2011 Japan X-Bowl

2011-12-19 Japan X-Bowl


Three quick, deadly strikes by Noriaki Kinosita in five plays struck mortal blows to the championship hopes of the Fujitsu Frontiers, and were the difference in another nerve-wracking tight X-Bowl battle between the Obic Segulls and the the Frontiers. Despite being out-performed and out-gained most of the night, the Seagulls prevailed 24-17.

Fujitsu seemed in command for most of the ball game, leading at halftime 7-3, and when a 31-yard Fujitsu FG put them up 10-3 with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, it looked like that might be all they need.

But Kinoshita took the kickoff, split the coverage and went 98 yards for a touchdown. The extra point attempt missed to the left. Yusuke Kaneoya had also missed his first FG attempt,, before hitting a 21 yarder on their next and last possession of the first half.

After Kinoshita's electrifying return the Obic fans regained their excitement. The two teams traded 3-and-outs. Then Obic struck deep several times, going 87 yards in just 4 plays- the last 10 on a WR screen to Kinoshita, They followed that up with a trick play 2-point conversion on a fake dive pass from TB Takuya Furutani to TE Akimitsu Mori to take a 17-10 lead with 10:30 remaining.
On the first play of their next possession, Sugawara struck again on a 66-yard bomb to Kinoshita, sending the Fujitsu fans into shock and dismay.

Early in the game, both teams moved the ball on runs up the middle and several scrambles. Karl Noa admitted they did not have a man accounting for the QB.

Fujtsu led the game in almost every statistic, out-gaining Obic 365 to 337 and leading in time of possession by 7-1/2 minutes in spite of their no huddle offense.

"Their no huddle seemed to throw us out of our rhythm" said Noa. "We couldn't substitute, and it definitely had an affect on us", said Jackson. "But we got some hits on their QB, and that made a difference in the end".


All three foreign Seagulls expressed sympathy for Brad Brennan, who once again came close, but failed to make it to the Rice Bowl. "Brad played an awesome game," they all agreed.


Obic seemed intent on stopping the Fronteir's Takeshi Akiyama, and Brad capitalized. Brennan had 9 catches for 128 yards- big catches several on third and long, whether over the middle, on the sideline or on WR screens. Brennan had three catches on the final drive, as Fujitsu drove down to the Obic 11 ib the final minute. Three straight incompletions brought up 4th down. Brennan was able to work himself open in the end zone, but Izuhara's pass was off the mark. Izuhara finished 19-34 with 1 interception.

Kinoshita barely topped Brennan with 129 yards on 5 catches (the last two for TDs), while Ryoma Hagiyama had 8 catches for 91 yards for Obic.

The Fronteirs did a good job of containing Sugawara and the Seagulls- Sugawra picked up only 10 yards on the ground, while Furutani finished with 13 carries for 50 yards. But after a mediocre first three quarters, Sugawara's last four passes went for 43, 24, 10, and 66 (the last for TDs) so he finished 18-23 with no interceptions.

"They were doing a lot of different things," said Obic LG Frank fernandea, "but they always do" "We saw that they were trying to cover the best receiver in the league 1-on-1, so we decided to take advantage of that," added Fernandez.

While no surprise, the Fronteir's no-huddle attack gave the Seagulls some problems.
"we couldn't make substitutions like we wanted," Noa said. Both Noa and Jackson felt that some of the hits they put on the QB took their toll.

Jackson added that he will look forward to playing KG, as their offensive coordinator "is the same guy who brought me to Japan" when he was coaching for the Saeagulls.


When asked what he thought was the biggest factor in the game, Jackson said, "you know, momentum is such big factor in this league." Obic seemed to make it count the most.

JPFF SemiIfnals 2011-12-18

In JPFF semi-final action at Yokohama Stadium, the Eastern Conference finalists were determined.

The Urawa Ulowers (!) won the first game, handily defeating the Davey Jones 25-0.

But the second game was much more interesting. As the sun set over the rim of the stadium, the Brandings kicked a FG as time expired to defeat the Setagaya Southland Raiders 10-7.


The Brandings led 7-0 at halftime, before a blocked punt was scooped up and run back for a TD by the Raiders.

The Raiders seemed in control for much of the second half, yet their offense was unable to put the ball in the end zone. Still, when Tataki intercepted an Ooshiro pass at midfield with just over 5 minutes remaining, they seemed ready for the victory. The Raiders drove into scoring position, but missed their FG attempt, giving the ball back to the Brandings for their final drive.

The Brandings were stopped at the Raiders 12 yard line in the final minute and lined up for a short FG. which was blocked. But the officials ruled that the Raiders had made illegal contact with the center, giving the Brandings a first down at the 6. A couple of runs failed to scored, so they lined up for a FG. The kick finally went through, and the Brandings moved on to the Eastern Championship game in Kawasaki on January 16th.

X-League Semi-Finals 2011-12-04 Yokohama Stadium

The Obic Seagulls will return to the Tokyo Dome once again to defend their X-Bowl title against the Fujtsu Frontiers, as they manhandled the Kajima Deers 45-20 in semi-final action on Sunday, while Fujitsu blasted the Nojima Rise 38-3.

The Seagull lines were dominant on both sides of the ball. OT Frank Fernandez said they took much of their game plan from watching Nojima in their victory a couple of weeks ago on the same field. "They like to stunt and blitz a lot, so we were able to run Power and get the running game rolling."

Obic scored on their opening drive, and went up 17-3 on a 42 yard pass from Sugawara to Furatani to on the final play of the first quarter. Sugawara was 16-26-1 for 203 yards; meanwhile Katoh and Ozaki went 16-39 and 4 interceptions, including three in the final quarter, dooming any real chance Kajima might have had at staging a comeback.

Vice-captain Kevin Jackson said, "We were disguising our coverages a bit and I think that confised them", said Jackson.

