The Ansbach Cougars, winners of the past two European Division III titles, continued their unbeaten trip through Division II with a 30-23 victory over Vilseck on Saturday.

But the latest victory didn’t come easily, according to Ansbach coach Marcus George, whose team trailed 7-0 at halftime on its home field.

“They are a tremendous team,” George said Saturday of the Falcons. “We had our hands full.”

Senior quarterback Justin Ingram plunged 1 yard for the first-half score before Ansbach (3-0 overall, II-South) responded with 24 unanswered points.

Ansbach started its comeback by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 61 yards. Xavier Sheppard, who carried 20 times for 165 yards, capped the march with a 13-yard run. Shane Williams’ two-point conversion run put the Cougars ahead to stay.

Sheppard broke loose for an 8-yard TD run to start the final quarter, and sophomore Carter Gunn hauled in John Willis’ conversion pass to make it 16-7. Williams added eight points on a 6-yard TD run and conversion run shortly thereafter, but the Cougars were not home free.

Ingram cut the deficit to 24-15 with 7:15 to play by connecting with 6-foot-4 senior Josh Frank on a 62-yard pass play, and completing a conversion pass to Angelo Anderson.

Ansbach rebuilt its lead by mounting a drive on the ensuing kickoff, capped with Sheppard’s 25-yard run, before Ingram countered with 15-yard scoring pass to Frank with 2:15 to play.

The loss leaves Vilseck at 1-2 overall, 0-1 in II-South.

In other Division I and II games Saturday:

Wiesbaden 35, Mannheim 7: At Wiesbaden, Ron Peebles ran for three touchdowns to lead the Warriors (2-1, 2-0 in D-II North).

Derek Brown and Tom Geddings also added TDs for the Warriors, whose defense was led by Tom Krause with nine tackles and Marcus Williams with eight.

Jeremy Smithers returned an interception 81 yards for Mannheim’s (1-2, 0-2) touchdown.

Bitburg 38, SHAPE 13: At SHAPE, Belgium, All-Europe running back Anton Harris scored four touchdowns as the defending European D-II champions improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in D-II North.

Naples 26, ISB 22: At Naples, Italy, the Wildcats rallied for 12 fourth-quarter points to turn back the International School of Brussels (0-3) in a non-conference game between D-II schools.

Quamaine Holliday returned a punt 62 yards for a TD for Naples (2-1, 0-1), which also got a 72-yard punt return by Omar Templeton to set up another score.

Ryan Fitzgerald led the Naples defense with 12 tackles and an interception.

Heidelberg 31, Kaiserslautern 14:At Kaiserslautern, Chris Frazier ran for three touchdowns, and defensive tackle Sean Hipe recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD as the Lions improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Division I.

Jordan Dodger pulled in two TD passes in the second half from Thomas Boltan for Kaiserslautern (1-2, 0-2 D-I.)

Aviano 7, Patch 6: At Stuttgart, Aviano forced and recovered two fumbles near its own goal line, including one in the final seconds, to fend off Patch in a D-II South game.

Patch (0-3, 0-2) dominated the game statistically, according to Panther assistant coach Zach McCarty, amassing 344 yards to 97 for Aviano (2-1, 1-0). Justin Phelps appeared to score a TD in the closing seconds, McCarty said, but Aviano was credited with a fumble recovery at the 1 to hold on to the victory.

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