German Football League Final Four stats leaders reveal a monster performance

AFI | American Football | 09/26/2017

The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions and Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns emerged winners of the 2017 German Football League semifinals this past weekend and move on to face each other in German Bowl XXXIX. The Lions defeated the Frankfurt Universe in a thriller, 23-21. Meanwhile, Schwäbisch Hall downed the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 33-11.

Schwäbisch Hall led three of the four categories with receiving yardage leader Tyler Rutenbeck posting monster numbers.

Passing

Not surprisingly, the two winning quarterbacks top the passing yardage stats with Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Marco Ehrenfried with a slight edge of 12 yards. He threw for 251 yards and 4 TDs against the Hurricanes. New Yorker Lions QB Casey Therriault was not far behind with 239 yards and one touchdown on 20 of 33 passing. Hurricanes QB Jared Stegman completed 17 of 34 passes for 231 yards while Frankfurt’s Jaleel Awini threw for 193 yards in a losing cause.

Rushing

GFL rushing leader Chris McClendon had a quiet day for him as the Unicorns front seven played a superb game. Nevertheless, he led all running backs rushing for 78 yards on 19 carries. Jabari Johnson was crucial to the New Yorker Lions win carrying to ball 15 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Frankfurt’s Silas Nacita was held to 43 yards and an average of only 3.6 yards a carry in the face of a tough Braunschweig defensive line. Finally, Maurice Schuele of the Unicorns led his team with eight carries for 35 yards.

Schwäbisch Hall wide receiver Tyler Rutenbeck had a incredible day against the Hurricanes catching 9 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns accounting for almost all the Unicorns receiving yardage. Frankfurt’s David Giron was the leading receiver for his team with 119 yards in receptions and one touchdown. The Lions Nate Morris again led his team with 89 yards on ix catches and a touchdown. Finally, Xavier Mitchell hauled in five passes for 74 yards for Kiel.

Unicorns LB Nick Alfieri led his team with 13 total tackles in the win over Kiel along with two tackles for loss. New Yorker Lions Roni Salonen wasn’t far behind with 11 tackles while Hurricanes LB Thierry Hansen had 9 tackles. Schwäbisch Hall’s Devin Benton also posted 9 tackles as the Unicorns stopped the vaunted Kiel running game.