At one point, Kajima threatened to get back in the game. A 2nd quarter TD and a 3-and-out defensive stop, the Deers took over trailing 17-10. Jackson tipped a pass, and Mitsunori Kihara intercepted the ball at the Kajima 20. Two plays later, Sugawara scored on a 15-yard run, and Obic never needed look over its shoulder again.


The Seagulls outgained the Deers 193 to 156 yards on the ground. Furutani picked up 110 on 18 carries.


The second half didn't go much better for the Deers- they were able to manage one touchdown, Satoh going over from the 1 late in the 3rd quarter. But in the final period, they were stopped on downs once, and their final three drives ended with interceptions.

"Our defense is well-suited to what they do. early in the year we faced a lot of running teams, but today we were able to use our pass rush well", said Jackson.


In the second game, the Fujitsu Frontiers turned in a dominating performance to return to the X-Bowl for the second time in three years, defeating the Nojima Rise 38-3.

Despite a noticable size advantage, it was the Fujitsu Frontiers that outgained Nojima Rise 257 to 123 on the ground, and added 158 yards in the air.


Nojima actually struck first, taking the opening kickoff and marching down to the Fujitsu on 12 plays, setting for a 42-yard Idezawa field goal, what turned out to be the only points of the day for the Rise.

But Fujitu responded with a 65-yard drive in 7 plays, as Motoki Yoshida hit Brad Brennan in the corner of the end zone on a 22 yard scoring strike to make it 7-3. Nojima fumbled three plays later, Kosuke Kamiyama took it in from 7 yards out, and it remained 14-3 at halftime.

On the opening drive of the 2nd half, Fujitsu followed up a good return with a drive, Kon scored from a yard out on 4th and goal to make it 21-3. Kamiyama scored again on their next drive, as they went 79 yards in 5 plays, and the rout was on. Kamiyama finished with 117 and 2 TDs on 22 carries.

The Frontiers only need to throw 15 times in the game, completing 10 of them, as snaps were shared by Yoshida (4-6), Izuhara (5-8), and Hiramoto. Nojima's Kinoshita finished only 10-22 with 1 interception.

Brennan said, "alot of the credit goes to the defense- they've been playing really well".


Fujitsu has made it to the X-Bowl twice, in 2007 aND 2009 and lost both times. e Frontiers faced the Seagulls in the X-League championship game in 2002, a game won by the Seagulls 14-7.

Urban Football League 2011-11-27

In what tunred oout to be a tight game, the Battlehawks missed a 42-yard FG as time expired, and the Roebucks were able to hold on for a 14-13 victory. The Battlehawks had driven from their own 5-yard line with less than two minutes remaining.


The Battlehawks scored twice in the 4th Quarter, Qb Akira Yasushi throwing for one TD to Shinichiro Matsuo and running for another with three and a half minutes remaining. But the Battlehawks missed the extra point.

The Roebucks had scored twice in the 2nd quarter on a pair of turnovers- an interception by Kenta Watanabe returned for a touchdown to make it 7-0.

Then the Battlehawks recovered a fumble at midfield and scored late in the half to make it 14-0 at the half.

A long kick return by Yuichi Yamazaki was wasted when another Roebucks drive stalled, and the FG attempt from close range was wide.

X-League - November 2011

The four teams for the X-League playoffs have apparently been set, all of them based in Tokyo. It was a busy day in X-League action on Sunday, as the Panasonic Impulse and Kajima Deers suffered their first losses of the season. In action down in Kansai, the Obic Seagulls scored on an 18 yard pass from Sugawara to Kikuchi with 24 seconds remaining to defeat Asahi Soft Drinks 20-13 in a come from behind victory. In the second game there, after trailing 10-3 at halftime, Fujitsu scored three TDs in the second half to defeat the Panasonic Impulse, 24-10.

Meanwhile at Yokohama Stadium, the Nojima Sagamihara Rise continues their winning ways in their first year in the top division, defeating Kajima in overtime, 27-20.


Both teams moved the ball, but had trouble scoring for most of the contest. Each had problems hat prevented scores- Kajima in the red zone; and Nojima with 4 turnovers. Kajima hit their first FG, missed the next, and then had one blocked. On their next trip to the red zone, they decided to go for it on 4th down, but failed. The Rise led 13-3 at the half on a couple of FGs sandwiching a Sugihara TD. He finished with 104 yards on 19 carries in regulation. Nojima finished with 202 yards on the ground and 194 in the air as Kinoshita was 12-20 with three interceptions, and added another 52 yards on ten carries.



Meanwhile Katoh was 20-30 and Kojima went 6-11 for Kajima, combing for 287 yards, and they picked up 170 yards on the ground on 34 carries, Satoh with 12 of them for 76 yards.Kajima didn't find the end zone till 10:34 remained in the 4th quarter, scoring on a 49 yard pass from Katoh to Nakagawa. Nojima answered with a 5 minute drive and a TD of their own, Miyako scoring from the 1. But Kajima rallied once again, scoring on a 5 yard pass from Katoh to Nakagawa with 3:43 remaining and then recovering the onside kick. They drove into the red zone once again, as Nojima let the clock wind down, and Kajima kicked a 20-yard FG with 11 seconds remaining.

Nojima had the ball first in overtime, and scored when Sugihara took a screen pass in from 8 yards out. Then on first down Kajima threw incomplete. An ill-advised sack on second down was followed by a penalty, making it 3rd and 25 from the 40. Katoh tried to throw long, but it was intercepted by Kitamura near the goal line to seal the victory for the Rise.

Based on a complicated tie-breaking system that takes "strength of schedule" into account, Kajima will still get into the playoffs in spite of the loss. Nojima, formerly the Onward Skylarks, lost its sponsorship after the 2008 season and re-formed as the Sagamihara Rise, but was demoted to the third division and spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons moving up. They lost to Obic in the season opener 24-19, but have since reeled off six in a row.

November 12th

A glorious Indian Summer day at Kawasaki, with some of the "other" teams in X1 meeting in a
doubleheader of teams without wins. It would be the last game of the regular season. (Stage 2)
for the losers of each game.

