The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (9-3) enter the 2023 German Football League quarterfinals as defending champions but with a totally different look. The Unicorns, who finished first in the GFL South will face the 6-6 Berlin Rebels, fourth place finishers in the North division, and they will do so with a team that is vastly different from the 2022 squad, after almost half the team and coaching staff moved on to the ELF.
These two teams last faced each other in the playoffs in 2019 when the Unicorns came away with a 45-24 win.
However, head coach Christian Rothe, who masterminded the rebuild of the championship team, has Schwäbisch Hall back in a familiar position. The Unicorns finished first in the GFL South for the 12th straight season.
In a roster of almost entirely new players, Rothe has relied heavily on long-time Unicorns running back Mike Gentili and wide receiver Caleb Schweigart who have stood out. In his 10 games, Gentili racked up 893 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, while Schweigart asserted himself among the top 10 receivers hauling in 59 passes for 821 yards and seven touchdowns. Replacing the now Stuttgart Surge passer Reilly Hennessey, hometown son Ian Gehrke completed 56% of passes for 1,978 yards and 21 scores but tossed 16 interceptions. In the secondary, defensive back Monteze Latimore dominated with nine interceptions.
Watch live PPV. Berlin Rebels @ Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns @ Berlin Rebels, Sept. 23, 16:00 CET (4 pm, 10 am EDT)
The Rebels have had a mixed bag of a season, beating the heavily favored Dresden Monarchs in a regular season matchup while then losing to a floundering Paderborn Dolphins team. The Rebels struggled to find an identity all season long, starting out the season with a strong run game before a string of injuries and poor performances from their backfield weapons began to hinder their offense.
Berlin did not finish the regular season strong as they were blanked by the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions 23-0 in the final game before the playoffs. The game saw quarterback Dario Dobrolevski get off to a poor start before the Rebels replaced him with GFL debutant Hamish McClure, formerly of the UWE Bullets. McClure did not do much better at the helm of the stagnant offensive unit. A bright spot, however, for the Rebels throughout every game has been wideout Bryce Goggin who holds sixth place in receiving yards and fourth in touchdowns (1,075, 16).