Dresden Monarchs are in the playoff semifinals: 35:6 win against Straubing Spiders

Dresden. The Dresden Monarchs are deservedly in the semifinals of this year’s playoffs in the German Football League (GFL). In front of 5,193 spectators at the “Heinz Field”, the “Royals” beat the Straubing Spiders 35:6. Nico Barrow contributed three touchdowns. The semifinal opponent is not yet known at the end of the game.

Since the level of the Elbe in the immediate vicinity had dropped again, nothing stood in the way of the party being held in the Heinz-Steyer Stadium. The most exciting question beforehand was therefore which quarterback could start. Instead of the newly signed Karé Lyles, who has recently impressed twice, the coaches are relying on the established Brock Domann. The war is back after his two-game suspension has expired.

Hard-fought party in Schwäbisch Hall

Even though it was not possible to get through the statistically best defense in the GFL South right from the start, Domann found his way at the end of the first quarter and scored the first touchdown himself (11th). Shortly before halftime, Nico Barrow added Dresden’s second touchdown (23rd). Kicker Florian Finke was successful with each extra point and thus had a 14-0 lead on the scoreboard at halftime.

At the same time, there was a hint of a sensation in the air in Schwäbisch Hall. The Hildesheim Invaders were leading 9-0 in the quarter-final match against the Unicorns after the first quarter, but were trailing 16-22 at half-time. That was closer than predicted. Should there be no semi-final match away from home against the “Unicorns” this time? The Dresden team has often come up short there in recent years, even though they recently won the duel in the regular season.

Karé Lyles takes over from Brock Domann

At the start of the third quarter, Karé Lyles took over as Dresden’s quarterback, but immediately fell into the “Spiders'” trap: he made an interception in his first drive. But the Monarchs defense continued to attack, making life extremely difficult for the Lower Bavarians. Despite this, they managed to score a touchdown this time through Devion Young (33′). However, Lucas Masero thwarted the following two-point conversion.

However, the Dresden Monarchs struck back in the third quarter: This time, Karé Lyles found the strong wide receiver Ricky Smalling in the end zone with a beautiful high pass over 31 yards (35th minute). Florian Finke then did his job too. The Monarchs went into the final quarter with a 21:6 lead.

Three touchdowns by Nico Barrow

It took three minutes for Nico Barrow to score another touchdown (PAT: Finke). With the score at 28:6, the signs were now definitely pointing to a home win, especially since the Dresden defense stopped the Spiders’ next drive. Three minutes before the end, Barrow scored another goal (PAT: Finke) to make it 35:6. Ultimately, it was a fitting victory against the Danube city team, who were rewarded with a well-deserved place in the semifinals.

The “Royals” would like to avoid the knockout game in Hall, especially since they would have home advantage in the semifinals if Hildesheim won. The quarterfinal match against the Unicorns was hard-fought. At the end of the game in Dresden, the Unicorns were leading 28:23. We will provide the result of this match shortly.

DNN