The unbeaten Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (13-0) will play host to the 8-5 Marburg Mercenaries Saturday, Sept. 2 at Optima Sportpark in Schwäbisch Hall in the final regular season game for both teams in the German Football League.
Both the Unicorns and Mercenaries have qualified for the 2017 playoffs in Germany with Schwäbisch Hall waiting to find out whether they will face the Berlin Rebels or Cologne Crocodiles in the first round. Marburg will travel north to Kiel on September 16.
These two teams last faced each other in the first game of the 2017 GFL season for both with the Unicorns prevailing 50-17 after scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter to break open a tight game.
Unicorns WR Aurieus Adegbesan scoring a TD against Marburg April 30, 2017 Photo: Manfred Löffler
A great deal has changed since then, especially for Marburg who went on a tear after that game winning six straight. This is by far the biggest turnaround for a team in the GFL this year. The Mercenaries are coming off a 2-12 season in 2016 preceded by a 3-11 year in 2015. In other words, there is a great deal of pride at stake entering the final game of the regular season.
Schwäbisch Hall has transitioned without a hiccup under new head coach Jordan Neuman, who took over from the legendary Siegfried Gehrke. Gehrke had led the team to the three last German Bowl finals and five of the last six winning it twice. A tough act to follow. But Neuman has filled in more than admirably and has his team on the verge of another undefeated regular season. The team would not want to let him down at this stage.
So expect a battle to the finish Saturday afternoon.