Glen Toonga leads Hamburg Sea Devils to shut out win over Leipzig Kings

| American Football | 06/22/2022

The Hamburg Sea Devils have improved their record to 2-1 after running back Glen Toonga led the team to a 14-0 shutout win over the Leipzig Kings.

Despite a 1-1 record, the Sea Devils came into week 3 as one of the league’s favorites following the defensive-demolition of the Berlin Thunder in week 1 and then a 23-21 loss to league-favorites Barcelona Dragons in week 2.

Their success has been due to a combination of an overwhelmingly stacked defense and Glen Toonga who is so far having the best start to a season of his career. And in this Northern Conference showdown, Hamburg showed just that winning recipe.

As expected, Hamburg’s defense played lights out, sacking Leipzig quarterback Jordan Barlow three times and forcing just as many interceptions. They held the Kings offense to just 128 yards the entire game, despite them often having favorable field position.

It was all down to the Sea Devils offense to show up. But a lack of production from German quarterback Salieu Ceesay and just eight carries from Glen Toonga left the game 0-0 at half time.

But a change in attack and a focus on the running game for the Sea Devils led to an explosion of yardage in the second half. Toonga rushed the ball 18 times in the second half and scored both the Hamburg touchdowns to win the game.

The most impressive aspect of Toonga finishing the game with 214 yards and two touchdowns was his burst and balance between the tackles. Toonga is playing the highest level of football he ever has at the age of 27, and he’s making it look easy.

With the win, Hamburg moves to the top of the Northern Conference standings followed by the Wroclaw Panthers, also at 2-1. The Berlin Thunder, with a record of 1-2, are third while Leipzig has dropped to last at 0-3.

Next up for Hamburg are the Panthers, this Sunday, June 26 in Wroclaw, Poland. Leipzig is also on the road this week, in Berlin, where they will face the Thunder.

Daniel Mackenzie is a Press Association graduate who works in journalism and communications in the third sector. Daniel began playing football for the London Warriors and Team Great Britain and has since played across Europe.