German Football League 2001

German Football League 2001
master	Hamburg Blue Devils
final	German Bowl XXIII
Relegated	Dusseldorf panther
Teams	12
Games	72 + 7 play-off games
← GFL 2000 GFL 2002 →
2nd Bundesliga - 2001 ↓

German Football League 2001 gives an overview of the 2001 season of the German Football League , which was the 23rd season of the 1st Bundesliga / GFL.

League division

Kiel Baltic Hurricanes Hamburg Blue Devils Braunschweig Lions Assindia Cardinals Dusseldorf panther Cologne crocodiles Munich cowboys Rhein-Main Razorbacks Franken Knights Saarland Hurricanes Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Stuttgart Scorpions

Teams 2001 GFL North GFL South0000

Overview of the participating teams and their all-time Bundesliga and GFL balance sheets. In the south, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns moved up into the GFL because the Aschaffenburg Stallions had their license withdrawn.

	team	Years	S.	U	N	home			Selection			TD ratio
GFL North	Cologne Crocodiles (TV)	20th	172	4th	51	87	2	23	85	2	28	7045: 3459
	Dusseldorf panther	20th	159	10	60	82	7th	25th	77	3	35	7244: 3325
	Braunschweig Lions	7th	47	0	28	25th	0	12	22nd	0	16	2460: 1660
	Hamburg Blue Devils	6th	43	2	23	26th	0	9	17th	2	14th	1683: 1251
	Assindia Cardinals (N)	5	18th	2	30th	10	0	15th	8th	2	15th	637: 1294
	Kiel Baltic Hurricanes	5	23	1	29	15th	0	12	8th	1	17th	1402: 1427
GFL South	Munich cowboys	22nd	147	6th	92	84	1	38	63	5	54	5970: 4172
	Stuttgart Scorpions	9	29	3	67	17th	3	29	12	0	38	2093: 3017
	Franken Knights	5 (6)	16	3	36	8th	1	18th	8th	2	18th	961: 1960
	Rhein-Main Razorbacks	5	25th	1	28	14th	0	13	11	0	15th	1232: 1367
	Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (N)	3	8th	2	22nd	6th	0	10	2	2	12	429: 749
	Saarland Hurricanes (N)	New	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0

• (N) - Newcomers
• (TV) - defending champion

Season course

Regular season

As in the previous year, the Munich Cowboys dominated the southern group and came again unbeaten through the regular season. Even the Cologne Crocodiles, after all the German Bowl winners of the previous year, could not stop the attack machinery and had to admit defeat twice. The Munich offense achieved a total of 508 points, the highest score of all Bundesliga clubs in 2001. The Stuttgart Scorpions, who only had to bow to the cowboys and surprisingly lost their interconference game in Kiel at 20:21, took second place in the south. The Rüsselsheim Razorbacks landed in third place, as in the previous year with a balanced point account and safely in the playoffs. Just like the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns reached the playoffs, despite a negative point account, but still with a lead of four points over the fifth-placed Saarland Hurricanes. The newcomers from Saarbrücken had to acknowledge that the air in the top division is a lot thinner than in league two. Nevertheless, they were able to leave the Franken Knights behind, so that they had to go into relegation with just one double point gain.

In the north, the Hamburg Blue Devils took over the place in the sun somewhat surprisingly, as the bankruptcy in the previous year could only just be averted. Until the middle of the season, the Braunschweig Lions and the Düsseldorf Panthers were able to keep up with the Blue Devils to some extent, but then had to let the competitor leave the Hanseatic city and only played for second and third place. Here the Panthers were ahead of the game until the last game day, when the showdown in the municipal stadium on Hamburger Strasse took place. In front of a crowd of almost 15,000 spectators, the Lions had to win and make up a 10 point deficit to push the Panthers, who had won the first leg in Düsseldorf 31:21, from second place in the table. But the first points brought the guests, in the first drive QB Pat Bonner found his WR Jeromy Simms for a 74 yard TD pass. However, they should remain the only points for the panthers. The Lions took over and took a 19: 7 lead, which meant they had taken second place, but the Panthers had the opportunity to turn the tide with a field goal 11 seconds before the end of the game. But the attempt was blocked by Rafiq Cooper. The defending champions from Cologne came in fourth , although the Crocodiles were only able to build on the excellent season of the previous year in phases and only achieved a negative point account. At the bottom of the table, the Assindia Cardinals and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes found themselves again, whereby the Essenes always had a lead over the Hurricanes, so that they had to go into relegation with only two games won.

