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.
