As that time of the year approaches the Imagine Prep Surprise varsity football team led by head coach Kip Pollay gears up in preparation for the start of their season. 

Their first game was against their rival Imagine Prep Superstition. The Storm football team won the game 45-0. The touchdowns were scored by junior Riley Casaccio(3), senior Will Allen(1), junior Brandon Ruiz(1), and freshman Bryce Pollay(1). The Storm defense led by senior Nathan Perkins and junior Riley Casaccio shut out the opposing team and limited them to only three first downs the whole game.

 One of the reasons IPS played so well was because they play in sync and everyone knows each other so well. Coach Pollay said the team picks each other up and works well together. Mistakes will happen but they never put each other down for them.

The Storm football team faced many challenges leading up to this point with Covid-19 and practicing every day with the season continuing to be pushed back.

“All practice and no games was a tough period mentally,” Pollay said, “ but it also gave us a chance to prepare more.”

The next week they played Mesa Heritage. Mesa won the state championship last year and tore through the whole league. Our team went into that game a little nervous and that ruined us. Mesa scored both drives and kept the pressure on Imagine Prep the whole game by the end of the first half Mesa was up 31-0. In the second half Imagine Prep began to pick it up, but not in time.  Allen scored a touchdown to make the Score 31-7 then closely after Mesa scored another touchdown. As the 4th quarter approached IPS scored the final touchdown to finish the game.

The game didn’t go as planned because Storm let the previous state champions get in their head too much and didn’t play with confidence.

“To be a great team you must first believe in yourselves and be able to play with confidence,” Coach Pollay said.

Imagine Prep went into their next game with a chip on their shoulder from last week’s loss and the challenges faced due to Covid and injuries.

“A few players are not with us this year due to Covid concerns,” Pollay said. “Without being able to walk the halls to invite players out, our depth is a little bit of an issue. Any injuries make that a bigger issue.”

Storm played their first home game of the season at their new home field, Ottawa University. The Storm started off strong and scored fourteen points in the first quarter of the game. Twenty-nine in the second and eight in both the 3rd and 4th quarters. Touchdowns were scored by Brandon Ruiz (1), Bryce Pollay (3), Will Allen(1), senior Christopher Albertson(1), and freshman Drayke Woolsey(2). The Storm had a good game passing and rushing.  

This game was a huge boost to the varsity football team’s confidence and really put them on a good track. Storm will continue to prepare on and off the field.

Coach Pollay said they look forward to looking at film and preparing the team for their upcoming opponents.

“We Will continue to break down film as a coaching staff to prepare for our opponents,” Pollay said.