The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes staged a last minute rally against the reigning German Bowl and Eurobowl champions, the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions and Thiadric Hansen kicked a 28 yard field goal with 20 seconds on the clock to earn a much deserved tie with one of Europe’s top teams.
This was the 38th meeting between these two teams and only the second draw. The first time they played to a tie was in 2007 when they battled to a 15-15 tie.
Almost 2,000 spectators braved the pouring rain at Kilia Stadium in Kiel, Germany to watch a thrilling contest which saw both teams battle the wet conditions without either being able to gain momentum.
Braunschweig quarterback Grant Enders completed 15 of 30 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown while Kiel’s Logan Schrader threw for 158 yards.
Photos: New Yorker Lions
Braunschweig looked to take control of the game in the first half grabbing a 10-0 lead after two quarters. Enders found Christian Bollmann from two yards out late in the first quarter for the game’s first touchdown. Then Tobias Goebel kicked a 22 yard field goal early in the second quarter to account for all the first half scoring.
The second half saw much of the same as neither team could gain much of an advantage until Schrader found a seam and raced 53 yards to the Lions 22 yard line for the longest gain of the day.
Kiel running back Chris McClendon finished the drive off with a six yard touchdown run and Kiel was only down 10-7. That led the the final dramatic drive. Xavier Mitchell had returned a Bollmann punt to the Lions 37 yard line. From there, Schrader took his team down to the 11 yard line and Hansen did the rest.
This is the second setback for Braunschweig in two weeks. The Lions lost a tough game to the Berlin Rebels 30-24 a week ago and now find themselves still in third place in the German North. It was an important point for Kiel keeping them in fourth and within striking distance of Braunschweig, Dresden and the Rebels in their division.