When the Wartburg College football team closes out a trip to Germany with a game on Saturday it will do so by renewing a "friendly" rivalry. The Knights will take on the Franken Knights in Rothenberg and it will not be their first meeting.

Wartburg coach Eric Koehler says their relationship with the German team goes way back, and they’ve continued to maintain that relationship. Two years ago the head coach of the German team and some players spent a week during the season in Waverly and stayed at Koehler’s home. He says their relationship has built into a friendship.

Koehler says a trip like this helps promote the sport which is still in its early stages in Europe. He says the Germans are behind the U.S. in football, as they have only been playing it since the 1970’s. Koehler says the sport is still in its infancy compared to where it is in the U.S.