Kaiserslautern Pikes take lead, win game

***image1***Coming off a big 42-0 pre-season win in Dudelange, Luxemburg, the Pikes fell to the visiting Nauheim Wild boys during a recent game.
The game started off as expected, the defense stuffed the opponents running game and when Nauheim was forced to throw, American Tim Mills intercepted the pass close to the in-zone.
The Kaiserslautern offense took the field and quarterback Matthias Steiner, drove the Pikes down field. The drive was completed by a 30-yard touch down pass to Chris Winnett.
The 2-point conversion was no good and the Kaiserslautern Pikes took a 6-0 lead. The lead was short lived. The Nauheim Wild boys answered back with two touchdowns and the score was quickly 6-12 in favor of Nauheim.
The Pikes offense, powered by running backs Lothar Guth and Vincent Eubanks marched down field and was capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Paschal Koch. Extra point Kicker Ralf Brisch split the uprights for the extra point and the teams went into half time with the Pikes leading 13-12.
The second half would test the young Pikes mental toughness. Even though the second team offense gained respect with a well rounded “run and pass combination,” the penalties in the red-zone kept them from scoring.
When the final whistle sounded the score was Kaiserslautern 13 and Nauheim 33.
“We beat ourselves today, but it isn’t anything that cannot be corrected in the next two weeks before the season starts,” said head coach Eddy Raab. “We have a 65-man roaster and a 50-man traveling team. It is important to play our second team and rookie players, and with only two pre-season games this year we were pressed for time.”
Even after a disappointing effort, the Kaiserslautern Pikes go into the season opener at 3 p.m. Saturday as one of the league favorites.
The Pikes start their season play on the road against “the power running” Giessen Golden Dragons.
The high point of the game was Tailback Vincent Eubanks with 160 yards on 15 carries.
For team information, game, practice schedules, and locations visit the team web site at www.pik esnet.de. (Courtesy of Kaisers-lautern Pikes)