The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (1-4) will try to right the ship Saturday, June 22 when they host the 2-3 Potsdam Royals at Kilia Stadion in German Football League seventh round action.
The Hurricanes have struggled this year and dropped their fourth of five games last week, losing a close one to the Cologne Crocodiles 13-12. They had dropped a 33-14 decision to the Berlin Rebels before losing 48-28 to the Crocodiles. Kiel lost their first game of the season to the Dresden Monarchs 42-14 and then downed the Dusseldorf Panther 37-17 in the other game.
Hurricanes QB Jake Purichia has thrown for 974 yards and five touchdowns but tossed six interceptions in five games. Wide receiver Lukas Rehder has caught 18 passes for 321 yards while running back Julian Ampaw has 293 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Ampaw is due for a breakout game and could get it in this one. However, the Hurricanes new WR Markell Castle had an impressive first start with 88 yards receiving and one touchdown.
The Royals are coming off of 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. In the second loss to Braunschweig, Potsdam relied on Sam Straub at quarterback 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. Tucker had continued to improve and in the three previous games, two of which he has started, he threw for 657 yards and four touchdowns. There is no word as to who will start in today’s game. Wide receiver Keevan Lucas has had 393 yards receiving in five games and is a dangerous target. Running back Gennadiy Adams has given the Royals a rushing attack and has carried the ball 81 times for 403 yards and 5 TDs and is the second leading rusher in the GFL in average yards per game (80.6). Another key addition has been LB Dustin Illetschko who anchors the front seven. He has already recorded 52 tackles in five games after a 15 tackle performance against Braunschweig last week.