Bullseyes Tokyo 17 Unisys Bulls 14
After a slow start, the Bullseyes scored 10 points in the 4th quarter to defeat the Bulls.
It was 4th quarter scrambling by Bullseye's QB Atsushi Ozawa that made the difference. Ozawa
picked up 41 yards on 9 runs, in addition to going 19-31-2 and 1 TD through the air for 206
yards. Machinori Fujisawa finished 12-22 with no INTs and 98 yards passing for Unisys.
The Bullseyes went three and out until Ozawa hit on Shota Katoh with a 23 yard TD pass for
the only score until late in the 3rd quarter. That's when Keita Saruwatari went in from 3 yards
out, capping a 9 play, 65 yard drive to tie the score at 7-7. Keita Saruwatari picked up 89 yards
and 1 TD rushing on 15 carries for the Bulls.
An 11 play drive earlier in the quarter resulted in a missed FG by Fumitaka Iseri for the Bulls that
would come back to haunt them.
Yuki Itano missed a 24-yarder on the Bullseyes' next possesion, which was followed by Ozawa's
2nd interception in 4 drives.
But then the Bullseyes scored on their next couple of six-play drives. Ozawa scored on a QB
draw with less than 3 minutes remaining to make it 17-7.
Unisys was able to drive and score quickly on a pass from Machinori Fujisawa to Yuichi Kondo to
make it 17-14 and generated some excitement when they recovered the ensuing kickoff; but
the ball did not travel the 10 yards necessary so the Bullseyes took over and ran out the clock.

All Tokyo Gas Creaters 41, Fuji-Xerox Minerva 28
In the second game, All Tokyo Gas came out(!) and dominated the first half, never punted,
scored on the first three drives of each half, and cruised easily to defeat Fuji-Xerox 41-28.
The Creators amassed 519 yards on offense (compared to 350 for Fuji-Xerox), outgaing them
on the ground (217 to 138) and in the air (299 to 212). QB Ryo Murata went 15-21 and 199
yards and was relieved by Atsushi Shibata (5-5) and Misasmitsu Den (2-6). Between them, they
completed passes to eight different receivers, and there were no interceptions. Toshihiro
Katusmi started for Fuji-Xerox and went only 4-12. Naoya Ichikawa was more effective in relief,
especially effective throwing to (#14) Tomohiro Hoshino who caught 10 passes for 126 yards,
and scored the final touchdown of the game.
Masashi Sakurai picked up 57 yards on the ground on three carries, and Shinsuke Jumonji
picked up 49 on seven carries for Tokyo Gas; Shinichi Maekawa led all rushers with 113 on 18
carries for the Minerva.
Tokyo Gas took the opening kickoff and scored on a six-play drive, then a couple of ten-play
drives resulting in a FG and another TD, and finally adding a FG with 4 seconds remaining in the
first half to make it 20-0. Another attempt earlier in the 2nd quarter bounced off the left upright,
wasting a 70 yard punt return by Fumitaka Obana, who was tackled short of the goal line.
(#21) Komori was impressive at CB for Fuji-Xerox, breaking up several passes.
In the second half, while they never really threatened the lead, Fuji-Xerox did open up a bit and
got on the board, scoring one in the 3rd quarter, then three TDs in the final frame to make the
score look respectable.
For their part Tokyo Gas did not take their proverbial foot off the proverbial- well, gas- as they
added three TDs of their own in the second half, and another FG attempt was blocked. The two
FG miscues and one fumble lost were the only black marks on an otherwise succesful day for
the Creaters.
The two winners of today's games will meet at Kawasaki next Saturday.

new season, new- yet familiar- faces

It only took a couple of series for the Rise to feel at home again in X-league's Division 1, but on Wednesday night they let the Japan 2010 champion and everyone else know that they were back were they belonged and a force to be reckoned with. But in the end the Obic Seagulls overcame 3 fumbles and recovered an onside kick with 1:38 remaining and were able to run out the clock for a 24-19 victory at the Tokyo Dome.

The Rise were formally the perennial power known in various incarnations as the Onward Skylarks, etc. over the years , mostly under coach Dan Lynds. In December, 2008, Onward suddenly pulled its sponsorship. They were able to scramble and reform, but not in time to make the deadline to retain its Division 1 status. So the Sagamihara Rise were relegated to Division 3. With great community support, the Rise overwhelmed their Division 3 and Division 2 opponents and were able to move up for this year.

With the move to Division 1, the Rise have a new head coach, Takayuki Sunaga, and a new sponsor: Nojima. Lynds returned to the States this year to coach at Riverside California community College under Tom Craft, the former head coach at San Diego State.

The Rise seemed slightly stunned on their first series on offense (they went 3 and out) and on defense early (Obic moved easily down to their 8), but when the Seagulls fumbled there and the Rise recovered, the newcomers adjusted to the speed and intensity of Division 1 ball.

Obic drove again on their next drive and managed a FG, but Nojima came back with a 6 play drive and scored on a pass from Kinoshita to Inoue to take the lead as the 2nd quarter began. Kentaro Kimura's extra point attempt was blocked, and he was later replaced by Shin Idezwawa. Obic responded, going 60 yards in 5 plays, to take a 13-6 lead at halftime.

Both teams used a bit of formationing, and varied attacks. Obic DE and Vice-Captain Kevin Jackson said, "We didn't know what to expect; we didn't really have much film on them."


Both defenses stiffened near their own goal lines- each of Obic's first four drives reached inside the Nojima 10, fumbling twice, and settling for a FG once.


Obic seemed to be determined to be aggressive, disdaining the fair catch, and mixing inside runs with perimeter attacks. But Nojima's defense had excellent pursuit for most of the evening. The Seagulls worked to work the bubble screen and Kinoshita open on WR screens, but the Rise were able to cover them quickly.

Meanwhile Nojima had difficulty getting outside. TB Masatoshi Sugihara finished with 12 carries for 44 yards, while Obic's Takuya Furutani finished with 11 carries for 85 yards and 1 TD.

