German Football League 2003

German Football League 2003
master	Hamburg Blue Devils
final	German Bowl XXV
Relegated	Assindia Cardinals
Teams	12
Games	72 + 7 play-off games
← GFL 2002 GFL 2004 →
2nd Bundesliga - 2003 ↓

The German Football League 2003 was the 25th season of the top German league in American football . The Hamburg Blue Devils became champions .

League division

Hamburg Blue Devils Berlin eagle Braunschweig Lions Assindia Cardinals Dresden monarchs Cologne crocodiles Marburg Mercenaries Rhein-Main Razorbacks Franken Knights Saarland Hurricanes Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns Stuttgart Scorpions

Teams 2003 GFL North GFL South0000

Overview of the participating teams and their all-time Bundesliga and GFL balance sheets.

	team	Years	S.	U	N	home			Selection			TD ratio
GFL North	Cologne crocodiles	22nd	186	5	60	93	3	28	93	2	32	7588: 3924
	Berlin eagle	20th	145	3	79	74	1	37	71	2	42	6873: 3907
	Braunschweig Lions	9	68	0	31	36	0	13	32	0	18th	3291: 1974
	Hamburg Blue Devils (TV)	8th	62	3	27	36	0	11	26th	3	16	2460: 1554
	Assindia Cardinals	7th	23	2	48	13	0	23	10	2	25th	941: 1993
	Dresden Monarchs (N)	New	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0
GFL South	Stuttgart Scorpions	11	46	4th	73	25th	4th	32	21st	0	41	2870: 3466
	Franken Knights	7 (8)	25th	4th	50	12	2	25th	13	2	25th	1651: 2853
	Rhein-Main Razorbacks	7th	40	1	37	22nd	0	17th	18th	0	20th	2069: 2019
	Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns	5	15th	4th	37	10	0	18th	5	4th	19th	1015: 1489
	Saarland Hurricanes	2	2	3	18th	1	2	9	1	1	9	387: 858
	Marburg Mercenaries (N)	New	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0

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

Season course

Regular season

Despite the most successful season to date, the Saarland Hurricanes could not reach the play-offs in their third GFL season. With four wins and one draw they were able to clearly distance the newcomer from Marburg, but in the end they were four points short of fourth place. The Mercenaries in their first season had to learn hard, they only managed to win a double point in the 21:17 away win at the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns on matchday two.

The battle for first and third place was exciting. Two game days before the end of the regular season, the Franken Knights and the Rhein-Main Razorbacks were at the top of the table with 18: 4 points each and there was a direct duel in Rüsselsheim . In front of six hundred spectators in the stadium on Sommerdamm, the Razorbacks managed to defeat the Knights with 34:27 and thus, due to the direct comparison won, to win the southern title. The defeat in the last game of the season at the Stuttgart Scorpions didn't change that. These, on the other hand, kept the hope alive that they would pass the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns. But the Unicorns also won their last game, against the Franken Knights, and moved into the play-offs as third party.

In the northern group, the place in the sun was only decided on the last match day. The Braunschweig Lions and the Hamburg Blue Devils were the dominant teams throughout the season. It was only with a 35-0 home win in front of 11,650 spectators in the municipal stadium that the Braunschweig Lions managed to push the Hamburg Blue Devils out of the top spot. The Lions had lost this first place two game days earlier, with a 20:22 home defeat against the Berlin Adler. The Adler achieved third place with a final sprint, with five wins in the last five games, so they could still catch the newcomer from Dresden. The Dresdeners played a good first GFL season and reached the play-offs immediately, they never had anything to do with the relegation battle. But the fight for fifth and sixth place was also exciting until the last match day. Until then, the Cologne Crocodiles were in last place, but with an 18:13 home win, the Crocodiles were able to overtake the Assindia Cardinals. The Esseners still had the chance to hit back with a catch-up game against the Berlin Adler, but the game was lost at 14:35. So the Cardinals had to go into relegation.

Closing tables

GFL North

	society	Sp	G	V	U	Points	TD	Diff.
1.	Braunschweig Lions	12	10	2	0	20: 4	462: 202	+260
2.	Hamburg Blue Devils	12	9	2	1	19: 5	315: 181	+134
3.	Berlin eagle	12	7th	3	2	16: 8	300: 211	+89
4th	Dresden monarchs	12	6th	6th	0	12:12	269: 296	−27
5.	Cologne crocodiles	12	1	10	1	3:21	114: 342	−228
6th	Assindia Cardinals	12	1	11	0	2:22	146: 326	−180

GFL South

	society	Sp	G	V	U	Points	TD	Diff.
1.	Rhein-Main Razorbacks	12	9	3	0	18: 6	517: 304	+213
2.	Franken Knights	12	8th	4th	0	16: 8	392: 307	+85
3.	Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns	12	7th	5	0	14:10	359: 297	+62
4th	Stuttgart Scorpions	12	6th	5	1	13:11	386: 425	−139
5.	Saarland Hurricanes	12	4th	7th	1	9:15	204: 424	−220
6th	Marburg Mercenaries	12	1	11	0	2:22	276: 425	−149

Relegation

In front of four hundred spectators, the Düsseldorf Panthers win the Assindia Cardinals with 38:28. And also in the second leg, in front of more than 1000 spectators, the traditional team from the Altbier metropolis won, this time with 35: 0. With this, Panthers celebrated their return to the top German league after voluntarily withdrawing from the GFL after the 2001 season.

