdams, spoke with First Down Mag about the big game. “It is going to be difficult to keep them at a low point, but we are doing our stuff, we are studying them, watching some tape and working on what we can do to stop them”, declared Rotelli.

Coach McAdams has put his focus on the Dolphins defense, telling us, “This is a matchup everybody wants to see. The best offense against the best defense. We do things that other people don’t – for example, spread the ball from sideline to sideline, so rushing-wise you have to remember that in the other conference they didn’t rush the ball very much. This will be the first time for them that they will see this kind of offense and we will mix our rushing kind of offense with the passing. We have some wide receivers that are very good. I think we’ll continue to produce. I don’t know if we are going to score 50 points, but we promise to put some points on the board”.

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Statistiche

This is another final where two of the best teams in the tournament will face each other as the best offense and the best defense in the league. Ancona was the only team conceding less than 100 points during the regular season (9.4 per game), while Florence has scored more than anyone (499 points; almost 50 points per game!).

Blake Eaton, in his first season in the IFL, has made a huge impact sitting on the director’s chair. He was the third best QB in the league thanks to his 2,307 passing yards that produced 37 TDs and 6 interceptions. His best targets were import player Tyler Terhark, who scored 15 Tds on 61 receptions and 691 yards, former Warriors Bologna player Matteo Dazzani (11 TDs, 565 yards on 45 picks), also the team’s kicker, scoring 5 field goals out of 7 tries and a perfect 24-24 on extra points. Valentino Rotelli and Kristian Giardinieri were the best defenders of the team this year, as both players intercepted the ball seven and five times respectively, while Enrico Genga was the best player in sacks (6).

Guelfi QB Andrea Fimiani, in his fifth season in purple, has confirmed himself as one of the top faces of the league. He has scored 48 TDs (33+15), throwing just 3 interceptions with 3,146 overall yards. Frankie Stola was the best receiver of the team, scoring 18 times, (including a punt return TD), while Eystin Salum was a threat not only on offense (14 TDs on the year), but also on defense where he managed to intercept the ball 5 times and score a couple of TDs, one of these during the semifinal against his former team.

Guelfi also has the record for interceptions in the whole league. They snagged 19 during the regular season (3 returned for TDs) and were the 2nd team in total sacks (18) behind Panthers Parma. Import player Colin Schooler was perhaps the best player on defense for Firenze with 76 tackles (57 solo and 38 assisted), 14.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions and 2.5 sacks. Another important stat about the Guelfi is the fact that they have never attempted a FG during the season, as Francesco Camorani was only on the field for extra points, scoring 59 out of 64 PATs.

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Storia e Finali

The Dolphins Ancona will play in their first championship game in 21 years and will try to stop their unlucky run once and for all. They have already made the final in 4 straight tournaments (2001 to 2004), but in all tries were defeated by the Bergamo Lions, then the strongest team in Italy and in Europe, winning 4 of their 11 consecutive titles.

In 2001 and 2002 Ancona lost both games in Bolzano by the scores of 30-24 and 21-14, while in 2003 they lost “at home” in Civitanova Marche, near Macerata, with an annihilating 45-0. In 2004, the Dolphins lost by a single point (14-13) in Scandiano, Reggio Emilia. Since the return of the Italian Football League post Covid-19 in 2021 though, Ancona has always improved, nearing their appearance to a final year after year. They did not made a playoff appearance in 2021, finishing fifth with a 3-5 record just behind Guelfi Firenze, while in 2022 they qualified to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 with a 4-4 record, defeating the Modena Vipers in the wild card round (42-7), and ultimately losing in the semifinals against the Milano Seamen (41-21). Both in 2023 and in 2024 Ancona faced Guelfi Firenze in the semifinals, losing both games and bringing their Italian Bowl dreams to a halt for at least one more year. Now it is their time to shine and demonstrate that they can put their city on the map for the first time in more than 40 years.

Born in 2000, Guelfi Firenze first played in the Italian Football League in 2016 after winning a Nine Bowl against the Caglliari Crusaders in 2003 and a Silver Bowl at home in 2005, defeating the Briganti Napoli team. Since their debut nine years ago however, Guelfi did not make the playoffs but once (2017), and have been improving year after year. This will be their fifth final in the team's history, but their championship record right now is 1-3. Their first appearance in the Italian Bowl was in 2019, when they lost against the Milano Seamen 62-28 in Sesto San Giovanni, with Art Briles as the head coach and Silas Nacita as their all-around star player. The revenge was served in 2022, in Bologna, when Guelfi won their first and only IFL title after a 21-17 win against the Seamen, who were playing in their last game in the top tier as of now. After that win, Firenze made two other appearances in 2023 and 2024, losing both against the Parma Panthers, once in the first final played in Toledo (29-13) and the other in Ravenna (38-26).

This will be the first time ever where both teams are playing each other in the Grand Final. Will this be a perfect season for Guelfi Firenze, or a historic first time championship for Dolphins Ancona?