The 5-7 Cologne Crocodiles took full advantage of an injury riddled 9-3 Hildesheim Invaders squad blanking them 14-0 with two games left in the German Football League season.
Playing without the services of starting quarterback Casey Therriault as well as the leading receiver, Nate Morris, the Invaders were no match for a fired up Cologne team playing in front of their home crowd.
The last time these two teams met Hildesheim won comfortably 31-14.
This time, Cologne grabbed a 14-0 halftime lead and held on the rest of the way for the win.
The shut out marked the second straight game that Hildesheim has failed to score any points.
Crocodiles quarterback Jerrad Evans threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns while leading all rushers for another 65. Aaron Jackson was the main recipient catching seven passes for 152 yards and one touchdown while Dominic Gröne had six catches for 57 yards and the other touchdown. Carmelo Insalaco carried the ball 17 times for 45 yards.
Filling in for Therriault, Chris Andrews completed 10 of 24 passes for 89 yards but was sacked three times and hurried throughout the game. Phil Gamble managed 42 yards rushing.
In fact, Cologne outgained the Invaders racking up 389 yards of offense to Hildesheim’s 129.
Cologne opened the game with Evans driving his team down to the Invaders four yard line but a Gröne field goal attempt went wide left.
From that point on, the Invaders were unable to move the ball past their own 30 yard line the rest of the first half. In six possessions, they managed just one first down and 31 yards of offense.
Meanwhile, Gröne scored the first touchdown midway through the first quarter on a six yard pass from Evans. Cologne had been handed a gift when the Invaders failed on a fourth down attempt from their own 23 yard line and the Crocodiles took over on the 29. Three plays later Gröne scored.
Jackson increased the lead to 14-0 midway through the second quarter, hauling in a 24 yard pass from Evans.
The Hildesheim offense finally kicked into gear to open the second half as Andrews marched the team down to the Crocodiles two yard line but an excellent goal line stand left Gamble stuffed at the one on a fourth and goal.
That was as close as either team came to scoring after that until the final three minutes of the game when Evans drove the Crocodiles down to the Hildesheim 14 yard line as time ran out.
The win does not change anything in the standings however for Cologne as the fourth place Berlin Rebels also won to clinch the last playoff spot in the GFL North.
For the Invaders though, the loss places them in jeopardy of losing home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. With two games left in the regular season, Hildesheim sits second with a 9-3 record with the 8-4 Dresden Monarchs hot on their heels. The two teams meet August 31 and a Monarchs win by more than four points coupled with a win over the Berlin Rebels in the final game of the year would earn Dresden second place, dropping the Invaders to third.