Closing tables

GFL North

	society	Sp	S.	U	N	TD	Diff.	Points
1.	Hamburg Blue Devils	12	10	1	1	447: 148	+299	21: 3
2.	Braunschweig Lions	12	9	0	3	338: 230	+108	18: 6
3.	Dusseldorf panther	12	9	0	3	413: 154	+259	18: 6
4th	Cologne crocodiles	12	5	1	6th	272: 286	−14	11:13
5.	Assindia Cardinals	12	3	0	9	207: 372	−265	6:18
6th	Kiel Baltic Hurricanes	12	2	0	10	166: 434	−268	4:20

• Tie breaker
  • Braunschweig before Düsseldorf because of the direct comparison won (21:31 and 19: 7).

GFL South

	society	Sp	S.	U	N	Points	TD	Diff.
1.	Munich cowboys	12	12	0	0	508: 232	+276	24: 0
2.	Stuttgart Scorpions	12	9	0	3	437: 195	+242	18: 6
3.	Rüsselsheim Razorbacks	12	6th	0	6th	428: 436	00−8	12:12
4th	Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns	12	3	1	8th	266: 430	−164	7:17
5.	Saarland Hurricanes	12	1	1	10	199: 478	−279	3:21
6th	Franken Knights	12	1	0	11	201: 487	−286	2:22

Promotion relegation

The challengers from Berlin caught in front of 2,862 spectators in Kiel's Holstein Stadium and took the lead twice, but the Hurricanes hit back each time and led 21:14 at halftime. But again the eagles started better in the halftime and turned the tide again, the result was 24:21. Graig Guest then carried the kick-off 80 meters towards the end zone of the Berliners and again tipped the momentum in favor of the Hurricanes. A little later, the Canes scored the touchdown at 28:24, while the Eagles didn't run together much. Pascal Ritzheim intercepted Adler quarterback Armbruster three times in the fourth quarter. And the offense added two touchdowns to the final score of 41:24.

The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes then won the second leg in front of 1,850 spectators. With the 18 points cushion behind them, they didn't let anything go in Berlin and went into the dressing room with a 21-0 half-time lead. Even after the break, the Hurricanes were first on the scoreboard and increased their lead to 28-0 in the third quarter. Only now the eagles were allowed to score, they came up to 22:28, but there was really no chance of deciding the relegation for themselves.

In the south, the Franken Knights were too strong for the Marburg Mercenaries. At home, the knights easily won 42: 7 and were able to travel to Hessen with peace of mind. And there, too, in front of 700 spectators in Marburg, the Knights certainly won with 27:14. At half-time, the knights had set the course for victory with a 20-0 lead. Only in the last quarter could the Marburgers get their honor touchdowns.

league	Home club	Visiting club	Result	After quarters
North	Kiel Baltic Hurricanes	Berlin eagle	41:24	7:14; 14: 0; 7:10; 13: 0
North	Berlin eagle	Kiel Baltic Hurricanes	22:28	0:14; 0: 7; 14: 7; 8-0
south	Franken Knights	Marburg Mercenaries	42: 7	7: 0; 14: 0; 14: 0; 7: 7
south	Marburg Mercenaries	Franken Knights	14:27	0: 7; 0:13; 0: 7; 14: 0

Both the Franken Knights and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes get the class. The Marburg Mercenaries and the Berlin Adler remain in GFL 2.

