Holloway Bears get mauled by IC

The Imperial Immortals American Football team stormed through for another victory this Sunday with a hard fought battle against the Royal Holloway Bears. At their last meeting the Bears had won by the closest of margins (scoring a field goal in 3rd overtime) so the Immortals stepped on the field with something to prove. With the momentum of last weeks win behind them the Immortals finished the game with their first shut-out of the season and a well earned 19 points.

The first half went very well for the Immortals, receiving the kickoff and driving the ball up the field repeatedly with power running by Tino Millar; breaking a number of tackles and carrying two of the Bears Linebackers into the endzone to score the first touchdown of the game. However, there were moments that the Immortals struggled against some powerful players, needing to make long yards on third down. With the weather perfect the team could turn to its passing game; Michael Peacock making an important catch in the Bears red zone to ensure first down. The catch of the day however came just before the half, with the Immortals Quarterback Bob Wolstenholme having plenty of time to throw a 40 yard pass to rookie Wide Receiver Max Hollister who was free to run it to the endzone for the last score of the half.

The Surrey offense struggled all game; having a number of players injured by the hard hitting Immortals defense. Not only were the Bears unable to keep the Defense away from their quarterback, any completed pass or run was shut down quickly by fast pursuit and quality tackling. To top off their awful half, the Bears second choice Quarterback, under pressure from rushing lineman Temi Ladega, threw a lofted pass straight into the arms of waiting linebacker Dexter Valencia who returned for the first defensive touchdown in Immortals history. With the Surrey offense pushed back to their touchdown line after kick-off, Imperial hopes for a safety (sacking the quarterback in their own endzone) were dashed when the half was called and a downcast Holloway team stumbled off the field with the score at 19-0.

However in the second half Royal Holloway stepped up their game. The Immortals clearly were suffering from over-confidence as the offense seemed lackluster; failing to drive the ball repeatedly and having to punt a number of times. Meanwhile the Holloway defense showed aggression and fought incredibly hard for every tackle, with a solid effort to try and pull Holloway back into the game. Even with this Imperial still came close to scoring again; until Bob Wolstenholme threw yet another ill-conceived pass straight into the arms of a Holloway Linebacker. Thankfully he was tackled to the ground immediately before any yards could be made. The defense maintained their dominance throughout the second half, with Holloway losing their Centre due to injury it was even easier for the Immortals to blow-up any potential running plays in the Holloway backfield. In fact, this game had the highest number of interceptions and turnovers as the Immortals forced the Bears to keep making mistakes. Veteran Cornerback George Barnes making a fantastic interception but was unable to run it in to the Bears endzone due to age and lack of pace.

In the final quarter of the game Holloway realized they had been thoroughly beaten and instead turned to poor sportsmanship. Unfortunately resorting to poor play and questionable behavior in an attempt to force the Immortals to their level. Thankfully, the Imperial team remained calm and played the football they wanted to play; finishing the game with a shut-out.

The game was incredibly hard fought but the team look forward to their game next Sunday against the Reading Renegades. If you’d like to get involved in the sport the team is currently looking for physically large guys to play as linemen. If you think you would like to give it a go, message us by searching ‘Imperial Immortals AFC’ on Facebook or Twitter.