The great fight was not rewarded. The Dresden Monarchs narrowly missed their second German championship in the club’s history. In the ERIMA GFL Bowl on Saturday evening, the Royals were defeated by the defending champions Potsdam Royals with 21:27 (0:8, 7:11, 0:0, 14:8).
With 30 seconds to go, quarterback Brock Domann & Co. still had everything in their own hands. But the Monarchs’ American playmaker simply couldn’t find a passing point with the ball at the Royals’ 15-yard line in his four attempts. Potsdam then just knelt down and celebrated their second championship in a row in front of 9,712 fans in the Essen stadium on Hafenstrasse.
It wasn’t necessarily expected that things would be so exciting again at half-time. Potsdam took a relatively comfortable lead in the first two quarters. Quarterback Jaylon Henderson (6th) – who was also named the game’s most valuable player – opened the final on the first drive with his first touchdown. Finn Krause made it 8-0 with the two-point conversion. But nothing more happened in the first twelve minutes. Both defense lines dominated, so that Potsdam only managed a field goal from Heiko Bals (13th) to make it 11-0 in the second quarter. After that, the Dresden offense was really in the game. Domann shortened the lead to 6:11 with his touchdown run over almost 20 yards, Florian Finke converted the extra point. The previous two-point conversion did not count due to a flag. Another (21st) in the direct Potsdam drive afterwards secured the ball for the Royals and Henderson (22nd) was able to increase again with a run and two-point conversion – 7:19. Potsdam’s Tommy Wilson had actually fumbled the ball.
In the third period, both defense lines dominated again, so there were no points. But immediately after changing sides again. Jordi Torrededia (37th) caught a ball from Domann, Finke secured the extra point – 14:19. But again it was Henderson (40th) with the direct answer. He ran his third touchdown of the evening and Bals increased the score to +13 with the two-point conversion – 14:27. Ricky Smalling (43rd) opened the turbulent final phase with his touchdown to make it 20:27 (Finke PAT – 21:27). First the Monarchs defense stopped the Royals on their ninth drive, then Dresden’s playmaker led his team almost the entire field. Only at the crucial moment did head coach Greg Seamon’s team lack a little bit of luck.
“Congratulations to Potsdam, you are the deserved champions. I am very proud of my team. We wanted to get better every week to be able to play in this final and bring our best football on the pitch to win the trophy. Unfortunately we narrowly missed it. But I’m really proud of each and every one of them and have respect for Potsdam’s performance,” explains Monarchs head coach Greg Seamon. Even if the second German championship title didn’t work out, all players, coaches, supervisors, fans and cheerleaders can look back with pride on a successful season. In 2025, the Monarchs will make a new attempt to bring the “bump” back home.