Obic had a slight edge in the air: 184 to 158, as Shun Sugawara went 18-24. Meanwhile nojima's Masato Kinoshita went 8-16 in the air, and picked up another 62 yards on the ground, including the 13 yard draw that went for a TD to bring the Rise to within 5 points with 1:38 remaining. The Rise scored on 4 of their last 5 drives.

Nojima was penalized a total of 10 times for 71 yards, including 5 holding calls, and 1 pass interference call. Lined up against former NFL-Euope WR Noriaki Kinoshita and Obic's other talented receivers, a slightly over-matched Ishiguro Takaya was called for two of those (and could have been called for one or two more), once in the red zone and once a a critical 3rd and long late in game that set up the Seagull's winning score. Obic's flags came a couple of false starts and several offsides.

"It was good to win," said Jackson, "but we made a lot of mistakes. A lot of mistakes"


The Rise featured a couple of new players from Hawaii this year, Derrick Faavi, and Keith Ah Soon, who came over and greeted fellow UH alumni Jackson, Karl Noa and Frank "The Tank" Fernandez after the game. "We need them to get us banners like you've got heere," the said, referring to the large banners fans hang from the stands promoting some of the favorite Japanese or foreign players. They join Reggie Miller, who has been with the Rise dating back to the Skylarks.

IFAF 2011 World Cup Final

The USA dominated Canada to retain its crown in international football, blasting Canada 50-7 at the 2011 IFAF World Cup Final Saturday night in Vienna, Austria.

On its opening drive, the US drove all the way down the field, with Nate Kmic scoring on a 2 yard run. On its ensuing drive, Michael Faulds nearly missed on a deep throw that got behind the US defenders. That was the closest the Canadians would get to threatening to unseat the US team all night.

A key play in the game occurred with 8 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter. Trailing 7-0, Canada had driven from its own 28 mostly on passes from Faulds and runs form Walters. With 2 and 7 at the US 10, Faulds scrambled and fumbled just short of the goal line. The ball hit the pylon, so it was ruled a touchback.

Matt Bassuener drove the US down the field, completing the drive with a 23 yard TD run to make it 14-0.

Things went downhill quickly for the Canadians from there. They went backwards on their next possession, so on 4th and 31 from their own 9, they decided to take a safety. DeWayne Lewis took the kick back 47 yards to the Canada 32. Four plays later, Hawkins ran in from 7 yards out to make it 23-0 with 1:51 remaining in the half.

The Canadians went 3 and out, and they US came back and scored in three plays, as Hawkins connected with Joe Sturdivant to bring it to 30-0 with 0:40 remaining.

34 seconds later, Canada was finally able to get on the board with a 19 yard pass from Faulds to David Stevens with 6 seconds left in the half. Canada decided to try for an onside kick- the US recovered and made the Canadians pay for it on a 38 yard pass from Cody Hawkins to Ricardo Lenhart as time expired to bring the score to 37-7.

Both coaches tried hard to keep their teams motivated at half time, and the second half was physical, but lacked much of the scoring of the first half.

Kmic and Harry Harris added TDs in the 3rd quarter, with the only blemish being a missed extra point. Greg Berkshire made his other 6 extra points. A final Canadian drive was stopped just short of the goal line as time expired.

Canada seemed to lack some of the composure it had showed in beating Japan on Wednesday afternoon. They fumbled twice and suffered two costly interceptions, and gave up 69 yards on 7 penalties (while the US had 78 yards, with no turnovers.

Harris gained 114 yards on 15 carries and was named game MVP, and the US ended up with 257 yards on the ground, and 183 yards passing. Cody Hawkins went 13-21 and 2 TDS. Faulds went 16-28 for 161 yards.

Nate Kmic had 49 yards on 8 carries and another 42 yards on 5 receptions, and was named World Cup MVP.

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Japan Wins Bronze

It was the hard-fought close game everyone expected. And for the 3rd time in four World Cups, Japan managed to edge Mexico to win the medal.

Mexico surprised some by coming out in the I and were able to move the ball across midfield. Some poor openfield tackling hurt Japan throughout the game, allowing QB Rodrigo Perez to escape on a 3rd and 5.

Both defenses have prove unassailable on the perimeters.

With 5:00 to go in the half, Japan finally scored on a 15 yard scoring run from QB Tetsuo Takata. On the drive, Takata completed a 27-yard pass to Ken Shimizu, and was helped out by a personal foul called on R.G.B. Lopez.

Diego Viamontes took the ensuing kickoff up the field, and then down the right sideline. When he shifted gears, the Japanese kick coverage was outleveraged, and he took it 82 yards for a TD to tie the score at 7-all.

2 series later, Takeshi Miyake intercepted a Perez pass at the 45 and returned it to the 24, and a penalty for out hiting out of bounds took the ball to the 12. Daisuke Aoki's 23 yard field goal wit 0:35 remaining in the half gave Japan a 10-7 lead.

This in spite of the fact that Japan managed only 18 yards on the ground and 61 in the air, compared to 52 and 111 for Mexico. But Mexico's 7 penalties for 67 yards swung things in Japan's favor.

Japan took the opening drive of the 3rd quarter 60 yards. From the Mexico 19 takata completed a burst corner eoute to Maeda for a TD to make it 17-7.

On Japan's next drive, they began a 9-minute 18-play drive from their own 30 to the Mexico 4 yard line- the key play being a fake punt on 4th and 7 from the 35 with Shun Sugawara completing an 18 yard pass to Michihiro at the end of the 3rd quarter. On 3rd and goal, a reverse pass by Ogawa back to Takata was snuffed out, and the chip shot FG was missed.

Mexico promptly moved from their own 20 drove to midfield mixing runs and passes, and apparent trick play TD pass to Heriberto Salazar was ruled an illegal forward pass. Perez and Salazar finally did get the TD from 10 yards out, to tighten things up at 17-14 with 3:54 remaining.

