BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - A pair of former Union College football players will square off against one another Saturday in German Bowl XXXI at Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany.

Kyle Callahan (Covington, Ky.) and Patrick O'Neal (Lula, Ga.) spent three years together playing side by side for the Bulldogs, but tomorrow they will be on the opposite sides of the football as the lead their respective teams to the German Football League championship.

Callahan is the starting quarterback for the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, while O'Neal is a starting linebacker for the Berlin Adler.

The Hurricanes and Adler finished the regular season as the top two teams in the German Football League as each posted identical 9-1 records. Each team loss came against each other.

Callahan has accumulated over 2,800 yards in total offense and been a part of 21 of his teams 34 touchdowns. He has completed 196-of-323 passes for 2,120 yards and 13 touchdowns. In addition to completing over 60 percent of his passes, Callahan has thrown only six interceptions.

Callahan has also rushed for 776 yards and eight scores on 149 carries.

The 6-foot, 188-pounder had been a star wide receiver at Union, setting the single-season (13) and career (23) touchdown receptions record while tying the single-game (3) mark. Callahan finished his career as the program's third all-time leading receiver with 125 receptions for a total of 1,789 yards.

But Kiel wanted Callahan to be its starting quarterback.

Callahan had some experience under center, spending much of the 2006 season as Union's signal-caller and completed 67-of-173 passes for 1,029 yards and six touchdowns. For his career, he threw for 1,588 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Much like he did while at Union, O'Neal leads the Adler in tackles with 84 total stops, 38 more than the second-leading tackler on the team. The linebacker also has 6.0 tackles for a loss with 3.0 sacks, one interception and four fumble recoveries. O'Neal forced three fumbles as well.

O'Neal had not played a down in over a year before joining Adler. The 6-foot-1 linebacker's senior season came in 2007 when he set a then-program record for tackles in a season with 143. He finished his four-year career as the Bulldogs' second all-time leading tackler with 390 total stops.

Kiel Baltic has never won the German Bowl, having made just one appearance in the title game before this year. The Hurricanes made it to the title game in 2008 but lost 20-14 to the Braunschweig Lions.

Berlin has won five German Bowls with the last one coming in 2004.

The German Football League, which has been in existence since 1979, is the top professional league in Germany and has 11 teams divided into two divisions - five in the GFL North and six in the GFL South.

German Bowl XXXI is set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. locally in Frankfurt, Germany, which is 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

Photo by Zelter Media Services