Obic’s Harvard grad Fernandez confident for next Rice Bowl test

Frank Fernandez

When the Obic Seagulls take on Kwansei Gakuin University in a rematch of last year’s Rice Bowl, it will be no surprise if the collegians jump out to a lead like they did last time. But to Obic center Frank Fernandez, it would be a shock if the Seagulls don’t come back to win again.

“The fact that we won two back-to-back, we believe in our hearts that we can win every game,” Fernandez says. “That showed through when we played Kajima in the X Bowl.

“We were down at the half and, in years past, I don’t know if the team would have had the same steadiness to weather the storm and fight back in the second half. That just continues to grow with each new team and every new success that we experience.”

Obic, which has won 35 consecutive games dating back to 2010, is gunning to join Nihon University as the only teams in history to capture three straight national titles, which would come with a victory in the Rice Bowl on Jan. 3 at Tokyo Dome.

Obic made it to the championship game by rallying to beat the Kajima Deers 27-24 in the Japan X Bowl on Dec. 17 for its third straight league title.  Kwansei Gakuin captured the college crown the next day by topping Hosei University 20-17 on a last-second field goal in the Koshien Bowl.

“I think just overall the team, the way (we) approach games now, it’s with a lot more confidence,” says the 1.86-meter, 135-kilogram Fernandez, a Harvard graduate who has worked as an equities trader in a Japanese brokerage firm. “That kind of breeds more confidence.”

Fernandez, a two-time All X-League selection in his five years in Japan, anchors the line for an offense that has averaged over 41 points a game. Leading the charge is quarterback Shun Sugawara, the MVP of the last two Rice Bowls who has three formidable targets in wide receivers Noriaki Kinoshita, Ryoma Hagiyama and Ken Shimizu.

This season, Fernandez notes, the Seagulls have incorporated more rushing into the attack, to the extent that hard-hitting running back Tataeru Nakanishi became the Seagulls’ first All X-League pick at the position since 2007.

“Our defense has always been there for as long as I’ve been part of the team,” Fernandez says when asked to compare this year’s team with the previous two. “There were some questions coming into the season regarding our offensive line, as we lost one of our cornerstones at left tackle (Tsukasa Miyamoto).

“What I think was impressive about this year is that we’ve become more of a balanced team on offense. Not really relying fully on the pass and actually being able to run the ball effectively. ”

The defense, led by linebacker and captain Naoki Kosho and defensive end Kevin Jackson—both eight-time All X-League picks-along with newcomer B.J. Beatty at defensive end, will be called upon to stop the high-powered Fighters’ tandam of scrambling quarterback Takushiro Hata and bullish running back Asaki Mochizuki.

At a kickoff press conference for the game, Kwansei Gakuin head coach Hideaki Toriuchi said his team, making its record eighth appearance, is ready in its bid to secure a second title. “Our team got started this year from the time we lost to Obic here on Jan. 3. We’ve done everything we needed to do to get here and we’re prepared to take on the champions as a single unit.”

In the 29 years that the Rice Bowl has pitted the corporate and collegiate champions for the national crown, the company teams have won 17 times, including seven of the last eight.  Kwansei Gakuin won its lone title in 2002,  while Obic holds the record for titles with five from six previous trips.

In the 2012 game, Kwansei Gakuin led 14-3 at halftime and 17-11 going into the fourth quarter, when Obic stormed back with four touchdowns to win 38-28.

“This year there seems to be a lot of chatter about how good this Kwansei Gakuin is,” Fernandez says. “But you can say the same thing about us…I imagine they are going to scout us very well and play us very tough out of the gate.

“It’s a question of whether we can counter, as we did last year. As long as we can, as in the Kajima game in the X Bowl, kind of keep a steady head, I think we’ll be able to weather the first blow and eventually win the game.”

With a few close calls along the way, the Seagulls’ last loss was in the final of the 2010 spring Pearl Bowl, a 15-13 defeat at the hands of the Fujitsu Frontiers. Their  most recent loss in the fall season came in the 2009 second stage, when they fell 23-20 to the Panasonic Impulse.

Fernandez, the ultimate combination of brains and brawn, first came to Japan in 2008 to play for the Onward Oaks. He was recruited by head coach Dan Lynds after posting a video of his Harvard highlights on YouTube. That led to him being brought to Japan for what was in effect a mutual tryout for both sides.

” I had never been here before,” he recalls. “I liked it, I wanted to keep playing football and this is what eventually brought me out here…I came in not knowing anyone, not knowing the language, just kind of completely having an adventure.”

As an economics major, the Hawaiian native became exposed to the realities of Japan’s financial woes when Onward disbanded its team after that season, despite going 5-0 in divisional play. A block of Oaks banded together to form the Sagamihara Rise, including Sugawara, but Fernandez was not interested in starting over in the league’s third division, where the Rise were placed. Sugawara stayed for two years, helping the Rise earn promotion to the top division, before joining Fernandez at Obic.

“I just didn’t want to be around for that whole climb back up to division one,” Fernandez says.

Returning to Hawaii, Fernandez met with Obic head coach Makoto Ohashi and offensive coordinator Takeshi Shinjo, who were on a business trip to the islands.  “I learned how much they wanted me to play for them and that’s how it worked out,” he says.

Fernandez was no stranger to success. In his sophomore year at Harvard in 2004, he started on the team led by current Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and all-time league rushing leader Clifton Dawson that went 10-0 and won the Ivy League. Fernandez was named All Ivy League honorable mention that year, then made the first team in 2006.

So how would Obic fare against the Fitzpatrick-led Crimson?

“I don’t think Obic is quite there yet,” he replies. “Don’t get me wrong, I think our level of play is quite high. But that was a very, very talented team.”

—Ken Marantz for the X-League