LIVESTREAM: German Quarterfinals – Marburg Mercenaries @Dresden Monarchs, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2p CEDT (8a EDT)

AFI | American Football | 09/22/2019

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

The 10-4 Dresden Monarchs, GFL North #2 will play host to the 9-5 Marburg Mercenaries, GFL South #3, Sunday, September 22 at Heinz-Steyer-Stadion in Dresden as the German Football League quarterfinals wind up.

Dresden moved into second place in the North on the final day of the regular season after beating the Berlin Rebels 20-14 to finish with a 10-4 record. The Mercenaries had sewn up third in the South early on by winning nine of their last 11 games including three straight to finish the year.

This pits Marburg’s number one passing offense in Germany against Dresden’s number one passing defense. Marburg has thrown for an average of 333.5 yards per game while the Monarchs give up 162.1.

The Monarchs will likely start Glen Cuiellete at quarterback instead of Zack Greenlee. Cuiellette relieved Greenlee in the second half of the late-season loss to Berlin on August 25 and engineered two touchdowns. He then led Dresden to two straight wins to end the year. Although his numbers are not gaudy, and his completion percentage in the five games he has played is below 60%, he has proven he can lead the team. He threw for 951 yards but 535 of those were in the final two wins against Hildesheim and Berlin along with seven touchdown passes of his 12 total. Cuiellette and Greenlee have thrown mainly to sure handed Kevonn Mabon who led the league with 1,680 yards.

Marburg’s Jake Sullivan, on the other hand, led the GFL in passing yardage with 4,539 and yardage per game (324.2). He also rushed for 428 yards and 14 touchdowns. In other words, as Sullivan goes, so go the Mercenaries.

Still, Sullivan’s QB rating of 157.9 is not that far ahead of Cuiellette’s 145.6.

Sullivan has a number of receivers to rely on with two in the top 10, Hendrik Schwarz (1,065 yds) and Marvin Rutsch (992 yds). Running back Triston McCathem has 867 yards rushing (4th in average with 61.9/game) for the year but he also has 721 yards receiving.

Marburg may have one of the most explosive offenses in Germany but the Dresden defense, which has allowed only 13,5 points a game, could spell the difference.