Around the Continent – Week of October 2nd, 2014
Germany
Playoffs: Semi-finals
It was a tale of two games. As predicted the Europe’s #1 Braunschweig New Yorker Lions were too much for the feisty Cologne Falcons on this day handing them a 52-3 thrashing. This was the third time these two teams had met this season and the Lions dominated all three in intimidating fashion. Braunschweig amassed 437 yards in offense as compared to Cologne’s 176. Lions quarterback Casey Therriault had a field day rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 217 yards and two more touchdowns. He completed 14 of 20 passes (70%). The RAM trio – Rosemann, Andrew and McCants – combined for another 145 yards on the ground and three more touchdowns.
Braunschweig offensive line dominated.
On the other side, Cologne quarterback Robert Demers was picked off on the Falcons’ first three series and the Lions converted all three times to take a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. Playing catchup against Braunschweig is a daunting task. Especially when you are down 17-3 at the half and you kick off only to watch David McCants return it 85 yards for a touchdown extending the lead suddenly to 24-3. The rest of the game was a cakewalk as Lions coaches worked hard to get their starters off the field. Strangely though, Cologne did not turn to their subs until late in the game.
In Schwabisch Hall, the Unicorns and Dresden Monarchs truly entertained the capacity crowd on hand in brilliant sunshine at Hagenbach Stadium. Unfortunately for Dresden, it was the Marcus Sims show. Although the Monarch’s Trevar Deed had an outstanding game carrying for 127 yards and a touchdown, Sims had a game for the ages. He rushed for 225 yards on 24 carries (9.3 yards per carry) while scoring four touchdowns. This was against one of the top defenses in Germany. His first was a brilliant 79 yard run off the right tackle to open the scoring. Unicorn quarterback Marco Ehrenfried was his usual efficient self, completing 14 of 19 passes for 229 yards. Dresden quarterback Jeff Welsh threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns, the last one to close the gap to 33-27 with a minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the onside kick on the kickoff did not work and Schwabisch Hall ran out the clock to advance to the German Bowl for the third time since 2010. For Braunschweig, this will be their 10th appearance in the final since 2000. They have won it five times since then.
German Bowl XXXV will be played on October 11th at Jahn Stadium in Berlin. Look for a preview with Kiel Baltic Hurricanes head coach Patrick Esume next week.
