Around the league: Fujitsu, Panasonic stay unbeaten; IBM ends on winning note

Super 9 2nd Stage, Week 3 wrapup

IBM BigBlue 37, Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers 20: Kevin Craft threw for four touchdowns and 304 yards and ran for another score as IBM defeated Asahi Soft Drinks at Osaka’s Kincho Stadium in a battle of 4-2 teams who had already been eliminated from contention for the final stage.

The teams started out by twice exchanging touchdowns, matching scoring plays of almost identical length. After Kraft connected with John Stanton on a 64-yard touchdown pass, Asahi Soft Drinks responded with a 65-yard touchdown run by Yuki Shiragami. Craft’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Yutaro Taki was then followed by another touchdown—also from 23 yards.

IBM broke the tie in the second quarter when defensive end James Brooks forced a fumble that led to a 7-yard touchdown pass from Kraft to Yu Nakajima. After a blocked punt, Kraft ran it in from the 4 to make it 28-14 at halftime.

Craft threw a second touchdown pass to Taki in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Yuya Makino scored on a 1-yard run for the Challengers, but IBM blocked the extra point and returned it for two points to complete the scoring.

Panasonic Impulse 36, Nojima Sagamihara Rise 0: The Panasonic defense held Nojima to 118 total yards and recorded a safety as the unbeaten Impulse blanked the Rise (5-2) in a game at Osaka’s Kincho Stadium that had no effect on the final second-stage standings, and came two weeks before the two teams meet again in the semifinals.

Tetsuo Takata threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ben Dupree in the second quarter as the Impulse took a 10-0 lead into halftime. Panasonic pulled away in the third quarter when Shun Yokoto scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 7-minute drive, Tatsuya Tonka returned a punt 58 yards for a score, and linebacker Shogo Matsunaga tackled Yuki Tomizawa in the end zone for a safety.

Eita Saeki kicked field goals of 39 and 44 yards, and backup QB Takashi Ohara capped the scoring with a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter. Punter Shintaro Saeki helped keep the Rise bottled up, twice putting kicks inside the 10-yard line.

Fujitsu Frontiers 34, Lixil Deers 24: Gino Gordon broke off a 47-yard touchdown run and Colby Cameron threw his second touchdown pass to Takeshi Akiyama as undefeated Fujitsu pulled away in the second half to defeat Lixil (5-2) at Yokohama Stadium and end the Deers’ bid for a place in the final stage.

Cameron, who completed 35 of 48 passes for 304 yards with one interception, led Fujitsu to a 20-7 halftime lead, throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Akiyama and running 8 yards for a score. But the Deers pulled to within three points in the third quarter when they converted two turnovers into 10 points—a 40-yard field goal by Daisuke Aoki and an 8-yard touchdown run by Yasuhiro Maruta.

But Fujitsu bounced back when Gordon, who finished with 182 yards on 21 carries, made up for an earlier fumble with his long run, and Cameron threw a 10-yard TD pass to Akiyama.

Lixil QB Shohei Kato (27 for 50, 300 yards) connected with Musashi Yoshida on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 5:45 left in the game and the Deers recovered the ensuing onside kick. But Kato threw interceptions on the next three series to end hopes of a Deers’ comeback.

Hidetetsu Nishimura kicked two field goals in the first half for Fujitsu. After the second one, Naoki Maeda returned the kickoff 100 yards for Lixil’s first points.