On a weekend which saw plenty of American football championships contested (congratulations Carroll, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Valdosta State, Jackson State, and Appalachian State), there were a couple of championships going on in Japan. The Rice Bowl, on January 3, 2008, will feature the Matsushita Electric Impulse of the X-League and the Kwansei Gakuin Fighters, one of Japan's most storied college teams.
Kwansei wins Koshien Bowl
OSAKA (Kyodo) Running back Shota Yokoyama scored a touchdown in the dying seconds as Kwansei Gakuin University beat Nihon University 41-38 in the Koshien
Bowl collegiate championship on Sunday. Kwansei won its 23rd Koshien Bowl title
and first in six years after Yokoyama's 1-yard dive turned a four-point deficit
into a 40-38 lead with three seconds left in the fourth quarter and a Fumitaka
Onishi conversion capped the scoring in the seesaw contest. Kwansei took a 27-17
lead 4:49 into the fourth quarter following a pair of touchdowns by Yokoyama and
one from wide receiver Kisei Sakakibara coupled with Onishi's two field goals
and conversions. Nihon University struck back to go ahead 31-27 and 38-34, only
to allow Kwansei to start a drive that rolled to four consecutive first downs in
the last series of the game at Nagai Stadium. The winner of the annual matchup,
which features the winners of the Kanto and Kansai collegiate leagues, will face
the champion of the X League made up of corporate and club teams at the Rice
Bowl on Jan. 3. Kwansei quarterback Kazuta Mihara was named the MVP of the
Koshien Bowl as well as the 2007 collegiate league season.
Impulse power to X Bowl victory
Ken Marantz / Daily Yomiuri
Sportswriter
Tetsuo Takata renewed his college connections to score his first big title in Japan's corporate league.
Takata passed for two touchdowns and the Matsushita Electric Impulse took advantage of five turnovers in powering to a 33-13 victory over the Fujitsu Frontiers in the Japan X Bowl on Monday night at Tokyo Dome.
"I thought it was going to be a tough game, but we were able to score first and things went our way from there," Matsushita coach Hirokazu Murakami said.
With its record sixth X-League title, the Impulse earned a place in the Rice Bowl on Jan. 3, when they will face collegiate champion Kwansei Gakuin University for the national title.
Before a crowd of 17,629, Masahiro Ishino scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and Masahiro Ota kicked four field goals as the Impulse won their first title since 2004 and broke a tie for most ever that they had shared with the Asahi Beer Silver Star.
Matsushita, which won its eighth straight West Division title this season, scored on its first possession en route to a 17-6 first-quarter lead that swelled to 27-6 by halftime.
"In the first half, we got the ball in good field position and were able to convert it into scores," said Takata, who was named the game's MVP after completing 19 of 30 passes for 253 yards with one interception.
Unlike in its semifinal victory over the Obic Seagulls, when the Impulse blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead before winning 29-26 in overtime, there would be no letting the Frontiers come back.
"In the last game, we lost a 17-point lead and we didn't want that to happen again," Murakami said.
Helping assure that was linebacker Kentaro Azuma, who capped his selection to the All X-League Team by forcing two fumbles--both of which were converted into points--and had a team-high 6-1/2 tackles and one sack.
"Play by play, our defense stood tough," Azuma said. "Our aim was to force three turnovers. That the fumbles both led to points was really good."
It looked like it might be a long day for the defense when Fujitsu, looking for its first-ever title, moved the ball easily on its first possession, only to end up with a missed field goal. The Frontiers, running out of the shotgun, at times employed an unusual formation in which the entire interior line set up to one side of the center.
"They had some formations we had never seen," Azuma said. "But after the first series, we made some adjustments and we able to respond to whatever they came up with."
A combination of the pressure from the Impulse defense and rookie jitters got to Fujitsu quarterback Akihiro Izuhara, who completed 13 of 27 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown but had three interceptions.
"He's a rookie and we thought to be aggressive and not let him settle down, to make him rush things," Azuma said.
