With the German Football League regular season over and the playoffs looming this weekend, we have added two new categories to our compilation, sacks and interceptions with a surprising leader in the sack category. Interestingly, the Kiel Baltic Huricanes finished with three players among the top five in three categories,with two players leading. The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns had the top passing QB and two of the five top receivers. The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, with the league’s best offense, had two players in the top 5 in two offensive categories. However, the Munich Cowboys had four players in the top 5 in three defensive categories while the Marburg Mercenaries had three.
Passing
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns quarterback Marco Ehrenfried maintained his passing yardage lead over the final three games of the regular season finishing with 3,735 yards and 46 TDs. Casey Therriault of the New Yorker Lions climbed into second with his 3,459 passing yards while Dresden Monarchs QB Garrett Safron moved into 3rd in passing yardage with 3,302 yards and and 44 TDsRick Webster of the Ingolstadt Dukes missed three games but still finished with 3,279 yards, good for 4th. Australian Jared Stegman of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes wound up 5th with 2,746 and a league-leading 45 TDs.
Receiving
Kiel WR Xavier Mitchell had a monster year and led the league in receiving for almost the entire season despite playing QB in two games. He finished with 1,297 yards receiving and 17 receiving TDs. Alexander Tounkara of the Berlin Rebels climbed all the way up to 2nd with 1,282 yards and 15 TDs. Tyler Rutenbeck of the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns pulled up to 3rd with a late season surge and wound up with 1,184 yards and 15 TDs with teammate Nate Robitaille right behind him in 4th with 1,134 yards. Marburg Mercenaries Philip Lanieri ended up in 5th place with 1,126 yards.
Rushing
Kiel Baltic Hurricanes RB Chris McClendon had a rushing year to remember in the German Football League. Leading the rushing stats from wire to wire he finished with 2,112 yards and a league-best 20 TDs. His closest rival, RB Kevin Parks of the Cologne Crocodiles finished with 1,502 yards while New Yorker Lions RB David McCants wound up 3rd with 1,400 yards and 14 TDs for another phenomenal season. Frankfurt’s Silas Nacita finished 4th with 1,259 yards and 14 TDs. Joe Bergeron of the Dresden Monarchs climbed steadily and claimed 5th with his 1,048.
Tackling
Michael Taylor of the Marburg Mercenaries maintained his lead for the last half of the season and was a force in every game finishing with 156 tackles. Teammate Neal Howey was outstanding down the stretch and finished with 131 tackles good for 2nd. Allgäu Comets LB Niall Padden finished 3rd with 127 while Jeremiah Maluia of the Munich Cowboys wound up 4th with 124. His teammate Ryan Newell despite missing a couple of games, wound up 5th, also with 121 tackles. He led the GFL in tackles in 2013 and 2014 with the Cowboys.
Sacks
One of the reasons the Hamburg Huskies won their last four games of the season was the defensive play of Milos Lisanin who finished the year as the sack leader in the German Football League with 18 total sacks. David Bada of the Ingolstadt Dukes was 2nd with his 14 overall sacks while Frankfurt Universe LB Simon Gavanda took 3rd with 12 sacks just ahead of Johannes Wagner of the Comets. Samuel Kargel of the Munich Cowboys finished the year with 11 sacks, good for 5th.
Interceptions
The Frankfurt Universe had the top passing defense in the German Football League in 2017 thanks in part to the play of the secondary. Universe DB Joshua Poznanski led the league with 9 interceptions. New Yorker Lions Tim Unger grabbed 8 picks, returning 2 for TDs, placing him 2nd. Jeremiah Maluia of the Munich Cowboys finished 3rd with 7 interceptions while Marburg Mercenaries Phil Lanieri is 4th with 6. Winding up the top 5 was Burton De Koning of the Berlin Adler who had 5 picks.
Frankfurt photo: C-Sportspics