On Sunday afternoon in Dresden it was all or nothing. In the German Football League (GFL), the last game of the regular season was on the program and the Berlin Adler met the Dresden Monarchs, the promoted team played the defending champions.
The Dresdeners were in fifth place in the group before the duel and thus one place behind the eagles. But only the two fourth-placed teams from the north and south groups, into which the German football league is divided, are allowed to take part in the play-offs for the top eight teams.
Despite the completely different starting positions before the season, it turned out to be the expected tight game between the two teams. In the first leg, the Eagles could only just win, but they had a more comfortable situation. Even if they lost, they would have progressed to the knockout rounds provided they were no more than five points behind.
The Eagles got off to a much better start at the Bärnsdorfer Straße sports facility and were 22:7 ahead at half-time. Overall, they showed a sovereign performance and were not disturbed by the more than 2200 Dresden fans. Ultimately, Shuan Fatah’s team won 32:21 against the reigning German champions from Saxony.
“It was a consistent game what we played. We were very well prepared, especially for Dresden’s attacking efforts,” said Adler legend Roman Motzkus, who is currently supporting the Berlin board of directors in an advisory capacity. “We’ve actually always been able to work well with the defense and especially towards the end of the season it got much better. As a result, it was actually a victory that was never in jeopardy, which hoisted us into the play-offs on our own.” In addition to the defense, the offensive around quarterback Zach Cavanaugh and the two wide receivers Max Zimmermann and Patrick Donahue, who played more than half of the scored points.
The Adler were last in the play-offs in 2013, after which things went downhill from a sporting point of view. After winning the Eurobowl in Berlin in 2014, which is something like a European Cup competition for American football teams, the Berliners then fought season after season against relegation to the GFL 2 until this was finally no longer the case at the end of the 2017 season was to be averted. But it got even worse with relegation to the third-rate Regionalliga Nord/Ost a year later.
“First of all, it was a wake-up call that reached us three years ago. That we had to be relegated to the regional league just to get back to the point,” says Motzkus. In this season, the club managed more sustainably, completely reorganized itself on the board and finally managed the turnaround. With the direct resurgence and the subsequent march through, interrupted by the cancellation of the 2020 season due to corona, the return to the highest German class was achieved a year ago.
A decisive point was also the new sporting orientation. “We play with a lot of Berliners and have brought in a few people to reinforce them, many from our own youth,” says Motzkus. “The path is the right one, the club is consolidated. It has also become much more pleasant to negotiate with sponsors. The higher you play, the easier it gets.”
Despite this sporty roller coaster ride, the minimum goal this year was promptly to take part in the play-offs. Nevertheless, moving in on Sunday was not a matter of course, says Motzkus, who perceives the northern group of the GFL as very strong and balanced.
“You can be very happy with that. Being able to play such a role at all as a promoted player in the strong GFL Nord is quite a feat and our players and coaches have done a very good job there.” Normally, Braunschweig, Dresden as the defending champion and also Kiel are strong competitors and rather contenders to the first places. Cologne always has a very powerful squad.
Now the champions of the southern group, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, who lost to the Dresden Monarchs in the final of the German championship, the German Bowl, last year, are waiting in the quarter-finals in just under two weeks away. The football team from Schwäbisch Hall has reached the German Bowl every time since 2014 and has been German champion twice and runner-up five times, most recently last season.
Nevertheless, you don’t have to hide, says Motzkus: “The good thing about football is that you only play one game, so of course a lot is decided about the day’s form.” If you can surprise Schwäbisch Hall a bit, anything is possible. “They’re maybe a little vulnerable on defense.”
A big challenge for the eagles is the attack of the unicorns, which is very strong. “Our defense has to show the best game of the season to be able to keep up. But we don’t go there only to voluntarily return after being beaten. We want to put up a good fight and we also reckon we have a chance that we might even be able to surprise and make it into the semi-finals.”
It will depend above all on the defense, which is particularly required in such games, says Motzkus. You can keep up with everyone on offense, and you showed that during the season. “Anyone can be beaten, so we don’t need to hide. We are partly a very young, hungry team, peppered with players who are very experienced in the GFL. So anything is possible there.”
The Berlin Adler are again someone in German and especially in Berlin football. They could crown an already very good season by reaching the semi-finals.
