Admirals stop Thunder, win World Bowl

DUESSELDORF, Germany – Kurt Kittner led Amsterdam to its first World Bowl title Saturday, throwing two touchdown passes and setting up a third score with a 54-yard pass in the Amsterdam Admirals’ 27-21 victory over the Berlin Thunder.

Kittner, allocated to the Admirals from the Chicago Bears, went 15 of 28 for 239 yards in NFL Europe’s 13th championship game. The Admirals lost their only other final appearance in 1995 to the Frankfurt Galaxy.

Dave Ragone threw three touchdown passes for the 2004 champion Thunder, down 24-7 before rallying to nearly win their fourth title in five years.

“We got ourselves into a hole,” Berlin coach Rick Lantz said. “But we got ourselves a chance to win. It’s a shame we couldn’t get this done.”

Berlin got the ball back on its 6-yard line with 1:45 to play, and Ragone – the league’s offensive Most Valuable Player – drove the Thunder to the Admirals 22 with 30 seconds left.

The Thunder came close to pulling out the win when Ragone threw to Terrence Stubs, but the ball slipped through the diving receiver’s hands.

Ragone was 30 of 48 for 328 yards.

The Thunder finally got on the scoreboard with 33 seconds left in the first half.

But the Admirals regained the momentum early in the third quarter on the 54-yard toss from Kittner to John Booth. Former Washington State University player Jonathan Smith broke through the left side for a 22-yard score on the next play to give the Admirals a 24-7 lead.

Amsterdam’s Chris Snyder (Mt. Spokane High) kicked field goals of 32 and 28 yards and finished 3 for 3 on extra-point kicks.