LIVESTREAM Germany PPV: Dresden Monarchs @ Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, Sept. 7, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 11 am EDT)

AFI | American Football | 09/07/2024

In the final regular season game of the German Football League, the Dresden Monarchs (9-2) travel south to take on the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (9-2) in an intriguing matchup.

These two teams may well face each other in the semifinals.

The Unicorns are playing their first game since August 11 when they dropped a 26-7 decision to the Allgäu Comets.

The Unicorns lost their first game of the year in mid July when the Potsdam Royals whipped them 56-18 but rebounded by beating the Saarland Hurricanes 23-20 and the Kirchdorf Wildcats 45-17. They followed that up with a 21-0 blanking of the Munich Cowboys but suffered a stunning 26-7 loss to the Comets. They had gone unbeaten in their first six games although in their last three before the loss they had been pushed hard getting by the Ravensburg Razorbacks 31-28, the Munich Cowboys, 42-35 and the Straubing Spiders 24-21.

The Monarchs opened the season by trouncing the Paderborn Dolphins 38-7 and then beat the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions 21-7 and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 22-11. They then downed the Berlin Adler 44-32 before being brought down to earth by the Potsdam Royals, 40-19 after holding a 7-6 lead at the half. However, they rebounded from that loss by beating Kiel again, this time 25-3. They made a statement in defeating the Hildesheim Invaders 45-16 in early August and went on to beat the Lions a second time, 17-13 and the Dolphins 34-7 before being stopped, surprisingly, by the Berlin Rebels, 19-16. They made the Allgäu Comets pay last weekend whipping them 69-16.

Schwäbisch Hall quarterback Conor Miller, who is in his fifth season in Europe, is the 10th leading passer in the GFL having thrown for 1.651 yards and 23 touchdowns against four interceptions. However, he has not seen any action since the win over Munich. Jonas Lohmann filled in for him in the loss to the Comets. Miller should be back behind center today though. His key target is Jason-Matthew Sharsh who has 50 receptions for 732 yards and 10 scores while Julius Klenk has 37 catches for 432 yards and five touchdowns. Veteran running back Mike Gentili leads the league averaging 108.4 yards per game on 976 total yards and 10 touchdowns in nine games after missing the game against the Munich Cowboys. Gentili was also out of the lineup against the Comets.

Dresden quarterback Brock Domann is the third leading passer in the GFL after throwing for 2,496 yards and 19 touchdowns and his favorite target is Ricky Smalling who has 61 catches for 996 yards and 11 touchdowns while Jordi Torrededia has 44 receptions for 630 yards and five touchdowns and tight end Ethan Janto has 31 receptions for 381 yards and a score. Running back Nico Barrow is the ninth leading rusher in the GFL with 607 yards and 11 touchdowns on 103 carries.

This game has no bearing on the final standings as the Unicorns will finish first in the GFL South and Dresden second in the North. It will be interesting to see