The 20-week German Football League regular season ended a week ago and three of the four leaders in the key individual categories managed to stay on top for the entire year.
The Dresden Monarchs duo of wide receiver Mitchell Paige and linebacker AJ Wentland, led their respective categories for the entire year and will lead their team into the playoffs where the Monarchs are a serious contender for the GFL title.
German Football League rushing leader, Potsdam Royals RB Tyvis Smith, took over the lead partway through the year and never relinquished it although the Royals faltered and missed the playoffs.
The league’s leading passer, Justin Sottilare of the Allgäu Comets, who has held the top spot the entire season, struggled mightily over the last few games but held such a commanding lead was able to hang on to win the passing title.
The Dresden Monarchs had 4 players among the Top 5 in 4 categories to lead the league. The Potsdam Royals finished with three players among the Top 5 in 4 categories. Following them with two are the Allgäu Comets, Marburg Mercenaries and Munich Cowboys. The Cologne Crocodiles, Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, Hamburg Huskies, Berlin Rebels, Frankfurt Universe and Braunschweig New Yorker Lions have one each.
The absences are the Stuttgart Scorpions, Hildesheim Invaders, Kirchdorf Wildcats and Ingolstadt Dukes who do not have any players on the lists.
Passing
Despite another dismal day throwing the football, 24 yards against the Frankfurt Universe, Allgäu Comets QB Justin Sottilare managed to hold onto the passing lead through the end of the regular season in the German Football league finishing with 3,63 yards and 41 TDs. Sottilare has set a record for passing attempts in a game (84), and led the GFL in average yards per game with 293. Trenton Norvell of the Dresden Monarchs came close but could not quite catch Sottilare. He finished with 3,901 yards and a league-best 45 TDs. Munich Cowboys QB Trenton Miller wound up 3rd with 3,652 yards. Braunschweig New Yorker Lions QB Jadrian Clark climbed up one spot to 4th with 3,240 yards while Schwabisch Hall Unicorns QB Marco Ehrenfried ended in 5th with 3,090 yards.
Receiving
Mitchell Paige of the Dresden Monarchs led the league in receiving yardage from start to finish winding up with a whopping 1,879 yards and 23 TDs, the two highest totals since 2014. Allgäu Comets WR Jordan Paul ended 2nd with 1,255 yards while Kai Silbermann of the Munich Cowboys jumped up from 5th to 3rd with 1,187 yards.Frankfurt Universe WR Tim Thomas slid to 4th with his 1,144 yards and Danish WR, Frederik Myrup-Nielsen of the Potsdam Royals finished the year in 5th with 1,111 yards despite missing three games due to injury.
Rushing
Tyvis Smith of the Potsdam Royals won the rushing title in the German Football League after finishing his season with 1,497 yards rushing. Hamburg Huskies RB Colby Goodwyn wound up 2nd with 1,231 after a strong showing in the second half of the season while Cologne Crocodiles RB Shayeen Edwards finished 3rd with 1,097 yards and 10 TDs. Berlin Rebel’s Dutch RB Sean Richard ended up 4th with 1,018 yards and 14 TDs while Glen Toonga of the Dresden Monarchs entered the list in 5th with 915 yards.
Tackling
AJ Wentland of the Dresden Monarchs had a phenomenal season leading the league tackles from wire to wire. He had 18 in Dresden’s 28-28 tie with the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions and finished the year with 187, the highest total in four years.He had 3 games of 20+ tackles. Neil Howey of the Marburg Mercenaries finished 2nd with 151 tackles. while Demetrius Steed of the Potsdam Royals ended in 3rd with 122 tackles. Marburg Mercenaries LB Peter Jinkens climbed up into 4th with 105 tackles while Kiel Baltic Hurricanes LB Thiadric Hansen finished 5th with 102 tackles.
Graphics: Igor Lazarevic