The 9-2 Frankfurt Universe, Europe #6, will pay a visit to Kirchdorf, Germany Saturday, August 24 when they will face the 2-10 Kirchdorf Wildcats in German Football League late season action.
The last time these two teams met, Frankfurt downed the Wildcats 38-17.
Kirchdorf has lost five straight after being beaten last week by the Allgäu Comets 21-6. They had been coming off back-to-back losses to the Ingolstadt Dukes, 37-27 and 24-0. Kirchdorf is trying to avoid the basement of the GFL South and a relegation playoff series.
Before losing to the Dukes, the Wildcats dropped that 38-17 decision to the Universe after losing to Marburg 41-28 the week before. They had celebrated their second win of the season after they edged the Munich Cowboys 19-18 just before the break in the GFL schedule. They had been pounded 56-0 by the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns the week before after having notched their first win of the season in beating the Comets 27-25. They had suffered through four straight losses and a tie leading up to that game. Before dropping a 31-29 decision to the Stuttgart Scorpions five weeks ago, the Wildcats had played the Munich Cowboys to a 27-27 tie, dropped a 34-7 decision to Stuttgart and then were walloped 52-14 by the Unicorns. A month ago, they lost to Marburg in a shootout, 55-49.
Wildcats QB Rex Dausin (Colorado State) who came to the team straight from leading the Bialystok Lowlanders to the Polish title game, has thrown for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns in five games. His key target, Madison Mangum caught 32 passes for 457 yards and six touchdowns in five games. Running back Alex Braunsperger has rushed for 622 yards so far. He did not play in the first game against Frankfurt and will be needed today.
Frankfurt is coming off a 51-12 shellacking of the Stuttgart Scorpions after suffering a 42-34 loss to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns the week before. Three weeks ago, Frankfurt blanked the Munich Cowboys 46-0 and the week before downed the Kirchdorf Wildcats 38-17 in their first game after the four week break. Just before the break they had whipped the Comets 34-7 and the Ingolstadt 63-13, rebounding from an embarrassing 31-0 defeat at the hands of the Unicorns in mid June. Frankfurt had opened the 2019 season with four wins, beating Ingolstadt 37-13, after getting by the Munich Cowboys the week before 24-17. They had downed the Comets 20-0 in their opening game and then defeated the Marburg Mercenaries 20-14.
For Frankfurt, Steve Cluley has thrown for 2,798 yards and 27 touchdowns with Antony Brooks (859 yds), Sebastian Sagne (598 yds, 11 TDs) and George Robinson (576 yds), as his leading targets. The latest signing, former Purdue Boilermaker/Philadelphia Eagle Anthony Mahoungou from France, has 17 catches for 290 yards and 5 TDs in three games. Running back Justin Rodney now has 616 yards rushing while Oscar Nevermann from Sweden has a total of 414 yards rushing in the 11 games.
The Universe boast the top defense in the GFL in yards allowed per game giving up 210.4 yards a game and are fourth in points per game with 15.1. The Universe have not seemed to have suffered any effects from the the sudden departure of Frankfurt head coach Brian Caler for personal reasons.
With three games to go, it seems likely that Frankfurt will finish the regular season in second place in the GFL South and will have a playoff date against the number three team from the GFL North.
This is the final regular season game for the Wildcats and a loss would leave them in the basement of the GFL South facing a relegation playoff series. The only way they could avoid this is for the Munich Cowboys to lose their final two games of the season against Ingolstadt. Kirchdorf has a tie and a win against Munich this year giving them the edge in the event of a tie in the standings.
