Japan X-League QUARTER-FINALS Yokohama
Stadium 2017-11-11
Obic Seagulls 41, Nojima Sagamihara Rise 22
Saturday was the 99th anniversary of the Armistice concluding World War I,
which ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of that year. The
2017 X-League quarterfinals triple-header coincidentally kicked off at 11 AM on
11/11 (Japan Time). Three teams would go down to defeat, as three familiar
powers prevailed.
Like much of the league, the Nojima Sagamihara Rise endured bad weather this
year- wind and rain affected many of their regular season games, including
their turnovers in a 14-0 loss to the Obic Seagulls in September. The weather at
Yokohama Stadium on Saturday was fine for a change, and so this time, there was
no such excuse. Devin Gardner and the 3
rd-seeded Rise suffered
one of their most miserable performances of the season with a shocking nine
turnovers, losing to the 6
th-seeded Seagulls 41-22, and knocking
them out of the playoffs.
Sagamihara's
opening drive went three and out, and they proceeded to turn the ball over on
their next five possessions- including four times within five offensive plays
and a botched kickoff return. Obic scored three TDs and two field goals
the first five times it had the ball, and led 27-0 by early in the 2
nd
quarter.
While they actually out-gained the Seagulls 441 to 336, the Rise were simply dominated
by the Obic defense. “We couldn’t run the ball, so now we’re passing it the
whole game. Jump off the bus, 14 down,” said Gardner.
Gardner and
the Rise finally responded with an 86 yard drive for a TD, and nearly had
another on a 65 yard drive when Sione Houma carried it to the Seagull's one
yard line. But Nojima was stopped on the final play of the first half.
Devin did hit Takahide Dejima on a 9 yard scoring pass mid-way through the 3
rd
quarter to make it 27-13, and amazingly it seemed that Nojima was back in the game, but that was as close as they got.
Shun Sugawara followed that taking the Seagulls on a 9-play 63 yard drive, connecting with Aruto Nishimura from 23 yards out. Then the Rise suffered another catastrophe when they failed to field the ensuing kickoff, and Obic recovered at the 20. On the very next play, WR Noriaki Kinoshita threw it to an open Ryoma Hagiyama and it was 41-13.
For the most part, Nojima's receivers were no match for Obic's physical
defensive secondary, and their defensive line was putting relentless pressure
on Gardner all
throughout the game. “They got pressure whenever they wanted,” he said.
Seagull’s defensive end B.J. Beatty (Colorado)
said they only blitzed about 10% of the time. Beatty and Kevin Jackson (Hawaii) and the rest of the Obic defensive line
continually overwhelmed the Sagamihara offensive
line, and Jackson
and Beatty even had one interception apiece.
Devin was frustrated throughout the game and disappointed afterward, and
said it was difficult for Nojima because they couldn't run the ball, so play
action passes had little effect. Leaving more in to block didn’t seem to help
either, and Obic was in tight zone coverage downfield. The Seagulls were
jumping all the quick timing routes, and the rush was too fierce for slower
developing routes.
Gardner, who often had Seagulls defenders hanging on to him as he threw, was
27 of 52 for 378 yards and 2 touchdowns, but with a season-high 6
interceptions. Devin admitted that sometimes, “You just got to chuck it and see
what happens…You got to hope your guys make a play for you.” Unfortunately, not
enough plays were made, although Yuhei Yagi did have10 catches for 148 yards
and one touchdown.
Gardner also ran or scrambled 11 times for 30
yards and 1 TD rushing, and Houma
carried 9 times for 36 yards and a fumble, and caught two passes for 15 yards. Taku Lee carried 8 times for 84 yards and a touchdown for Obic.
Fujitsu Frontiers 34, Elecom Finies 7
2
nd seeded Fujitsu scored on six of its first eight possessions
and cruised to a 34-0 lead by midway through the 3rd quarter.
Colby Cameron (
Louisiana Tech) threw for two TDs and 202
yards on 16-21 passing with one interception.
Elecom could only manage a 4
th quarter touchdown by Jordan
Canzeri (Iowa).
Canzeri rushed 19 times for 80 yards, but with 12 TFLs (including three sacks
by Trashaun Nixon (New Mexico
State), the Finies netted
only 48 yards on the ground. Kosuke Kamiyama filled in for the injured Gino
Gordon for the Frontiers, scoring two touchdowns on 12 carries.
IBM Big Blue 51, Lixil Deers 31
Certainly the most competitive game of the day was the last.
IBM linebacker Kevin Coghlan intercepted Lixil QB Shuhei Katoh’s pass on the
first play from scrimmage and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. This was
immediately followed by a 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Naoki Maeda,
and the game was already 7-7 after the just 31 seconds of play.
The two offenses moved the ball pretty easily in the first half. Kevin Craft
(UCLA), advanced the Big Blue- sometimes with his arm, at others with his feet,
and two scores netted 10 more points. Katoh responded with a drive and a score
of his own, scrambling up the middle on 4
th & 2 reaching the end
zone to bring the score to 17-14.
But both teams seemed unsatisfied with running out the half. IBM drove and Toshiki Satoh
added a field goal, and after a Lixil punt, Craft took over with a six
point lead and 1:38 remaining in the period. However his throw down the left sideline was
picked off and run back for a touchdown by Tadanori Sano, and the Deers had the lead
for the first time, 21-20.
Undaunted, Craft came back throwing, and his receivers repeatedly made tough
catches as they moved down the field. Aided by a facemask penalty, they marched
down to the Deers' 25 with 2 seconds left in the half, close enough for Satoh
to try a 42 yard field goal, but he missed this one wide right.
Big Blue running back Tomokazu Sueyoshi split the defense right up the middle
going 80 yards on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, and a Jet
sweep for the 2 point conversion put IBM back on top 28-21.
Lixil’s Katsuya Nakagawa returned the following kickoff all the way to the
Big Blue 21 yard line, and a field goal made it 28-24 less than a minute and a
half into the second half.
Then IBM's Keita Suzuki matched that by returning the ensuing kickoff to the Lixil 19. Three
plays (and just over a minute) later, Craft hit Atsushi Uehiro for a TD and it
was 35-24. For the day, Craft was 29-40 and 272 yards passing with the one interception and
four touchdowns. Katoh was 17-30 for the Deers.
Craft later put together a drive that bridged the third and fourth
quarters mixing runs and effective passes, finally hitting TE John Stanton in the end
zone to go up 42-24.
With a twisting 29 yard run, RB Yuuki Shirakami put Lixil in back business at the
IBM 17. On 3
rd & 9 Katoh hit Maeda for a 16 yard TD to make it
42-31 with 8:40 to play.
But Craft responded with yet another drive, finding Suzuki easily in the end
zone for a 13 yard touchdown to put the game effectively out of reach at 49-31.
It was their fourth touchdown in five possessions in the second half. Big Blue
defensive end James Brooks added a sack for a safety with 1:46 to play to make
the final score 51-31.
Obic will meet rival Fujitsu in Kawasaki in one semi-final game on 11/26 in
a rematch of the regular season finale won 13-10 by the Frontiers in overtime; while
the IBM Big Blue will go down to Osaka to face the top-seeded Panasonic Impulse
for the other semi-final. The Japan X Bowl will be held on December 18
th
at Tokyo Dome. The winner will face the collegiate champion in the Rice Bowl,
traditionally held on January 3
rd.