Dresden Monarchs rout Ravensburg Razorbacks to complete perfect regular season

The Dresden Monarchs (12-0) finished a perfect German Football League regular season in emphatic fashion Sunday, pulling away from the Ravensburg Razorbacks (8-4) for a 52-21 victory in front of 6,224 fans at Heinz Steyer Stadium in Dresden.

The Monarchs had already wrapped up the GFL North title, but showed no interest in easing into the playoffs. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi returned to the lineup and immediately had the offense moving.

Dresden pounces on early mistakes

Lombardi went after the Ravensburg secondary from the start, hitting Montigo Moss for a big gain before finding him again for the opening touchdown.

The Monarchs defense quickly joined in. Sebastian Huber knocked the ball loose from Razorbacks quarterback Broghean McGovern and Dresden recovered, giving Lombardi another short-field opportunity. He cashed it in with a touchdown pass to David Moore III for a 14-0 lead.

Another Ravensburg turnover opened the door again in the second quarter, and this time Dresden reached into the playbook. Lombardi threw backward to Moss, who launched the ball downfield to Michael Breuler for a touchdown and a 21-0 advantage.

Razorbacks fight back

The Razorbacks finally found some traction before halftime.

McGovern connected with Tim Müller for a pair of touchdowns as Ravensburg chopped the deficit to 21-14. The visitors suddenly had life, but Dresden answered before the break. Florian Finke drilled a field goal in the closing seconds, sending the Monarchs into halftime ahead 24-14.

Ravensburg struck again in the third quarter when Aidan Enneking found the end zone, but the Monarchs never allowed the comeback to gather momentum.

Monarchs pull away

Tofunmi Lala scored his second touchdown of the afternoon and Lombardi found Janne Särkelä for another as Dresden stretched the margin to 38-21.

Vance Feuerbacher then intercepted McGovern in the fourth quarter, snuffing out another Ravensburg possession.

With Casey Thompson taking over at quarterback, the Monarchs kept attacking. Thompson connected with Jordi Torrededia for a touchdown and later found Breuler for the final score, completing a 28-7 second-half surge.

Perfect 12-0 heading into playoffs

The victory gave Dresden its first perfect regular season in the club’s GFL history and completed a 12-game run without a loss.

The defeat dropped Ravensburg to 8-4 and third place in the GFL South after finishing tied with the Pforzheim Wilddogs. The teams split their two meetings by identical 28-10 scores, leaving overall point differential to decide second place.

That sends the Razorbacks on the road to face the Potsdam Royals in the quarterfinals.

Dresden, meanwhile, heads into the postseason unbeaten and with home-field advantage. The Monarchs will open the playoffs against the Munich Cowboys on September 12 — with their perfect season now becoming a championship chase.