Japan strung together a couple of first downs, before Mexico was able to stop them around midfield, using up all their time outs.

Mexico started their final drive at their own 20. Daniel Rolsen made it up the sidelines to the 40 on 2nd down.

Perez crossed midfield, and was hit out of bounds giving Mexico the ball at the 35 with 12.5 seconds left. An out was ruled incomplete, and Mexico lined up for a FG with 8.9 seconds left. Fearing a fake, Japan called their final TO.

But when the kick attempt finally came, it was blocked, and Japan escaped with a 17-14 victory.

Mexico finished with 299 yards in total offense, compared to 253 for Japan,. Mexico's defense held Japan to 58 yards on the ground on 22 carries.

Day 6 - Graz

In a game that was close in just about every way, Team Canada beat Team Japan to win Group B championship and a birth in the finals against the USA on Saturday. This will be the first time since the Word Cup of American Football began in 1999 that Japan will not be in the final. They won the championship in 1999 and 2003.

Canada was on the board first, as they put together a 59-yard drive on their first possession, mixing runs and passes, before QB Michael Faulds hit Michel-Pierr Pontbriand from 2 yards out to go up 7-0.

Naoki Maeda returned the ensuing kickoff to the 40, and QB Tetsuo Takata drove them down the field on throws to Noriaki Kinoshita and Michihiro Ogawa and a big 17 yard run from Tomokazu Sueyoshi. yasuhiro Maruta carried it over from the 1 to tie the score with 2:14 to go in the quarter.

Japan next tried on on-side kick which failed, giving the Canadians great field position, but they were unable to capitalize. The teams kept exchanging possession until late in the 2nd quarter, when a Canadian drive that began at their own 22 was capped by a 4 yard TD run by David Stevens with 1:29 remaining. Stevens had 5 carries on the drive for 46 yards.

Maeda's return to the 37 gave Japan decent field position. Takata passed them down the field, including a 38 yarder to Ogawa, and a 15 yard TD pass to RB Takuya Furutani on a wheel route to tie it up at 14-all with 0:32 remaining in the half. But Faulds was able to put the Canadian in scoring position in 3 plays to the 16, and Lirim Hajrullahu kicked a FG to make it 17-14 at the half.

At that point Canada had the advantage in possession (33-22) and total yardage 186-169, the majority of it on the ground. Walters had 50 yards and Stevens had 48. Takata was 8-11 and 101 yards, and 1 TD for Japan. Ogawa had 4 catcehs fir 71 yards.

To open the 2nd half, Takata took Team Japan from the 24 to the Canada 6, where Daisuke Aoki kicked a FG to tie the game again at 17-all. Koki Kato intercepted Faulds on the next series, and had the ball at the Canada 32. They were able to pick up another first down, but had to settle for a 29-yard FG from Aoki to take a 3 point lead with 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter.

On the final play of the quarter, Faulds completed a 28 yard pass to Pontbriand. On 2nd and 11 from the 17, Faulds completed a pass to Shamwad Chambers. Atsushi Tsuji was able to strip the ball, but Johmeek Murray was ble to recover the ball to retain possession for Canada at the 3. Walters scored on the next play, and it was 24-20.

Both teams went 3 and out on their next couple of possessions, and Japan took over at their own 11 with 8:10 remaining. Japan to 7 plays to go 89 yards, helped by a roughing the passer penalty, and when Sueyoshi scored with 5:38 left, Japan had retaken the lead, 27-24.

Canada responded immediately- in what was acknowledged as the play of the game, when Faulds had to scramble, Stevens freed himself down the sideline for a 72-yard gain, stopped just short of the goal line. It took three attempts by Walters to score, which he finally did with 3:31 remaining, to make it 31-27.

Kato was only able to return the kickoff to the 5, which meant Takata had to work from his end zone. With 4th and 7 from his own 8, Takata was able to run for the 1st down. But they were able to get no further than their 16, and when Ogawa was unable to get a handle on the 4th down pass, Canada had the ball on downs with 1:34 left, kneeling down on 4 straight plays.

Japan did get the ball with 0:10 left at their own 25, but Takata was intercepted to seal the victory for Canada.

After receiving 230 penalties for 146 yards on Monday against Austria, Canada was able to reduce that to only 20 yards on 3 penalties. Japan also had 3 for 22 yards. Other statistics were also close- Japan outgained 349 to 328, mostly due to a 224 to 197 advantage in passing, going 20-34-1. Faulds was 14-21-1. Canada outgained Japan on the ground 131 to 125.


In the evening game, Austria seemed to dominate in the first half, outgaining France 131 to 54, but was only able to manage a field goal. France came back in the 3rd and scored 17 points in less than 3-1/2 minutes on passes to Anthony Dable and Jeremy Rbot and a FG from Bruno Nekili. A fumbled kickoff return by Armando Ponce De Leon was huge. France added another TD on a 22 yard pass from Max Sprauel to Rabot with ten minutes left in the game to go up 24-3. Sprauel was 10-20-1 and 3 TDs, and avoided being sacked.

Austria fought back with Thomas Haider releiving Cristoph Gross, as Haier fired a 28 yard TD to Jakob Dietlinger and a 22 yarder to Andreas Proeller with 3:31 left. Gross was only 8-22, and Haider finished 9-18 with 2 interceptions and 2 sacks.
Once again it was an enthusiastic Austrian crowd that made a lot of nosie, but was obviously disappointed by the home team's 3rd loss. They will Face Australia on Friday for 7th place. France will meet Germany on Saturday in a rematch of last year's European Championship, which was won by Germany 26-10.

Day 5 Innsbruck

In a game much closer than many had expected, Germany held off Australia 30-10.

Big passing days for both QBs- Kernan Dorney went 19-31-0 and 281 yards and 3 TDs for the Aussies; meanwhile Joachim Ullrich was 17-29-1 and 2 TDs and 280 yards passing for the Germans, including a 50 yard touchdown pass to Niklas Roemer who caught two and caught 8 passes for 153 yards on the day.

