Impulse force 9 turnovers, score on 4 of them, in rout of Silver Star

Asahi Beer running back Hiromasa Kawase is stopped by a swarm of Panasonic defenders in the third quarter.

KAWASAKI (Nov. 8)—The Panasonic Impulse gave up their first points since their shocking loss in the opening game of the season. But the defense more than made up for it with a generous contribution to a rout of the Asahi Beer Silver Star.

The Impulse returned three of seven interceptions, and one of two fumbles, for touchdowns as Panasonic began its second-stage campaign by crushing Asahi Beer 65-3 at Kawasaki Fujimi Stadium.

Tetsuo Takata threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns for Panasonic, which finished second in the West Division after losing its season-opener 24-21 in an overtime tiebreaker to the Elecom Kobe Finies, then chalking up four straight shutouts.

Shunichi Iwata had two of the Impulse’s three rushing touchdowns, and Musashi Yoshida and Shoma Endo each caught a touchdown pass as the Impulse piled up 356 yards of total offense.

Defensive back Atsushi Tsuji had interceptions on the first play of both of Asahi Beer’s first two drives, and finished with three overall while also returning the second half kickoff 88 yards to set up a touchdown. Linebacker Kohei Unuma had both of the Impulse’s fumble recoveries, returning one 27 yards for a score.

The victory gives Panasonic a 5-1 record going into its Super 9 clash next week against the unbeaten East Division champion Fujitsu Frontiers. For what it’s worth, the Frontiers crushed the Silver Star 65-0 last week.

Any hope the Silver Star, who dropped to 3-4, could avoid another thrashing all but ended when the Impulse chalked up two touchdowns less than two minutes into the game.

On Asahi Beer’s first play of the game, Tsuji picked off a pass from 40-year-old Minoru Tono, giving the Impulse the ball on the Asahi Beer 38. A pass from Takata to Shun Yokota moved it to the 1, and after being stopped once, Iwata took it in for the first touchdown.

The Silver Star started the next drive on the 25, only to see Tsuji again snag a Tono pass, bringing it back to the 4. Yuma Nagayoshi scored from there and the Impulse led 14-0 after just 1:33.

Both defenses held firm over the next few drives and, in the only other scoring opportunity of the first quarter, Eita Saeki missed a 36-yard field goal attempt.

In the second quarter, Hayato Arima took over at QB for the Silver Star, and started well by moving the ball from the 20 to the Impulse 29. Then Tsuji stepped in and intercepted his third pass of the half.

Panasonic was unable to convert the turnover into points, but got them anyway when defensive back Ryohei Imanishi returned an Arima interception 52 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0.

Later in the quarter, Asahi Beer appeared that it would get back into the game by driving down to the Panasonic 22. But it was the Impulse who extended their lead instead when linebacker Yoshikazu Shikama picked off an Arima pass and took it 82 yards for a touchdown.

Asahi Beer’s Hiroki Matsubara returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards, allowing the Silver Star to end the Impulse defense’s scoreless streak with Yoshitaka Sakurai’s 32-yard field goal with :32 left in the half.

Panasonic’s Saeki attempted a 58-yard field goal on the final play of the half, but the kick was no good, sending the game into halftime with the Impulse up 28-3.

Tsuji’s big return of the kickoff to start the third quarter gave the Impulse the ball on the Asahi Beer 12. Four plays later, Takata tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Yoshida.

On the next drive, Asahi Beer’s Kazuma Ando had an 18-yard pass reception, but coughed up the ball and Unuma recovered at the 28. Takata then engineered an impressive 13-play drive, completing 9 of 9 passes and capping it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Endo as the Impulse took a 42-3 lead into the final quarter.

Iwata scored from the 2 for his second touchdown of the day, and then Unuma returned a fumble—again after a pass reception—for a touchdown.

Saeki made his first field goal in three tries, a 49-yarder, and then the Impulse finished the scoring when defensive back Hideto Nishioka intercepted a pass from Reona Takahashi and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown.

Takata finished the day 19 of 25 with an interception, while Endo and Tatsuya Tonka both caught five passes.

Asahi Beer QBs Tono, Arima and Takahashi combined to complete 20 of 45 passes for 227 yards and those seven interceptions.