Dresden Monarchs defense dominant in victory over Hildesheim Invaders

The Dresden Monarchs travel to Hildesheim for the 37-9 win. Despite an unexpected resistance by the Invaders, the Saxons got away with a decisive victory.

After beating Hildesheim two weeks ago in a 62-17 blowout, expectations were clear for the Monarchs in this return match. But the Invaders did not want to be treated as pushovers in their first home game this season and it showed in the first quarter; Dresden’s offense could not find its rhythm, as quarterback Garrett Safron was put under heavy pressure, the running game was stopped and all receivers were covered well.

It took Dresden until the second quarter to put points on the board. Running back Joe Bergeron scored on a short run play after the offense was successfully brought to the goal line by Safron completions. Just moments later Monarch defender Kweishi Brown exploited a mishandled handoff between Hildesheim’s quarterback Zach Cavanaugh and running back Reggie Bullock and returned the fumble in the end zone. Florian Finke’s second PAT made it 14-0. The hosts did manage to get something going before the half, but could only cut the lead to 14-3 with a 32-yard field goal by Paul Jung.

Determined to put the game out of reach before the halftime break, Dresden extended the lead to 20-3 with a touchdown run by Safron; the ensuing kick by Finke was no good.

Hildesheim had put up a brave fight to this point but was not able to capitalize on their efforts. They impressed Dresden and made the Monarchs nervous at times, even intercepting Safron once. But it was the Monarch’s quarterback again for the game’s next score with a 20-yard pass to his receiver Sebastian Sagne. (PAT Finke)

Hildesheim now had score quickly to keep any chance of staying in the game. A drive that featuring contribution from many parts of the Invaders offense was completed by a Cavanaugh touchdown. However, this score near the end of the third quarter took too much time and left the Invaders exhausted. The Monarchs used those weaknesses to put the finishing touches on the game with a time-consuming drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal by Finke. Marc Millan topped off Dresden’s performance off by returning another fumble back for the final touchdown of the day. Finke kicked his last PAT for the 37-9 end result.

Dresden improves to 2-0 in it’s young German Football League and the Monarchs host the Berlin Adler next weekend. The Invaders fall to 0-3 and it doesn’t get any easier next week when Hildesheim welcomes defending German champion and AFI Europe #1 Braunschweig New Yorker Lions.