Play-offs

The Munich Cowboys stepped on the defending champions Cologne Crocodiles, as they did at the Interconference Games. And for the third time the Cowboys had the better end to themselves, they won with 14: 7. Also for the third time this season, the Rüsselsheim Razorbacks competed against the Braunschweig Lions, and here, too, the Lions won for the third time, this time the game in Braunschweig ended 29:23. Since all good things come in threes, the Hamburg Blue Devils and the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns also met for the third season comparison and the Blue Devils also won this duel, this time with 38: 0. Only the south second, the Stuttgart Scorpions and the Düsseldorf Panthers had not met in the season. In front of 1,600 spectators, the scorpions won the game in Stuttgart with 28:14 and thus made it into the semi-finals of the German Bowl for the second time in their club's history .

The 2,800 spectators in Munich's Dante Stadium saw two completely different halves in the semi-finals of the local cowboys and the guests from Braunschweig. At first, the Braunschweig Lions pulled away irresistibly and, with two touchdowns from Matt Riazzi and another from Rafiq Cooper, were already 21-0 at halftime. But after the break, the tide turned and the cowboys blew to catch up. In the third quarter, RB Eric Yuma reached the Lions end zone with a run and in the fourth quarter, Munich QB Ken Suhl first found Michael Gallinger in the Lions end zone and then Mitch Running with a 74 yard pass. Thus, about five minutes before the end of the game, it was only 24:21 for the Braunschweiger. But they defended this until the final whistle. The Hamburg Blue Devils had less trouble in 33: 7 against the Stuttgart Scorpions.

Quarter finals

Semifinals

German Bowl XXIII - Hanover

1N

Hamburg Blue Devils

38

4S

Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns

0

1N

Hamburg Blue Devils

33

2S

Stuttgart Scorpions

7th

2S

Stuttgart Scorpions

28

3N

Dusseldorf panther

14th

1N

Hamburg Blue Devils

31

2N

Braunschweig Lions

13

1S

Munich cowboys

14th

4N

Cologne crocodiles

7th

1S

Munich cowboys

21st

2N

Braunschweig Lions

24

2N

Braunschweig Lions

29

3S

Rüsselsheim Razorbacks

23

German Bowl

The German Bowl XXIII took place on October 6th in front of 23,193 spectators in the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hanover . It was the fifth participation for both the Lions and the Blue Devils, the Lions won three times and the Hamburgers once. Two of Braunschweig's victories saw Hamburg on the losing side. But this time it was the Blue Devils who had the better end for themselves. In a game dominated by the defensive lines, they went into the break with a 7: 7 result. In the third quarter the Blue Devils started better and took the lead for the first time with a field goal, but this was countered by WR Jörg Heckenbach from Braunschweig, who completed a 42 yard pass for the touchdown. But the Hamburgers did not get off the rails and in the third quarter added a touchdown for renewed leadership. In the fourth quarter, the Braunschweig team didn't manage much, while the Blue Devils marked two touchdowns to the relatively clear final score of 31:13.

Scoreboard

German Bowl XXIII - Hanover
team		Points	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Hamburg Blue Devils		31	0	7th	10	14th
Braunschweig Lions		13	0	7th	6th	0
Hamburg	Braunschweig	player	Move
0	7th	Ulf Behre	14-yard pass from Dan Boland (PAT Marko Rothaar)
7th	7th	Matt Cannon	6-yard run (PAT Timo Erbs)
10	7th	Timo Erbs	38-yard field goal
10	13	Jörg Heckenbach	42-yard pass from Dan Boland (PAT right over)
17th	13	Marico Gregersen	42-yard pass from Matt Cannon (PAT Timo Erbs)
24	13	Matt Cannon	32-yard run (PAT Timo Erbs)
31	13	Estrus Crayton	41-yard run (PAT Timo Erbs)

Web links

• Official GFL homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Huddle 18/2001
2. ^ All games of the Rothenburg Knights in the 1987 season were taken out of the rating, source: www.football-history.de
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Huddle 38/2001
4. ↑ Huddle 40/2001
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Huddle 39/2001
6. ↑ Game report Cowboys-Lions