The 1-6 Allgäu Comets will be in desperate need to right the ship when they play host to the 6-3 Stuttgart Scorpions on Sunday, July 28 as the German Football League resumes after a four week break.
The Comets fell 31-21 to the Ingolstadt Dukes in their last game and are in danger of dropping into the basement of the division. Meanwhile, Stuttgart were soundly beaten by the Mercenaries at the end of June but rebounded somewhat downing the Munich Cowboys 31-24 in a gritty effort a couple of weeks ago.
The Comets had notched their first win of the 2019 season when they downed Ingolstadt 28-26 at home in Kempten. However, Allgäu dropped two in a row after that. They first lost a close one to the Kirchdorf Wildcats 27-25 and then were beaten 34-7 by the Frankfurt Universe. The Cometswere blanked in the opening game of the season 20-0 by the Universe and then dropped two in a row to the Munich Cowboys, 31-16 and 21-18.
Since the loss to Frankfurt, the Comets have undergone a coaching change, releasing veteran Jeff Scurran, replacing him with Hesham Khalifa who will serve as interim head coach for the second year in a row.
The Comets offense had a new quarterback in the loss to the Dukes as Raleigh Yeldell, started his first game throwing for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Expect him to start again today. Newly signed Swedish wideout Robin Juhlin will be in the lineup today in an offense run by new offensive coordinator Sebastian Johansson. Running back Lennies McFerren, has not been used as much in the last three games but under Johansson, things may change. With a running quarterback like Yeldell, his contribution will be needed today.
Defensively though, Allgäu is still the second toughest team in Germany to run against having given up just 46.6 yards rushing in six games.
Stuttgart rebounded from an embarrassing 52-14 loss to the surging Marburg Mercenaries just before the break, beating the Munich Cowboys 31-24 last week. They had narrowly defeated the Cowboys 21-19 earlier. However, they had lost badly to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns 63-21 the week before that. The Scorpions had celebrated their fourth win of the year in early June, defeating the Kirchdorf Wildcats 31-29. The season had opened with promise with the Scorpions getting a 30-21 win over the Marburg Mercenaries, followed by a 34-7 victory over Kirchdorf and then a 37-30 win over Ingolstadt.
Stuttgart QB Michael Eubank has thrown for 2,234 yards in nine games with an average of 248.2 yards a game, good for fifth in the league. Running back Giacomo De Pauli has rushed for 549 yards and also caught 28 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Although he did not see the field in the loss to Marburg, he will no doubt be back and healthy today. Explosive wide receive Tyler Cooperwood has 40 receptions for 652 yards and 10 touchdowns while Luca Faschian caught 34 for 573 yards and five touchdowns.
This game is the first in a home and home series between these two teams.
