Two teams battling to get to .500 meet as the Potsdam Royals (2-4-1) host the 3-6 Cologne Crocodiles in German Football League action.
Potsdam has gone winless since May 18 when they beat Dusseldorf 34-17. That’s a span of four games and includes a 28-28 tie with the Kiel Baltic hurricanes. Cologne may have had the toughest opening schedule of any team in the GFL North having faced the top four teams in six of their nine games. They lost their last two going into the break.
Both Potsdam and Cologne are seriously in need of a win to have any chance at all of making the playoffs .
The Royals are coming off a 33-13 loss to the Dresden Monarchs following a 28-28 tie with the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes which saw them rally to score late in the game to earn the tie. They had suffered back-to-back losses to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, 35-14 and 46-7. Potsdam had dropped their opening game to the Hildesheim Invaders, losing 50-28, but rebounded in beating the Berlin Rebels 30-17. They then downed the Dusseldorf Panther 34-17 before losing to Braunschweig.
Potsdam is struggling with quarterback injuries resulting in a true revolving door at that position. Sam Straub started his third game before the break and has now thrown for 611 yards and three touchdowns. Straub had first started in the second loss to Braunschweig, replacing Paul Zimmermann who played the week before when regular starter Jacob Tucker was out. Straub threw for 142 yards and a touchdown in that game. Wide receiver Keevan Lucas has had 538 yards receiving in seven games and is a dangerous target. Running back Gennadiy Adams has given the Royals a rushing attack and has carried the ball 118 times for 582 yards and 8 TDs and is the second leading rusher in the GFL in average yards per game (83.1). Another key addition has been LB Dustin Illetschko who anchors the front seven. He has already recorded 65 tackles in seven games.
Cologne enters the game after being shut out by the Berlin Rebels, 27-0. They had lost to the Dresden Monarchs 42-7 in late June breaking a three game winning streak which saw them down the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 13-12 and beat the Dusseldorf Panther 44-21 before that. They had notched their first win of the season, doubling up on the Kiel Baltic 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, their injury and quartebacking woes may be over with Jarred Evans replacing the injured Conor Miller in the loss to Berlin, throwing for 142 yards. Tobias Jarmuzek had filled in for one game before Evans’ arrival. The same goes for the running back spot as RB Colby Goodwyn, who was the leading rusher in the GFL, is out and in his stead, Dean Tanwani has stepped in and has rushed for 371 yards and four touchdowns. The Crocodiles were busy during the break adding defensive lineman Silverberry Mouhon and wide receiver Aaron Jackson.
This will be an interesting game between two teams battling to survive and trying to overcome a string of injuries.
