The Kirchdorf Wildcats (3-7-1) face a daunting task when they head into PSD Bank Arena in Frankfurt to take on the 8-2 Frankfurt Universe, Europe #5, Sunday, August 19 in late season German Football League action.
The Wildcats have lost their last two games and with three games left enter the toughest part of their schedule. Back-to-back games against the Universe and their final game on the road against the top team in Europe, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns.
In Frankfurt, new quarterback Andrew Ellfers has been behind center for four wins including last week’s gritty 26-19 win over the Marburg Mercenaries. The week before Ellfers and the Universe suffered a tough loss to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns. Ellfers has thrown for 1,262 yards and 12 touchdowns in five 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 62 passes for 885 yards and 10 touchdowns. Running back Anreas Betza, the French national team running back, has rushed for 539 yards and 10 touchdowns so far in 2018. Justin Rodney has 63 carries for 292 yards and four touchdowns.
Wildcats quarterback Cameron Birse was sent home by the club last week for undisclosed reasons so Tom Schmidtke will finish the season at quarterback. Schmidtke has started the last three games, the losses to the Munich Cowboys and Ingolstad Dukes and the win against Munich. Clemens Erlsbacher is the leading target with 773 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. He is followed by Brandon Cox with 42 catches for 527 yards. Running back Alex Braunsperger leads the team in rushing with 595 yards on 165 carries.
Frankfurt’s record against sub .500 teams is 7-0 with a points differential of 257-72. The odds are stacked against the Wildcats unless head coach Christoph Riener can glean anything from the game film of the Marburg Mercenaries battle last week against the Universe. Frankfurt had to come from behind in that game for the win.
