The winless Düsseldorf Panther (0-8) will try to get their first victory of the season today, Saturday, June 29, when they host the 1-4-1 Kiel Baltic Hurricanes at Stadion Benrath in Düsseldorf .
The two teams met earlier in the year with the Hurricanes winning 37-17.
The Panther have dropped eight in a row following last week’s second loss to Berlin. They lost back to back games to the Rebels, 55-20 and 55-13. The week before they suffered a 44-21 loss to the Cologne Crocodiles which followed a game in which they were beaten by the Hiidesheim Invaders 46-10. They had opened the season losing to the Monarchs 49-13, the Invaders 49-17 , Potsdam Royals, 34-17 and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 37-17.
Panther quarterback Christian Strong (Seton Hill) has completed 161 of 293 passes for 1,649 yards and 12 touchdowns with Féli Manoka as his leading receiver with 630 yards. He has tossed 16 interceptions however. Sergej Kendus is the team’s leading rusher but he has only carried the ball 57 times for 290 yards in six games and with 137 of those yards in one game against Potsdam.
The Hurricanes have struggled this year and last week against Cologne held the lead the entire game, giving up the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. They had dropped their fourth of five games the week before to Cologne, losing a close one 13-12. They had dropped a 33-14 decision to the Berlin Rebels before losing 48-28 to the Crocodiles. Kiel lost their first game of the season to the Dresden Monarchs 42-14 and then downed the Dusseldorf Panther 37-17 in the other game.
Hurricanes QB Jake Purichia has thrown for 1,227 yards and eight touchdowns but tossed six interceptions in six games. Wide receiver Lukas Rehder has caught 24 passes for 381 yards while running back Julian Ampaw has 300 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Ampaw is due for a breakout game and could get it in this one. He rushed for 11 yards and 3 TDs the last time these two teams met. The Hurricanes’ new WR Markell Castle continues to impress and now has 156 yards and three touchdowns in two games.
