Around the League: Wrapup of Week 3 Action

Panasonic Impulse 40, As One Black Eagles 0: Hayato Araki scored on a pair of short runs and rookie quarterback Takuya Ishiuchi threw his first career touchdown pass as Panasonic (3-0) cruised past As One (2-1) at Kobe’s Oji Stadium to hand the Battle 9 leader its first loss. Ben Dupree broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown on Panasonic’s first play from scrimmage and Shunichi Iwata added a 3-yard touchdown run as the Impulse prepped for their high-profile clash with the Fujitsu Frontiers on Oct. 1 by completing a set of victories over the three other top West Division teams by a combined score of 106-7. Eita Saeki kicked two field goals, including a 51-yarder on the final play of the second quarter. Ishiuchi completed 9 of 12 passes for 110 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shohei Kishimoto.

Elecom Kobe Finies 13, Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers 10: Keijiro Kasuya kicked his second field goal of the game, a 32-yarder, in the third quarter to break a 10-10 tie, and linebacker Hirotoshi Kayama had two interceptions in the final 2 1/2 minutes to preserve Elecom’s victory over Asahi Soft Drinks (1-2) at Kobe’s Oji Stadium. Elecom (2-1) took the lead 1:46  into the game when Dustin Martin blocked a punt and Teruhiro Inage scored from the 4 on the next play. The Challengers rallied to take the lead on Shinji Kageyama’s 48-yard field goal and Yuki Shirakami’s 39-yard touchdown run, before the Finies sent the game into halftime tied 10-10 on Kasuya’s 29-yard field goal. Kasuya’s winning field goal came after a Donnie King fumble gave Elecom the ball at the Challengers 33.

Meiji Yasuda PentaOcean Pirates 24, Bullseyes Tokyo 6: Rookie quarterback Ryosuke Nishizawa came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes as Meiji Yasuda (1-2) picked up its first win by defeating the Bulleyes (0-3) in the rain at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. Nishizawa, taking over for Shotaro Tanoue, completed 11 of 20 passes for 167 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Kenichi Onuki in the second quarter and an 11-yarder to Hiroyuki Akatsu in the third. Akatsu also kicked a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter, while Yuhei Yamaguchi scored on a 10-yard run in the final period. The Bullseyes avoided a shutout on Yuki Kirihara’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Naoki Shigematsu with :40 left in the game.

Nagoya Cyclones 17, Sidewinders 7: Hiromitsu Morikawa ran for a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Soya Kamiya connected with Yosuke Nagai on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third as Nagoya (1-2) defeated the Sidewinders (0-3) on a rainy day at Nagoya Minato Soccer Stadium. Morikawa’s touchdown was set up by a 41-yard pass from Kamiya to Nagai after a short punt. After a Sidewinders’ drive to the Nagoya 11 ended with linebacker Shiki Kawai recovering a Kodai Hirai fumble, the Cyclones capitalized on the turnover with Atsuhisa Yamaguchi’s 27-yard field to take a 10-0 lead into halftime. The Sidewinders made it three games in a row with a touchdown when Ryuji Maeda threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Keisuke Kimura with :24 left in the game.

Nojima Sagamihara Rise 34, Tokyo Gas Creators 14: Devin Gardner threw his fourth touchdown pass of the season to former Michigan teammate Jeremy Gallon, and also ran for two scores as Nojima (1-2) splashed to its first victory of the season by beating Battle 9 side Tokyo Gas (2-1) in a driving rain at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. Gardner completed 9 of 13 passes for 123 yards before yielding to backup Yuichiro Araki, who connected with Eisuke Tomatsu on a 37-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. The versatile Gardner also rushed for 148 yards on 10 carries—including touchdown runs of 59 and 8 yards. Kohei Mochizuki kicked a pair of short field goals in the second quarter for the Rise, who had lost their first two games to Fujitsu and Obic by a combined four points. Tokyo Gas got a 54-yard touchdown run from Keisuke Shizuya in the second quarter and a 7-yard score by Hidehito Tokushima late in the fourth.

Fujitsu Frontiers 40, All Mitsubishi Lions 0: Colby Cameron threw two touchdown passes to Teruaki Clark Nakamura in the first quarter, then added a third to Sei Kyo in the third quarter as Fujitsu (3-0) rolled to an untroubled victory over All Mitsubishi (2-1) at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. In the fourth quarter, Yuichi Kon broke free on a 59-yard touchdown run, and rookie Kazuki Takaguchi followed suit with a 57-yard romp of his own in Fujitsu’s warm-up for its Japan X Bowl rematch with the Panasonic Impulse on Oct. 1. Second-string kicker Koji Nosho added a pair of field goals for Fujitsu, which compiled 410 total yards while holding the Lions to 160. Cameron completed 17 of 21 passes for 209 yards before Keiya Hiramoto took over and went 5 for 6 for 33 yards. Kyo and Shinpei Yoshimoto each had five catches for the Frontiers.

Keishicho Eagles 28, Bulls Football Club 8: Masaru Nakayama threw just nine passes, but three of his seven completions went for touchdowns as Keishicho (1-2) picked up its first win by topping the Bulls (0-3) at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. Defensive back Yusaku Nukui  one of the Eagles’ three interceptions 23 yards for a touchdown just :16 into the game. Daichi Furubayashi had two touchdown receptions, a 4-yarder from Nakayama in the first quarter and a 29-yarder in the fourth. Nakayama also connected with Masayuki Okano on a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. While all of their points came in the air, the Eagles ran the ball on 42 of 53 plays, gaining 192 of their 249 total yards and 12 of their 14 first downs. The Eagles repeated their 24-17 win over the Bulls from last year’s second stage—which was their first and, before Sunday, only X1 win in team history.

Obic Seagulls 27, Lixil Deers 13: Noriaki Kinoshita returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and the Obic defense harassed Shohei Kato into one of his most inefficient games as the Seagulls (3-0) outlasted Lixil (2-1) in the battle of unbeatens before a “home” crowd of 2,578 at Frontier Soccer Field in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture. Jerry Neuheisel completed 19 of 24 passes for 207 yards with an interception while sharing the quarterbacking duties with Takushiro Hata, who, while leading the Seagulls in rushing with 64 yards on 11 carries, threw a touchdown pass with his lone completion of the game with :19 left in the first half. Lixil took a 6-3 lead on Daisuke Aoki’s second field goal of the second quarter, but Kinoshita returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score—then repeated it by taking the opening kickoff of the second half 97 yards. Kato, who finished 15 of 40 for 194 yards and three interceptions, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Yasushi Nakagawa in the fourth quarter.

IBM BigBlue 34, Asahi Beer Silver Star 27: Ryo Takagi scored the go-ahead touchdown with an electrifying 37-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and IBM (2-1) survived a late Asahi Beer drive to defeat the Silver Star (1-2) in a thriller at Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. IBM’s rookie QB Yuki Masamoto completed 24 of 41 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two second-half interceptions that helped Asahi Beer rally from a 24-13 deficit through three quarters. The Silver Star’s Takuya Yanagisawa had two long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, the second a 68-yarder that, capped by a successful 2-point conversion, tied the game at 27-all. The game ended with IBM defensive back Go Sano breaking up a Mason Mills pass at the goal line with no time left on the clock. Mills completed 20 of 30 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, both to Yuta Hayashi in the first half.

—Compiled by Ken Marantz for the X-League