EFL Final: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes Face The Allgau Comets in Championship Game
This Saturday, June 27, Germany’s Kiel Baltic Hurricanes and Allgau Comets will clash in the championship final of the European Football League tournament. The Hurricanes will be defending their title after beating the Badalona Dracs in last year’s final.
The tournament, which kicked off in April, featured three teams from Germany – the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, Marburg Mercenaries and Allgau Comets – two teams from Holland – the Alphen Eagles and Amsterdam Crusaders – and one from Spain – Badalona Dracs.
The two three-team groups played a round robin format and both the Comets and Hurricanes dominated their respective groups winning both of their games easily.
So it is only fitting that two of the top teams from the German GFL would face each other in the championship game.
Allgau has enjoyed a breakout type of season in Germany this year. With a 5-2 record they are currently fourth in the GFL South division. Quarterback Cedric Townsend is second in the league in overall offense having rushed for 233 yards and thrown for 1,332 yards. He is only surpassed in that category by Kiel’s own Blake Bolles who is first with 81 yards rushing and 1,850 passing.
Allgau head coach Brian Caler has signed veterans like Townsend, defensive back Cody Smith (Team USA) and wide receiver Matt Green who is third in Germany in receiving with 518 yards and six touchdowns, and all three have had an impact on the Comets.
Kiel has performed at a top level in the German league this year and is second in the North at 5-1, their only loss coming at the hands of the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. Kiel’s new head coach, Stephen Parker, who coached with the Munich Cowboys in 2014, brought with him quarterback Blake Bolles who has had an immediate impact on the team. He leads the German league in passing averaging 308 yards per game and has thrown 25 touchdown passes, to go along with his league-leading total offense.
Parker added Austria’s top running back last season, Andreas Hofbauer who is the second leading rusher in the GFL averaging just over 100 yards a game. Linebacker Ryan Newell also followed Parker and Bolles to Kiel and is third in the league averaging seven tackles a game.
These two teams have never played each other before so this one will be interesting.