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The Pikes are back in the second league! After a one-year hiatus from the second highest division in the German American Football League, the Pikes return to GFL 2 with high expectations.
“We expect to compete for the league title,” said head coach Jason Nowlin. “I think to a man we would be disappointed if we aren’t in the position to claim the league come September.”
Last year the Pikes competed in the Regional Center Division (third league) and dominated the competition to a perfect 10-0 record, which included a 27-0 win over the Frankfurt Universe in what ended up being a championship game, due in fact that both teams came into the last game of the year at 9-0.
This season the Pikes have started off strong with a 2-0 start with road wins over Darmstadt and Holzgerlingen, two of the leagues pre-season favorites.
“We’re definitely happy with our start, though we have a lot to improve on. But anytime you can win on the road, it’s a major advantage when trying to compete for a league title,” Nowlin said.
Most of last year’s championship team is still intact, including Fan Choice Player of the Year, Tech. Sgt. Eric Walton. Last season, Walton rushed for a team record 2,600 yards and 31 touchdowns and is already off to a good start with 344 yards rushing and three touchdowns through two games this season. The defense will again be anchored down by linebackers Kamil Mazur and Master Sgt. Brian Watkins. Last season the Pikes defense only gave up an average of 4.7 points a game in the second half, which included seven shutouts. At the present time, the Kaiserslautern Pikes have the second longest regular season winning streak in Germany at 12 games.
The Pikes will kick off their seventh game home slate with a return trip from the Darmstadt Diamonds Saturday. Currently, the Diamonds sit at 0-2 losing another close game this past weekend 23-17, as they were stopped at the 1-yard line as time expired. They will then return to Schulzentrum Süd July 7 to play the Nuremberg Rams.
K-Town was victorious in their second game versus the Holzgerlingen Twisters back on May 26, 18-14. The game came down to the final seconds as the Twisters drove the ball inside the Pikes 20 only to have a pass attempt intercepted in the end zone by Thilo Asel to seal the win for the visiting Pikes. Walton led a 266-yard rushing attack with 197 yards and two touchdowns. The defense was led by Mazur who had seven tackles and LuKas Mertens with five tackles and two tackles for loss.
(Story by Chad Adamczyk)
