The Hildesheim Invaders (7-1), Europe #4, will play host to the 4-4 Berlin Rebels Saturday, August 3 as the German Football League moves into the last half of the season.
The Invaders downed the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 27-7 last week. Hildesheim came out of the gate fast with six straight wins before being tripped up by the New Yorker Lions 35-28. Meanwhile, Berlin dropped a 34-9 decision to the Lions last week and now sit fourth in the GFL North standings.
The Invaders win over Kiel was solid after the four week break. They were coming off a disappointing 35-28 loss, their first, to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. They had entered that game after their sixth consecutive win,, a 31-27 come-from-behind victory over the Monarchs. They had preceded that with a 46-10 drubbing of the Dusseldorf Panther. In fact, Hildesheim is so far the most improved team in the league and won their four previous games by one-sided scores beating the Potsdam Royals 50-28, taking care of the Panther 49-17, downing the Cologne Crocodiles 31-14 and then defeating the Berlin Rebels 56-41.
Invaders quarterback Casey Therriault, in his first season back in the GFL in two years is in prime form throwing for 2,347 yards and a league-best 29 touchdowns while rushing for 350 yards and four touchdowns. Sean Richard is the team’s leading rusher with 395 yards. Wide receivers Nathaniel Morris (863 yds, 8 TDs) s Jaleel Awini (665 yds, 7 TDs),and Anthony Dablé-Wolf (629 yds, 13 TDs) may be the most explosive set of receivers in the GFL.
The Rebels’ loss to Braunschweig was their first in five games. They had earned their fourth straight win right before the break, blanking the Cologne Crocodiles 27-0. The week before, they had beaten the Dusseldorf Panther 55-13 after downing them 55-20. They had defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 33-13 after suffering through a dismal opening to their 2019 season losing all three games, which they have not done since 2015 when they lost their first three games of the year en route to a 4-8 season.
The Rebels were beaten 30-17 in their opening game by the Potsdam Royals in Potsdam, and then they dropped a 29-12 decision to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. In late May, the Hildesheim Invaders proved too much for the 2018 German quarterfinalists, beating them 56-41.
Berlin’s new quarterback, Kurt Palandech, did not have his best day in the loss to Braunschweig throwing for just 122 yards although since coming to the clube he has looked solid in his five starts throwing for 1,030 yards and 13 touchdowns. TJ Esekielu as the leading receiver with 34 catches for 499 yards and five touchdowns Alexander Tounkara has caught 19 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns while Jason Harris now has 261 yards receiving. The running game, which has been the strength of the team in seasons past , seems to have come alive and is fifth in the league averaging 119.6 yards a game. Andreas Betza has rushed for a total of 397 yards.
