HS Football Japan style

On a nice day for football, the Kanto High School Tournament Semi-Finals were held at Komazawa Dai-ni Stadium. While the first game was not close, in spite of some nice throws and catches for Waseda late in the game. In the second game St. Paul's Rushers managed a hard fought 16-10 victory over Komaba Fighting Gorillas.

The Rushers scored on their first play from scrimmage on a well-thrown deep crossing route to the TE for a 69 yard TD. The Fighting Gorillas responded a few plays later in their first offensive series with a 63 yard run that made it 7-all.

In the second quarter, the Rushers were turned away at the Gorilla goal line. But on the very next play, the Gorilla RB was tackled in the end zone to make it 9-7. St. Paul's subsequent drive resulted in a TD to make it 16-7. Both teams moved the ball, but interceptions and key mistakes kept the score down. Several Fighting Gorilla "Wish Passes" were thrown into double coverage. Komaba also had problems in the kicking game, including a muffed punt near the goal line.

That said, I was often impressed by the quality of play and overall effort by the high school gridders. I had an opportunity to sped a bit of time in the stands, and I must say I was really impressed by the passion of the fans present- especially the mothers, who were sometimes quite astute in their appraisals of what was taking place on the field, and quite vocal about what they thought about it.