The 3-2 Dresden Monarchs, Europe #5, will try to return to the win column in the German Football League when they take on the 3-4 Cologne Crocodiles Saturday, June 22 at Heinz-Steyer-Stadion in Dresden.
Dresden is on a two-game losing streak. Last week they were beaten by the Hildesheim Invaders 31-27 after leading most of the game. They lost their first game of the year three weeks ago, dropping a narrow 34-31 decision to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. The Monarchs had won three straight, including 49-13 over the Dusseldorf Panther, 42-14 over the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes and a 17-0 shutout of the Cologne Crocodiles.
Monarchs quarterback Zach Greenlee missed last week’s game due to injury and was replaced by Glen Cuiellette who performed well and threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Whether Cuiellette starts or Greenlee returns will be a gametime decision. Despite missing the game, Greenlee leads the GFL in yards per game, 320, and has thrown for 1,281 yards and 11 touchdowns. The top receiver for the Monarchs is Kevonn Mabon who has 39 receptions for 746 yards and four touchdowns and leads the league in receiving yards per game (149.2 yds/game). British RB Glen Toonga has rushed for 290 yards and three touchdowns in five games.Linebacker AJ Wentland leads a tough Dresden defense and is again the leading tackler in the GFL averaging 14.4 tackles (!) per game.
Cologne enters the game on a three game winning streak after downing the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes last week 13-12 and beating the Dusseldorf Panther 44-21 before that. They had notched their first win of the season, doubling up on the Hurricanes 48-28. However, the Crocodiles had dropped four straight prior to that losing to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions 23-6 and 45-7 and then losing 31-14 to the Hildesheim Invaders and 17-0 to Dresden.
For Cologne, QB Conor Miller has thrown for 718 yards on the season but was hurt late in the game last week and is questionable for this game. The same goes for RB Colby Goodwyn, who was the leading rusher in the GFL, before suffering a serious injury early in the game two weeks ago against the Panther. In his stead, Dean Tanwani stepped in and rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns and last week recorded 57 yards on the ground.
This could be a tough game for Cologne if the injury woes continue to haunt them. The Monarchs will be playing in front of a raucous home crowd.
