By Brad Duff
Saturday will see the only cross divisional matchup in week three of the German Football League as the 0-1 Berlin Adler from the GFL North host the GFL South Straubing Spiders (0-1).
Berlin’s last game was an intense battle with crosstown rivals, the Berlin Rebels. Offensively the Adler managed to find moments of success on the ground, with quarterback Zachary Cavanaugh picking up 98 yards on the ground, and a few good runs from Brazilian back Patrick Olivieira including one short-yardage touchdown.
The Adler found very little joy through the air aside from one spectacular back-shoulder catch in the endzone from Joespeh Walden, who led the team with six receptions for 50 yards and a score. Walden was also key to special teams, racking up some good kickoff returns
The Spiders are coming off a 34-0 loss to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions in a game that saw dominant performances from a Braunschweig offensive unit led by Former Jackson State (NCAA DI) quarterback Karé Lyles, who had a notable debut, passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the ball to 10 different targets. Another standout performer was Dwayne Obi (UK, London Warriors), whose first outing saw him pick up 112 yards and a touchdown over 15 carries.
The Spiders‘ new signing, quarterback Chris Robison (Florida Atlantic, NCAA DI) did not impress in his Straubing debut, passing for just 152 yards with an interception, and a completion percentage under 50%. Their run game wasn’t much better, with running back Kamal Cass (ENMU, NCAA DII) being the only player to record two-digit rushing yards, with a lackluster 37 yards on 13 attempts. Cass did, however, lead in receiving yards, which speaks more on the weakness of the receiving corps than the strength of Cass.
Defensively, defensive back Chris McCoy (Linfield University, NCAA DIII) had a solid first game, recording 11 total tackles, a tackle-for-loss and an interception, making him one of the only bright spots of the Spiders week one performance.
Both teams look for their first win on Saturday June 3rd.
Straubing Spiders @ Berlin Adler, June 3, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 11 am EDT)