In the south, the Marburg Mercenaries kept the Simbach Wildcats at a distance in their home game. After an interim 21-0 lead by Marburg, the Simbach team came up again to 21:14, but 22 points in the last quarter ensured a clear 50:21 success. In the second leg, the Simbachers were able to win 21: 7, but this was not enough to beat the Mercenaries in a direct comparison .

league	Home club	Visiting club	Result	After quarters
North	Assindia Cardinals	Dusseldorf panther	28:38	10:14, 7:10, 3-0, 8:14
North	Dusseldorf panther	Assindia Cardinals	35-0	7-0, 7-0, 14:14, 22: 7
south	Marburg Mercenaries	Simbach Wildcats	50:21	7-0, 7-0, 14:14, 22: 7
south	Simbach Wildcats	Marburg Mercenaries	21: 7	0: 0, 7: 7, 7: 0, 7: 0

Marburg holds the league, the Düsseldorf Panthers are promoted to the GFL-Nord, the Assindia Cardinals are relegated. The Simbach Wildcats remain in the second Bundesliga.

Play-offs

Three of the four home teams prevailed in the quarter-finals. The northern teams from Braunschweig and Hamburg gave their opponents from Stuttgart and Schwäbisch Hall little chance. In the end it was 38:12 for the Lions and 49:14 for the Blue Devils. And the master of the southern group also won. The Rhein-Main Razorbacks had to fight to the end to keep the Dresden Monarchs in check in their first play-off game at 28:20. Only the Franken Knights had to admit defeat in their own place. Due to the failure of their regular quarterback, they did not succeed enough in the offense and so the Berlin Adler came to a safe 38: 6 away win.

In the semifinals, the Rhein-Main Razorbacks could not use their home advantage, in front of 1,500 spectators, against the Hamburg Blue Devils. After a 21:10 half-time lead, the Hanseatic city team moved away to 41:10 in the third quarter. The Razorbacks could equalize this, although they still scored points on the scoreboard, but in the end there was a sure 44:24 success of the blue devils.

In contrast, the Braunschweig Lions, in front of 7,300 spectators, had the upper hand against the Berlin Adler 10-3 in their own stadium. The game, dominated by the defense lines, saw the Lions lead 10-0 at halftime. The Eagles only managed a field goal in the last quarter, but that was not enough overall.

Quarter finals

Semifinals

German Bowl XXV - Wolfsburg

1N

Braunschweig Lions

38

4S

Stuttgart Scorpions

12

1N

Braunschweig Lions

10

3N

Berlin eagle

3

2S

Franken Knights

6th

3N

Berlin eagle

38

1N

Braunschweig Lions

36

2N

Hamburg Blue Devils

37

1S

Rhein-Main Razorbacks

28

4N

Dresden monarchs

20th

1S

Rhein-Main Razorbacks

24

2N

Hamburg Blue Devils

44

2N

Hamburg Blue Devils

49

3S

Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns

14th

German Bowl

The German Bowl took place in front of 20,517 spectators in the Wolfsburg Volkswagen Arena . For the third time in a row, the Hamburg Blue Devils and the Braunschweig Lions faced each other. For the Lions it was the seventh German Bowl participation in a row, for the Blue Devils the seventh in the last nine years. The game was exciting, no team could pull away with more than one touchdown difference. 84 seconds into the end of regular time, the Lions took the lead 30:23, but with nineteen seconds to go, the Blue Devils equalized again. The game had to be decided in extra time, only the second time after the German Bowl XV in 1993. Initially the Lions were in possession of the ball and scored a touchdown, but the PAT went past the goal posts to the left. The Hamburgers struggled to equalize, but their kick was secure and that was the third German Bowl success in a row and the fourth overall in dry cloths. It was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Lions.

Scoreboard

German Bowl XXV
team		Points	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT
Hamburg Blue Devils		37	13	0	7th	10	7th
Braunschweig Lions		36	13	0	7th	10	6th
Hamburg	Braunschweig	player	Move
7th	0	Marico Gregersen	47 yd pass from Zach Witt (PAT Florian Dannehl)
7th	6th	Kelvin Love	5 yd run (conv. Failed)
13	6th	Curtis Cooper	52 yd run (PAT failed)
13	13	Kelvin Love	3 yd run (PAT Marko Rothaar)
13	20th	Kelvin Love	5 yd run (PAT Marko Rothaar)
20th	20th	Marico Gregersen	22 yd pass from Zach Witt (PAT Florian Dannehl)
23	20th	Florian Dannehl	34 yd field goal
23	23	Marko Rothaar	31 yd field goal
23	30th	Kim Kuci	1 yd run (PAT Marko Rothaar)
30th	30th	Zach Witt	1 yd run (PAT Florian Dannehl)
30th	36	Kim Kuci	2 yd run (PAT failed)
37	36	Andreas Nommensen	7 yd pass from Zach Witt (PAT Florian Dannehl)

Individual evidence

1. ^ All games of the Rothenburg Knights in the 1987 season were taken out of the rating, source: www.football-history.de
2. ↑ Huddle 22 / 2003-38 / 2003
3. ↑ ^{a b} Huddle 39/2003
4. ↑ Huddle 41/2003
5. ↑ ^{a b} Huddle 40/2003
6. ↑ Huddle 42/2003

Web links

• Official GFL homepage