Germany added 216 yards on the ground compared to 62 on only 12 attempts for Australia. The size of the German lines, and 102 kg Jerome Morris made the difference. Waldemar Shcander carried 13 tiimes for 84 yards, and Danny Washington and Morris each carried for 59 yards.



Germany head coach Marshall Happer praised his opponent: "My hat goes off to the Australian team. Anyone that knows Australian sportsman know that they are people that fight to the bitter end. Certainly we knew that they would never quit and showed that they have a lot of heart."

Australia head coach John Leijten said: "The way we fought in this game and how close it was, is a win for Australia. I am very happy with the outcome of the game. Germany is a strong team. You come in here and play the US first, Mexico second and Germany third. There is no easy game here. We put our resources into this game that we could battle and hang in there."


It was the first win in the tournament for Germany; Australia is 0-3.

Day 4- Group B, Game 2 @ Graz

Japan Downs France 35-10

Japan was clearly the superior team, but definitely gave an uneven performance. Some dazzling runs and catches by Naoki Maeda, Michihiro Ogawara, and Ryoma Hagiyama and 73 yards in kick returns by Noriaki Kinoshita overcame an offense that had some good drives, but sputtered occasionally.

Japan's defense was able to bottle up the run for most of the game.

In the second half, France picked up their tempo ans was able to move the ball but as the approached the red zone, repeatedly hurt themselves with mistakes, including consecutive 15 yard penalties to take them out of scoring range. They finished with 10 penalties for 81 yards, and 191 yards total offense, while the Japanese had 352 yards, 237 of it in the air.

Co-MVPs for the game were French QB Maxime Spraule who went (21-33-0) and 233 yards passing; and 42 year young Yasuo Wakisaka who is appearing in his 4th World Cup for Japan.

Japan used their Fly Sweep to get outside, and some effective downfield passing. Japanese QBs Takata and Sugawara went 8-12 and 7-10 respectively.

In the evening game, Canada moved into Austrian terrritory on their first drive, but then stalled. A late hit on their next punt return gave them the ball at the Austrian 34, Michael Pontbriand ripped off a first down, but then fumbled the ball.

Canada received the ball at midfield on a punt for the 2nd time. On 2nd and 13 from their on 48, QB Micahel Faulds fired a perfect strike to Scott Valberg down the right sideline, and it was 7-0 with 5:28 to go in the 1st quarter.

A 32 yard catch and run by Matt Walters put Canada up 14-0. Walters finished with 9 carries for 73 yards, and another 32 yards on 3 catches, scoring 1 TD each.

Late in the half, Gross completed a 54 yard bomb to Jakob Diepplinger set them up at the 13 with half a minute to play. Two consecutive passes to the corner of the end zone were open, but went off the hands of the receiver. On 3rd down, Gross through an interception into the hands of Joel Lipinski, and Canada ran out the clock.

After taking over at midfield (again!) on an interception, Canada began a penalty plagued drive, Canada finally scored from a yard out to make it 21-0.

Canada seemed to be vying with Mexico for the penalty crown, as they amassed 146 yards on 20 penalties. This created a lot of long yardage situations, which they were able to get out of more often than not through significal RAC yardage.

Late in the 3rd Quarter Austria started a drive at its own 42. Going for it on 4th and 10, Gross found Dieplinger on a perfect post for a score to make it 21-7 with 10:01 remaining and the Austrian crowd went nto a frenzy that lasted throughout the 4th Quarter.

But in spite of incredibly loud support that lasted nearly a half hour after the game had finished, Austria was not able to score again.

Faulds was able to find Shamwad Chambers on the next drive wih a 47-yard TD pass, and Canada was able to add another to go up 34-7. They went for 2 and were sueccesful, continuing a disturbing trend.

Canada had just over 400 yards in total offense, as Faulds finished 17-24-0 and 233 yards and 3 TD. Gross was 10-25-2 and 156 yards.

Austria will take on France on Wednesday; Canada will face Japan to determine the Group B champion. Group A champion will be determned tomorrow when Mexico meets Team USA in Innsbruck.

Both of Friday's winners in Group A on Friday held form Sunday, on fine summer day in front of seven thousand fans, as Mexico and Australia faced off in the afternoon, and Germany met Team USA in the evening.


Mexico had a rather easy time with an Australian team that seemed a bit worn down. They scored late in the 1st quarter on a 4 yard Barrerarun, and followed that with a 76 yard flea flicker from Rodrigo Perez to Jose Antonio Alfonso.

Perez was 18-24 for the half, Mexico led 28-0 at halftime, out-gaining Australia 349 yards to 48.

Australia looked somewhat shell-shocked. They had suffered a 61-0 drubbing by Team USA on Friday.

More personal fouls does nothing to diminish Mexico's "bad boy image". They finished with 148 yards on 16 penalties.

Some were also perplexed by Mexico's decision to go for after a TD put them up 51-0. The attempt to run wide was adequately defensed, but Erick Arzate was able to take it up through a tired line for two points. Coach Rivera said something about needing to put it in, but that earlier in the game was too risky. (???)

After a FG and a Safety made it 58-0 Australia provided a brief moment of excitement for its fans as S Tautinoga Masaga Faletaogo intercepted a Mexican pass with less than 2 minutes to go, but as he crossed midfield lost control of the ball, giving Mexico another possession to score their last to make it 65-0.


The second game was more entertaining, and the game was closer than the final score indicates.

Turnovers and special teams played a big part in this one too:
Germany was able to stop a US drive midway throught the 1st period and started a small drive of their own. Germany lined up for what would have been the first points in the game a 3-0 lead, but Jordan Lake was able to block the kick, DL Johnnie Dingle scooped it up and carried it 75 yards himself for a 7-0 USA lead.

The next drive was mostly Nate Kmic, on passes in the flat, over the middle, or carrying the ball. Hawkins hit him on a crossing route that was stopped just outside the endzone, so coach Tjeerdsmann let him carry it in on the next play to make it 14-0.

