Immortals win 12-6 in first games of the season

Saturday 8th November brought the Imperial Immortals American Football Club’s first game of the season against Brighton Tsunami. It was a home game at the ‘Runway’ Harlington and from the start the Immortals came out strong and dominated on defence shutting down Brighton on their first drive.

This brought on the Immortals’ offence who ran the ball hard throughout the game consistently with the help of the new formed offensive line, made up mostly of rookies or returners that hadn’t played line before. The ball was run with success as both Emanuel Olagbaju and Mohammed Hussian Noor scored rushing touchdowns in the first half. This took the Immortals to a 12-0 lead at half time. After half-time the offence drove the ball down the pitch but struggled to get the ball in the end zone, but the second half was where the Immortals defence really stepped up and made some huge plays. There were three interceptions in the game; all in the second half – Alex Hitchinson made two and Bob Wurstelholme made the other.

Another important defensive play was Harry Collini’s forced fumble, which was recovered by Bob and allowed the Immortals to maintain good offensive pressure. Alex Hitchinson’s pick toward the end of the game allowed the offence to run the ball out for the game.

Brighton scored only once in the game but missed the extra point to make the final score 12-6 to Imperial. This game was not only a test for the returners but allowed rookies to make a statement, and many stepped up to the line and made some big plays – showing how well they have fit into the club so early on.

The game’s MVPs (Most Valuable Players) were: Will Fulton (Defensive Line), Alex Hitchinson (Safety), Emanuel Olagbaju (Running Back) and Sam Hill (Offensive Line). This was the first game in the Premiership South Division for the Imperial Immortals. the Immortals are all focused on carrying on this form and hope to make it 2-0 against an impressive Hertfordshire Hurricanes team next week.