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.