Openfield tackling proved problematic for the German squad, as the US gained a lot of return yards, as an interception and returm by Myles Burnsides helped atone for a helmet-to-helmet penalty on the previous play. Kmic later scored from 5 yards out. He was later named game MVP

A late hit out of bounds and roughing the passer on 3rd and long took Germany to the US 24.
UB 24 yard TD pass on a streak from Joachim Ullrich to Christian Bollman to make it 21-7 with 1:15. An excessive celebration penalty, gave the US good field position, and they drove down to the 12 fo, r an apparent FG. But after a time out to "ice the kicker" holder Cody Hawkins picked up the ball and threw to Richie Brockel as time expired for a 28-7 US lead at the half.

Maurice Banks ran back an interception of an Ulrich pass 77 yards for a touchdown midway through the 3rd quarter and it was 34-7.

The Germans went 3 & out on their next possession, but when the snap went over the punter Dennis Wiehberg's head, he kicked it through the end zone. In the earlier game, the Australian punter had done the same thing, and was penalized with a safety, but prevented Mexico from an easy touchdown. The difference here was that wiehberg kicked the ball out from his own 4, and so was punished with a loss of down and half the distance to the goal, giving the US the ball inside the 2 yard line, from whence DeShawn Jackson scored on the next nn the next play.

On the next series, Ullrich completed a pass to Jerome Morris who was hit and dislodged from the ball, which was scooped up by Terrence Jackson and run in from 10 yards out for the final score.

Morris, who was born in Texas, lay on the field motionless for several minutes, was taken from the field on a stretcher and to the hospital for examination, but coach Marshall Happner later said that Morris was conscious and has movement in his extremities.

While the 48 hour turnaround was difficult for both teams, both seemed somewhat sharper than their first game. On Tuesday, Germany plays Australia and Mexico meets USA for the Group A title. Based on their division standings, teams will meet members from Group B this weekend in Vienna.

Day 2 - Graz (Group B)

Japan 24 Austria 6
Canada 45 France 10

more later

Day 1 - Innsbruck

And they call soccer "The Beautiful Game"? Really, they ain't got nothing on football, gridiron style.

Beneath the exquisite Nordkette Alps in the Tyrolian capital, Mexico and Germany slugged it out in a terrific game that showed a little bit of everything.

The 1st quarter started fast, with Mexico going quickly down the field from their own 34, they picked up 12 on a screen to Jonathan Barrera and 8 more on a run by Jose Reyes. On 1st down from the Germany 44, QB Rodrigo Perez rolled out and hit Oscar Ruiz down the right sideline for a quick 7-0 with just 41 seconds gone.

The Germans said they were initially stunned by the quickness of the Mexican team the first couple of possessions, so they knew they were in for a real fight.

Not just being metaphorical there. Things got rather "chippy" in the first half, with a lot of pushing and shoving after the play, some hits that appeared late or out of bounds, and several rather vicious tackles. On Mexico's second possession, there were three alternating 15 yard penalties within four plays. Mexican head coach Raul Rivera attributed much of it to the difference in officiating in Europe and Mexico. He says they bring NCAA officials down to officiate in Mexico, and they tend to let the play develop longer. Rivera said he had to tell his players to pull it back at halftime. But German head coach Marshall Happer suggested that he had warned certain his players of a certain proclivity of the Mexican team toward such play, especially when taking on European teams. He did not elaborate as to whether that had anything to do with past history and resentment towards former colonial powers- or just an intimidation tactic. At any rate, the 100 yards in penalties by Mexico in the first half nearly matched the 105 yards total offense the Germans amassed in total offense, and helped to keep the score close at 10-7.

Julian Dohrendorf gathered in a tipped pass from Joachim Ulrich to get Germany on the board with 2:34 remaining in the half.

While the speed of the Mexican front 7 dominated early, the Germans seemed the more physical team in the 2nd half. After the game, Rivera said he respected the "mentality of the Germans", and warned his team to expect as much. Germany slightly out-gained Mexico for the game 243-235, but the majority (166 yards) of that was on the arm of Ulrich (15-26-2).

Special teams played a deciding role in the game. Poor fielding of one Mexican punt in particular gave Germany the ball on their own 1 yard line was followed by RB Jerome Morris being tackled by LB Manuel Padilla in the end zone. The safety gave Mexico a 12-7 lead, and a long run-back of the ensuing kick by Jose Barrera to the German 10.

But Mexico failed to capitalize, and when the FG attempt was blocked and returned to the 30, momentum swung back toward Germany. From there, Germany marched down the field, and Morris scored from 3 yards out. A substitution infraction moved them back to the 8,but Germany made the successful 2-point conversion on a nice catch by Dominic Hansellman beneath the goal posts to take a surprising 15-12 lead with 11:05 remaining in the game.

Another long kickoff return, this time by Jose Miguel Luna to the Mexico 46 brought them back, and a 42 yard field goal by Jose Carlos Maltos made it a tie game with 8:22 left. Penalties, an interception and dropped passes halted the next three respective drives, until Barrera returned the next punt 60 yards to the German 25. From there, Mexico marched in, with Reyes scoring from 3 yards away to make it 22-15 with 2:22 left.

Once again a poor kick return gave the Germans the ball on their own 15, but Ulrich was unable to take them the distance, as he was intercepted on 4th down and run back to the 16, and Mexico ran out the clock.


Players and coaches for all four teams praised the setting, and talked about respect for their opponents and the unique pride in being able to represent their countries.


As head coach John Leitjen said, the Australian team played hard every snap, but were simply out -anned, 61-0 by a faster, more talented US team. Considerable excitement was generated later in the 3rd Quarter, when a Greg Berkshire extra point attempt was blocked, and run back, but was tackled just outside the end zone to preserve the shutout.

Diezas Calbert opened the scoring for the US with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, followed by a couple more on the ground. With 329 yards passing in total, all 4 American QBs saw action, including Micah Brown who had 3 catches as a receiver for 30 yards and a TD, as did WR Alex Anderson . Nate Kmic had 7 catches for 106 yards and a TD. On the ground DeShawn Thomas and Henry Harris each had over 90 yards rushing and 2 TDs.

