The Kirchdorf Wildcats (3-8-1) will face the Frankfurt Universe (9-2), Europe #5, in the second game of a back-to-back series with the Universe at Energie Arena in Kirchdorf in German Football League action.
Frankfurt won the first game of the series against the Wildcats last week by a 38-7 score.
In that game, Kirchdorf managed just five first downs and a total offense of only 131 yards.
The Wildcats have lost their last three games and have two games left, one against the Universe and their final game on the road against the top team in Europe, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns.
Wildcats quarterback Cameron Birse was sent home by the club two weeks ago for undisclosed reasons so Tom Schmidtke is finishing the season at quarterback. Schmidtke has started the last four games, the losses to the Universe, Munich Cowboys and Ingolstad Dukes and the win against Munich. Clemens Erlsbacher is the leading target with 807 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. He is followed by Brandon Cox with 43 catches for 548 yards. Running back Alex Braunsperger leads the team in rushing with 610 yards on 177 carries.
In Frankfurt, new quarterback Andrew Ellfers has been behind center for five wins including last week’s against the Wildcats and the gritty 26-19 win over the Marburg Mercenaries two weeks ago. The week before, Ellfers and the Universe suffered a tough loss to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns. Ellfers has thrown for 1,523 yards and 15 touchdowns in six games. He has a corps of outstanding receivers including David Giron and Tim Thomas. Giron has 749 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns while Thomas has caught 70 passes for 1,032 yards and 12 touchdowns. Running back Anreas Betza, the French national team running back, has rushed for 575 yards and 11 touchdowns so far in 2018. Justin Rodney has 73 carries for 368 yards and five touchdowns.
The Wildcats are battling for the survival in the GFL while Frankfurt needs to remain in second in the GFL South or end up facing a surging Dresden Monarchs team in the German Football League quarterfinals.
