The Munich Cowboys (3-4) take the two and a half hour bus ride to Schwäbisch Hall this afternoon to face the conference leading Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (8-1) in a key matchup in the German Football League.
This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Unicorns defeated Munich 42-35 in Munich six weeks ago. Schwäbisch Hall sits atop the GFL South standings while the Cowboys currently are third.
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 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 Cowboys opened the season by beating the Spiders 31-7 and then downed the Wildcats 21-14. They then dropped two in a row, 33-17 to the Ravensburg Razorbacks and 42-35 to the Unicorns and then 27-7 to the previously winless Wildcats. They rebounded with a solid 31-27 victor over the Allgäu Comets but then were narrowly beaten by the Berlin Adler, 21-20..
Schwäbisch Hall quarterback Conor Miller, who is in his fifth season in Europe, is the ninth leading passer in the GFL having thrown for 1.514 and 21 touchdowns against four interceptions. His favorite target is Jason-Matthew Sharsh who has 45 receptions for 669 yards and nine scores while Julius Klenk has 29 catches for 346 yards and five touchdowns. Veteran running back Mike Gentili leads the league averaging 116.1 yards per game on 929 total yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games after missing the game against the Munich Cowboys.
Munich quarterback Niklas Yockey has thrown for 1,590 yards and 18 touchdowns in the seven games with his favorite targets being Gabriel Boccella who has 38 catches for 530 yards and eight touchdowns followed by Anton Chereminskiy who has caught 19 passes for 253 yards and Nicco Heiss with 15 receptions for 2276 yards and a touchdown. Jack Marton Maximilian Mayer is the Cowboys leading rusher with 390 yards rushing on 65 carries.
The Unicorns will finish as the number one seed in the GFL South but Munich is in a battle for playoff positioning so this is a big game for them.