Game 1 Details

Translated from www.erlangen-sharks.de :

The Sharks win the first away game against the Bamberg Bears. The second Verbandsliga season began with an away game against the team from Bamberg. The Sharks had prepared in the last few weeks for this game and wanted to begin this season better than in the year 2005. The long winter break finally came to an end….

The Sharks won first the Coin Toss and decided to begin on offense. The first 4 attempts were a little chaotic and after one fumbled snap and two false starts the Sharks punted the ball to midfield.

The offense of the Bears got off to a better start; a 36 yard run brought them directly to the 10 yard line of the Sharks. This was the wake up call! The Sharks started to focus and kept the Bamberg team away from the end zone during the next 4 attempts.

Now also the offense loosened up. Three long runs led them into Bear's territory and from 37 yards the Sharks scored the first touchdown. The running back scored uncontested due to good blocks and good fakes by the rest of the offense. The extra point attempt failed, but the Sharks were up 6 to nothing.

With the next ball possession the Bears could not get a first down and had to punt. The Sharks blocked the punt and got the ball within the Bamberg red zone. Unfortunately the Sharks fumbled on the first run and the ball went back into the hands of the Bears.

The Bears used this gift with some very good runs to march back down the field. They were stopped again before the goal line and tried to kick a field goal. The attempt was blocked and the ball was run back for a touchdown. With a two-point conversion, the Sharks went up 14 to nothing.

Before halftime the Sharks scored again and were up 20 to 0 at the half.

The second half time began with Deja Vu. The Sharks recovered their own kickoff at the beginning of half and needed only 3 plays to score again. After a successful two-point conversion the Sharks were up 28 to zero.

And again, with good hustle down the field, the Sharks got the ball on their own kickoff. This time the Sharks needed 5 plays to score, making it 34 to nothing.

When the Bears finally had a successful kickoff return they used it to drive into the Sharks’ red zone. But the Sharks defense intercepted the ball in the end zone on the next play to put an end to the Bears' plan.

Only in the fourth quarter did the Bears successfully use its running game to score their first touchdown with a successful two-point conversion.

On their next-to-last drive, the Sharks ended a two-year streak of bad luck and finally scored their first passing touchdown in team history to bring the score to 40 to 8.

The Bears had the final say in the game and managed to score a touchdown to bring the final score to 40 to 16.

The Sharks won their first game of the season despite many errors. Both the offense and the defense continuously fought against their own nervousness. Notwithstanding that, overall the Sharks played effectively and consistently.

Everything did not run perfectly smooth and there is lots of room for improvement. The Sharks have just a short time before their home game opener on May 7 against the Augsburg Raptors. But don't worry; the Sharks will set everything in order to defend their first place in the standings.