The top two seeds, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns and Braunschweig New Yorker Lions both moved on to the 2019 championship final – German Bowl XLI – this past weekend.
The Unicorns downed the Dresden Monarchs 30-13 while Braunschweig defeated the Frankfurt Universe 36-18.
There were a couple of surprises among the 20 players in the four categories.
The top performers in the two games were Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns QB Jadrian Clark who led all passers, Chris McClendon, New Yorker Lions RB who was the leading rusher and surprising Dresden WR Mike Schallo who had the highest reception yardage. Three players tied for the lead in tackles including Dresden Monarchs linebackers AJ Wentland and Florian dur Nieder along with SchwäbischHall’s Nick Alfieri.
Passing
Unicorns quarterback Jadrian Clark topped all passers again this past weekend by throwing for 257 yards in the win over Dresden while Frankfurt’s Steve Cluley threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Dresden Monarchs QB Glen Cuielette threw for 229 yards and 3 TDs in the loss to Schwabisch Hall while Lions QBs Sonny Weishaupt and Brandon Connette threw for a mere 44 and 24 yards respectively.
Rushing
Braunschweig’s Chris McClendon had another outstanding day running the football in Braunschweig’s win over Frankfurt. With his 144 yards rushing and 3 TDs, he led all rushers in the semifinal round. Steve Cluley was a distant second with 62 yards while Unicorns RB Samuel Shannon had the third highest total with 53 yards. Last week’s leading rusher, Glen Toonga of the Monarchs rushed for 52 yards while Frankfurt’s Justin Rodney had 48, good for 5th.
Receiving
The surprise receiving leader in the GFL semifinal round was Dresden WR Mike Schallo who hauled in 8 passes for 110 yards. Sebastian Sagne of the Universe had 106 yards and 2 TDs while Unicorns receivers Joshua Haas and Nate Robitaille had 70 and 61 yards respectively, good for 3rd and 4th. Finally, KeVonn Mabon was the 5th leading receiver with 48 yards.
Tackles
Three tied for the tackling lead in the semifinals with LB AJ Wentland of the Dresden Monarchs, his teammate Florian dur Nieder and Schwabisch Hall’s Nick Alfieri all recording 8 tackles each. Frankfurt’s Kadel King had 7 to tie him with Unicorns safety Cody Pastorino.