The 4-1 Frankfurt Universe, Europe #5, will welcome the 2-3-1 Ingolstadt Dukes to PSD Arena in Frankfurt, Germany June 16 as the German Football League heads into the second third of the 2018 season.
This is the second meeting between these two teams this year. Frankfurt won the first game 40-26.
In that game, Steve Cluley threw for 334 yards and five touchdowns. With Cluley gone for the season, new addition Andrew Ellfers will step in. Ellfers played in Frankfurt’s tough 20-19 Eurobowl loss to the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions but only threw for 52 yards and one touchdown.
Meanwhile, Dukes QB Nelson Hughes III is the 4th leading passer in Germany so far having thrown for 1,388 yards. In the earlier loss to Frankfurt, he threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns.
Prior to the Eurobowl XXXII game, the Universe had dropped another tough one to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns, 17-7.
After losing three in a row, including the loss to Frankfurt, the Dukes downed the Munich Cowboys 44-21 last week. They had needed that win badly. They sit sixth in the GFL South standings trailing the Kirchdorf Wildcats and the fourth place Allgäu Comets.
While not much separates the two teams in terms of scoring offense, (Frankfurt averages 33.8 & Ingolstadt 29.3) defensively the Universe have a big edge. Frankfurt is third in the league in terms of defense allowing only 10 points a game while the Dukes sit 11th allowing an average of 33 points a game.
Against the run, Frankfurt surrenders a mere 28 yards a game while only allowing opponents to throw 131 yards per game. Ingolstadt plays well against the run too, allowing 72 yards per game but gives up 291 yards passing on average.
The question will be if Ellfers take advantage of this. He has German national team quarterback Sonny Weishaupt waiting in the wings should he falter.
Nevertheless, this is a Frankfurt team that came within a hair of knocking off the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions last week while trying to introduce a new quarterback to the team. With another week of practice and a secondary that can play “lights out” football, the edge has to go to Frankfurt.
