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ASIJ SPOILS ZAMA’S HOMECOMING IN ROUT
On Friday, October 21,
2005, the ASIJ Mustangs handed Zama its seventh straight loss of their
season in a contest that was very much a lop-sided affair. ASIJ,
however, was given a scare at the beginning of the game. Zama started
the game very strongly with 14 unanswered points from touchdown passes
by quarterback Ben Bishop. Unfazed, the Mustang offense quickly got its
act together with a quick touchdown pass from Shawn Seevers to Rafai
Eddy as well as a quarterback sweeper to the outside to tie the game at
14-14. Seevers found Rafai again in the endzone for another score, and a
little trickery by Michael Ryan on a half-back pass to Seevers put the
Mustangs firmly in the driver’s seat with the score at halftime 28-14.
In the second half, the Mustangs ground game came alive with an
explosive 45-yd touchdown run by Kahn Fukui. Seevers also found a
lumbering Tyler Christian in the endzone for this third passing
touchdown of the night and also took a botch punt snap all the way for a
second rushing touchdown. Seevers finished the night with a total of 6
touchdowns, single-handedly spoiling Zama’s homecoming and bringing
ASIJ’s record to (5-1) – its best record in many years.
MUSTANGS FALL
SHORT, YOKOTA EXTENDS WINNING STREAK
53 games. That’s how
long it’s been since the Yokota Panthers have lost a football game.
Until Saturday, Yokota has made quick work of all their opponents,
winning their four previous games by a combined score of 178-14. ASIJ,
however, proved to be a formidable foe for the unbeaten Panthers,
falling just short by a score of 17-7. The Mustangs’ touchdown came on
the first play of the fourth quarter when Shawn S hit Kent G on a 15
yard throw near the sideline. Kent made no less than four Panthers miss
and took it the rest of the way for a 30 yard score.
The ASIJ defense held
up very well against the high-powered Yokota offense throughout the
game, holding them to about 250 total yards. However, with two
back-to-back big plays in the first quarter, a 40 yard pass and a 25
yard run, the Panthers drove to within the ASIJ 5 yard line. Yokota
finally punched it in, after being stuffed twice by the tough Blackshirts Defense, and took a 7-0 lead.
The Mustangs offense
looked impressive, driving almost at will into the red-zone. But
ASIJ was unable to score due to various miscues and remained scoreless
at halftime. It was this inability to score inside the 20 that
proved fatal for the previously unbeaten Mustangs. Inside the
Yokota red-zone on six possessions, the offense just couldn’t find the
end zone against the impressive Panthers defense.
Just before halftime,
Yokota’s Scott Monahan intercepted a pass and returned it about 40
yards, setting up a Panthers field goal late in the second quarter.
Patrick Pamintuan accounted for the other Yokota touchdown with a plunge
from the 1 yard line.
MUSTANGS BEAT
EDGREN: IMPROVE TO 3-0
Last Friday at noon,
the ASIJ Varsity boarded the shinkansen for the trip to Misawa to take
on the Edgren Eagles in their longest road trip of the season.
The long trip took its
toll on the Mustangs early on, as ASIJ looked tired for the first couple
of minutes in the game. Edgren’s offense was able to take advantage of
the visitors’ fatigue and rammed the ball down the throat of ASIJ’s
Black Shirts defense, moving the ball almost willingly and taking an
early 7-0 lead.
It looked like Edgren
had the Mustangs on their heels, this was the first time ASIJ had
trailed all year. The defense had never given up points on the
oppositions’ first drive either, it looked as if the Black Shirts had
finally met their match. However, Edgren’s defense was about to meet
their own challenge.
When the Mustangs took
over the ball for their first possession, they looked a lot like their
counterparts, running the ball through the heart of the defense on the
way to their own scoring drive, capped off by a quarterback bootleg to
the corner of the endzone. A Rafai E extra point tied the game and put
the momentum back in the Mustangs’ corner.
After an embarrassing
and demoralizing first attempt, the Black Shirts returned to the field,
this time with the anger and fury they had shown in previous games.
With their newfound intensity, ASIJ was able to shut down the Eagles
running game and force them into a punt.
With the ball back in
the Mustangs’ hands, ASIJ drove to another score on another Shawn S
scramble. Shawn’s touchdown was his sixth of the season, giving the
Mustangs their first lead of the game. A touchdown pass to Ben C
extended the lead further and ASIJ had a 21-7 lead at halftime.
In the second half,
the Mustangs had some issues putting Edgren away. The Eagles offense
was able to control the ball with its running game (and got help from
some questionable officiating). When the Mustangs did have the ball,
they had a tough time establishing the run up the middle against an
aggressive Eagles defense.
Despite some offensive
issues in the second half, and a long touchdown pass to Rafai E called
back on a clipping penalty, ASIJ was able to control the ball just
enough to put up six more points (on another quarterback scramble) and
put Edgren away. Stellar defense in the second half, coupled with some
bruising running by Ben C, provided enough juice for the Mustangs to end
the game by a final of 27-7 and remain undefeated.
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Both doubles and singles, guys and
girls, won all their matches, resulting in another sweep victory for ASIJ.
Although Seisen scrambled for the ball,
ASIJ's height and strength left Seisen stunned. JV played a well
fought game. They seized the first set easily, but had a slow
start in the second set. However, they overcame this and cruised
to victory with a 2 - 0 win.