Co-MVP Cody Hawkins (who was 13-15 with 2 TDs), was in control from the beginning and took led the US to a 34-0 halftime lead. Hawkins, who face a lot of ups and downs playing for his father at Colorado, shined on the field, and later behind the microphone. He certainly has a bright future as a coach...or a politician. He was polished, yet lavish in his praise of IFAF World Cup officials and hosts, his teammates, respect for their opponents, the atmosphere, the stadium, the mountain backdrop, the town, the people.

At the end of the press conference after the game Cody grabbed the mic back and added a half-serious plea to the Innsbruck Raiders for the chance to come play for them.

The Games Begin

In the beautiful valley of the Nordkette Alps, the IFAF 2011 World Cup began in Innsbruck with a pair of games. If any of the rest of the games between now and the July 16th Gold Medal game are anything like the night cap, the fans are in for a wonderful treat.

Along the valley of the river Inn, in an exciting game that had ebbs and flows and just about everything else, Mexico defeated Germany 22-15.

In the first game, the US completely dominated Australia.

Action moves to Graz on Saturday, as Canada face France, and Japan takes on host Austria.

They're Ready

In their final press conference before leaving for the IFAF World Cup 2011, representatives of Team Japan appeared to be ready to face the challenge ahead of them.

Asked how this Team Japan team is different from previous ones, Head coach Kiyoyuki Mori said, "I think this team is avery good combination of experience players and younger players, Some players, for example (WR) Shoei Hasegawa, he has experience in NFL-Europe and the [2007] World Cup in Kawasaki. (DL) Yamanaka, (LB) Kosho they have good experience so we have a good combination" The youngest player on this year's squad is Waseda RB Tomokazu Sueyoshi; Panasonic Impulse DL Yasuo Wakisaka, at 42, is twice his age. Wakisaka has appeared in all 4 World Cup tournaments. Japan won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1999 and 2003, when the US did not send a team.

Mori also said after the loss in the Notre Dame-Japan Bowl in 2009, they emphasized being more physical, and have gained an average 10 pounds a man, without sacrificing speed.

The USA and Japanese Teams are considered favorites to win their respective Groups.

In the 2007 World Cup championship game held in Japan, the Americans defeated Japan 23-20 in double overtime on a blocked field goal.

The Americans will open the 2011 World Cup on July 8th playing Australia in Innsbruck.

The Japanese Team flies to Austria on Wednesday, and will face host Austria on Saturday the 9th in Group B action in Graz. Both games will be kicking off at 3PM CET (13:00 UTC; 9:00 ET; 22:00 JT).

Germany and Mexico and Canada-France will meet in the evening games starting at 7 PM local time.

Mori was quite impressed by the the Austrian team in their Charity Bowl XIII game against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre-Haute, IN) on June 5th, as they lost 35-34 when their 2-point conversion attempt fell short.

"They are very good team. Very physical. They have improved.

"Offensively, they run a lot of shotgun and pistol formations. Defensively they run a 3-4, many blitzes and combination blitzes."

Spring Ball 2011

While the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crises in Japan brought many things to halt, most football teams were soon back at it.

Most teams have several scrimmages already over Golden Week, and there is a full weekend coming up, with X-League games at Kawasaki on Saturday and Sunday,

Several college teams meeting in interdivisional and intersectional matchups on Sunday.
There will be a KCFF triple-header played at Japan Sports University. Meanwhile in the KCFA, Aoyama Gakuin will take on Keio, and Chuo meets Nihon at Aminovital, while Hosei hosts Nanzan at home.

JPFF Playoffs

In Japan Private Football Federation semi-final action on Sunday at chilly, but sunny Kawasaki Stadium, it was the Grizzlies and the Brandings who prevailed to take their place in the Eastern Conference Championship on January 30th.

After spotting the Davey Jones a TD early, the Grizzles rallied for 26 unanswered points, to take their place in the

In the second game, the Brandings used a solid ground game and efficient play-action passing and halfback option passes, and held off the Urawas 14-6.


In the Eastern Conference Championship game the Brandings and Grizzlies will kickoff at 13:30 on the 1/30 at Kawasaki Stadium. The Urawas and Nagano will meet in a consolation game beginning at 10:30.


JPFF Playoffs

Rice Bowl

Before more than 35,000 fans in the Tokyo Dome, the Obic Seagulls trounced the Ritsumeikan Panthers to win the Rice Bowl

In a rather lackluster game after an exciting season, the Seagulls shut out the Panthers 24-0 in the 28th annual meeting of collegiate and shakaijin champions. It was the Seagulls fourth title, the first two coming when they were sponsored by Recruit. The win denied the Panthers their fourth title.

Ritsumeikan mostly flailed on offense, unable to move the ball on the ground, and QB Shoma Taniguchi connected on only 9 of 38 passes for 69 yards, was intercepted three times in the 4th quarter. Considered a running threat, he managed only 24 yards on 13 carries. A missed 40-yard field goal ended their only scoring threat of the afternoon.

Former Hawaii University players Karl Noa and Kevin Jackson figured prominently in the pressure put on Taniguchi. Noa had a couple of sacks, and Jackson added a tipped and then intercepted a pass to his stats.

Meanwhile Obic QB Shun Sugawara was 15 of 25 for 199 yards, throwing for the first touchdown (a 49-yard strike to Ryoma Hagiyama), and running for the second. The Seagulls scored on a FG as time expired in the 1st half to make it 17-0.

Sugawara, who lost in the Rice Bowl twice as a collegian with the Hosei Tomahawks, transferred to the Seagulls this year from the Sagamihara Rise, who will join division 1 of the X-League next season. Sugawara was named game MVP.

The Furutani twin brothers figured prominently in the Seagull's attack: Shinya with long punt returns, and Takuya rushing and scoring the final TD of the game.