Takata, who led Ritsumeikan University to victory in the 2004 Rice Bowl, hooked up for touchdowns with fellow alumni Shinji Shimokawa and Shoei Hasegawa, who caught seven passes for 101 yards.
Takata combined with Shimokawa on a 12-yard TD strike to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive on Matsushita's first possession.
After Fujitsu's Koji Yoneyama fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the Impulse needed five plays--including three from inside the 2-yard line--before Ishino, stiff-arming his way out of a tackle in the backfield, went in from the 1.
Yoneyama made up for his miscue a short time later, following a 41-yard field goal by Ota by taking the kickoff 90 yards for a score to end the first quarter.
Matsushita was hardly shaken, marching 81 yards in 11 plays in its next drive, with Takata hitting a wide open Hasegawa with a 30-yard touchdown toss to make it 24-6.
The key play came after Takata was sacked twice and Matsushita faced third-and-21 from its own 45. But Takata calmly hit Hasegawa with 24-yard strike to keep the drive alive.
At the start of the second half, Matsushita finally gave Fujitsu a break when Shinsuke Kashino fumbled away the opening kickoff, giving the Frontiers the ball on the Impulse 31.
Two plays later, Izuhara connected with tight end Yuji Oya on a 26-yard touchdown pass to cut the gap to 27-13.
Fujitsu, which made the playoffs for the first time since 2002, was playing in the title game for just the second time in its history. The Frontiers made the 2002 final, but lost to the Obic Seagulls 14-7.
In the Rice Bowl, Matsushita will be aiming for its third title. The Impulse previously won in 1995 and 2005.
(Dec. 18, 2007)
Here is the current history of the Rice Bowl thus far, courtesy of Wikipedia.
January 3, 1984 Kyoto University Gangsters 29-28 Renown Rovers
January 3, 1985 Nihon University Phoenix 53-21 Renown Rovers
January 3, 1986 Renown Rovers 45-42 Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters
January 3, 1987 Kyoto University Gangsters 35-34 Renown Rovers
January 3, 1988 Kyoto University Gangsters 42-8 Renown Rovers
January 3, 1989 Nihon University Phoenix 47-7 Renown Rovers
January 3, 1990 Nihon University Phoenix 42-14 Asahi Beer Silver Star
January 3, 1991 Nihon University Phoenix 35-13 Matsushita Denko Impulse
January 3, 1992 Onward Oarks 28-6 Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters
January 3, 1993 Asahi Beer Silver Star 29-20 Kyoto University Gangsters
January 3, 1994 Asahi Beer Silver Star 28-23 Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters
January 3, 1995 Matsushita Denko Impulse 16-14 Ritsumeikan University Panthers
January 3, 1996 Kyoto University Gangsters 35-21 Matsushita Denko Impulse
January 3, 1997 Recruit Seagulls 19-16 Kyoto University Gangsters
January 3, 1998 Kajima Deers 39-0 Hosei University Tomahawks
January 3, 1999 Recruit Seagulls 30-16 Ritsumeikan University Panthers
January 3, 2000 Asahi Beer Silver Star 33-17 Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters
January 3, 2001 Asahi Soft Drink Challengers 52-13 Hosei University Tomahawks
January 3, 2002 Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters 30-27 Asahi Soft Drink Challengers
January 3, 2003 Ritsumeikan University Panthers 36-16 Recruit Seagulls
January 3, 2004 Ritsumeikan University Panthers 28-16 Onward Skylarks
January 3, 2005 Matsushita Denko Impulse 26-7 Ritsumeikan University Panthers
January 3, 2006 Obic Seagulls 47-17 Hosei University Tomahawks
January 3, 2007 Onward Skylarks 30-29 Hosei University Tomahawks
Kwansei Gakuin have won the Rice Bowl once, in 2002, while Matsushita has already won this twice, their most recent victory in 2005. The X-League currently leads in the all-time series of the January 3 classic, 13-11.
No comments:
Post a Comment