Panther crowd includes overseas visitor

It wasn’t homecoming week at Creston High School, but a special visitor to Friday’s game against district rival Harlan made Panther quarterback Moritz Johannknecht feel a little more at home.

Peter Daletski, coach of the Paderborn Dolphins junior program, was at Panther Field to watch “Mojo” play quarterback for Creston/O-M. Johannknecht, 17, led Daletski’s team to a 19-and-under championship last season in the German Football League Division II and also coached him in 17-and-under competition.

“It’s pretty amazing to see him playing here,” Daletski said. “The competition level is definitely different. The game speed. He has improved a lot since before he came to the United States.”

In the GFL, the under-19 season is played prior to a summer break, and the under-17 season follows the break.

“A kid like Moritz who is 16 or 17 can play both (divisions), and get twice the experience,” Daletiski said. “Last year we went to Texas for the U15 state selection team to represent our country in the (World Youth Football) tournament. The other quarterback was from Dusseldorf. Moritz’s mechanics and techniques were a difference maker for him in making the team.”

To date, Johannknecht has completed 70 of 130 passes for 846 yards with five TDs and seven interceptions in seven games.

With injuries sidelining the only two upperclass varsity quarterback candidates, Johannknecht’s arrival as a foreign exchange student living with the family of linebacker Seth Maitlen proved to be fortunate for the team, as well as the young German, who has a dream of playing for a college football team in the United States.

“That’s what all the (German) kids want who play football,” Daletiski said. “I hope he gets a shot.”