The Braunschweig New Yorker Lions (11-0) took their game up another notch this past weekend and left the Hildesheim Invaders (9-2) in a cloud of dust, blanking them 37-0 and establishing themselves as a true contender for the 2019 German Football League title.
The first time these two teams met earlier in the season, Braunschweig got by the Invaders, 35-28. On this day, it wasn’t even close.
With the league’s top running game operating at full throttle, the Lions exploded for three first quarter touchdowns to take a 23-0 lead while smothering Hildesheim’s offense the rest of the way.
Running back Chris McClendon led the way for Braunschweig rushing for 135 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries with quarterback Brandon Connette scoring another two touchdowns carrying the ball 10 times for 45 yards. Connette completed 6 of 9 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns with Christian Bollmann his top receiver with two receptions for 80 yards and one touchdown and Micky Kyei with two catches for 49 yards and the other passing touchdown.
For Hildesheim quarterback Casey Therriault it was a dismal afternoon and ended late in the second quarter when he was sidelined with an ankle injury. He finished with 68 yards passing and 26 yards receiving. His backup, Chris Andrew fared no better against the relentless pressure from the Braunschweig defense, throwing for just 38 yards.
The Lions asserted themselves on the opening drive as Connette took his team to the Hildesheim 39 and then hit Kyei for a touchdown pass.
The defense stuffed the Invaders on the next series, giving Connette and crew the ball at midfield. Mixing his plays up nicely, the Lions quarterback marched his team down to the two yard line and finished the drive by punching the ball in himself. He added the two-point conversion and Braunshweig took a 15-0 lead with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.
Braunschweig’s defense shut the door again on Therriault & company, as linebacker Roni Salonen forced a fumble, recovering the ball at the Hildesheim 46. Two plays later, Connette connected with Bollmann for a 35 yard touchdown strike and the score was 23-0 with over a minute to go in the first.
The shell-shocked Invaders could not get out of their own half of the field and two possessions later, early in the second quarter, Therriault was picked off at midfield.
Connette wasted no time. He found Bollmann again, this time for a 45 yard completion and then ran the ball in himself from the two and the score was 30-0 with seven minutes still left in the first half.
Disaster struck for the Invaders on the next series. With Therriault finally getting his offense into gear, marching them down to the Braunschweig 21 yard line, he twisted his ankle on a 20 yard run. Andrews came in and managed to take the Invaders down to the Braunsschweig five yard line, but was stopped on fourth down giving the Lions a 30-0 lead at the half.
The third quarter saw neither team able to get an edge until a Hildesheim punt trapped the Lions on their own 10 yard line.
That’s when McClendon really made his presence known.
On a first down from his own 10, he burst into the secondary and raced 90 yards for a touchdown, boosting the lead to 37-0, and squashing all hope for the Hildesheim faithful.
The rest of the game was a slow march to another Braunschweig win, their 11th straight, keeping them unbeaten so far in 2019.
Next up for the Lions are the winless Dusseldorf Panther in a home and home series. Hildesheim will face the Cologne Crocodiles.