The 2-0 Frankfurt Universe, Europe #5, head into Ingolstadt Saturday, May 19 to face the Ingolstadt Dukes (1-1-1) at ESV Stadion in the third round of the German Football League.
The Universe are coming off of a 63-7 thrashing of the Marburg Mercenaries while Ingolstadt were beaten in an aerial bombardment by the Allgau Comets 52-41.
The last time these two teams met was in 2017 when Frankfurt defeated the Dukes 42-17 and 48-3.
Frankfurt’s offense is averaging 40 points a game while the defense is giving up 3.5 a game on average. The Dukes can score as well rolling up 99 points in three games but the defense has surrendered 82, or 27.3 points per game.
The Ingolstadt offense is among the best in the league in passing with quarterback Nelson Hughes III averaging 295.3 yards a game, good for fourth overall. He has thrown 12 touchdown passes in three games. His favorite targets are Lorenz Regler who has 13 catches for 247 yards and four touchdowns, Anthony Mella, 12 for 217 and four touchdowns and Jan Hochschild with nine receptions for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Hughes leads his team in rushing with 161 yards in three games.
Linebackers Cory Magwood and Patrick Engelhardt lead the team in tackles and defensive back Sterry Codrington is a key in the secondary.
For Frankfurt, which leads the league in total offense averaging 511 yards a game, the key is obviously quarterback Steve Cluley although his numbers aren’t gaudy, with 453 yards passing and five touchdowns. The Universe ground game features Joe Bergeron who leads the league with 234 yards (8.1 yds/carry) and Team France running back Andreas Betza who is sixth in the league averaging 80.5 yards a game. Wide receiver Tim Thomas has already established himself as one of the premium receivers in Germany after moving from Finland. He is third in the GFL averaging 110.5 yards a game. Guatemalen wide receiver David Giron is in his fourth season with the Universe and is very difficult to cover.
The Frankfurt defense has only given up 347 yards in two games and has a ball hawking secondary that has picked off three passes in two games. Former Denver Bronco Fernando (B.J) Lowery has two interceptions while linebackers Sebastian Silva Gomez and Jhonattan Silva Gomez lead the team in tackles with 14 and 13 each.
