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| In Japan, "kawaii" (cute) mascots are everywhere |
Dentsu Caterpillars 62 Shinagawa BullsEyes 3
In his first game back in Japan, our erstwhile cohost Aaron Ellis passed for nearly 200 yards and three TDs, which in the fantasy football realm, are good, if not great numbers. Well, this week Aaron got his favorite target back in the form of fellow University of St. Francis alumnus and teammate Ravon Johnson, who caught three of the TD passes Aaron threw in a dominant team performance on both sides of the ball. Specifically, this week Aaron was 17 for 22 and 272 yards and six TD passes to Ravon, and his understudy, Koichiro Ito, was three for nine and 30 yards for one TD. In addition to Ravon (who caught a total of six passes for 146 yards), catching all of those other TD passes were Minami Kento (2), Masaki Kawanami (1) and Satoshi Onuki (1).
A side note here from the football historian in me. Aaron's passing stats in this game are very similar to that of Bob Griese's performance against the St. Louis Football Cardinals on November 24, 1977. That game occurred on Thanksgiving Day, and is the first NFL game this writer can remember watching as a football obsessed ten year old. Sadly, Aaron's performance was not televised, and needless to say, Japanese gridiron fans are not happy with the X League's misguided decision to not televise every Area game this season.
On the ground, Dentsu's running back committee rushed for a total of 116 yards and one TD, which was scored by Sho Kitamura. The Caterpillar defense held the BullsEyes to 60 yards rushing and 24 yards passing. The defense also sacked the quarterback three times and snagged one interception. The lone score by the BullsEyes was on a second quarter field goal. Next week the Caterpillars face off against the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, while the BullsEyes take on the Blue Thunder.
Tainai Deers 42 Mitsubishi Club Triax 9
Tainai completely dominated the Triax in a game where the Deers running game took center stage as their running back committee registered a total of 180 yards on the ground and four TDs by four different runners (Takashi Miyayuki, Tatsuhiro Tokizaki, Takuya Inoue, and Shinpei Wakashima). The passing committee led by Shohei Kato and Shotaro Owada was 16/23 for 172 yards in the air, with TD passes thrown to Yuki Ogawa and Kotaro Shibasaki. On the defensive side, the Deers registered one interception (by Yuto Usui) and held Triaz to 83 yards rushing and 77 yards passing. The only Triax scores came on three field goals and enter the next game against Bulls F.C. not having scored a TD through the first eight quarters of season play. As for the Deers, they will face the PentaOcean Pirates in an early week 3 showdown.
PentaOcean Pirates 19 Bulls F.C. 0
Speaking a team with "Bulls" in their name not having scored in 2024, Bulls F.C. has been completely shutout in their opening two games this season, including this one against the Pirates. The Pirates QB, Ryusuke Matsuda was 12/17 for 128 yards and two TD passes to Kaito Ono and Takahiro Nozaki), with his alternate, Shuhei Matsuoka going 7/10 and 73 yards in the air. On the ground the Pirates rushed for 81 yards and no TDs. On defense, the Pirates registered five interceptions, including one that was returned by Kojiro Masui for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter. The Bulls, who face the BullsEyes next week, were held to a total of 45 yards passing and 89 yards rushing in a losing effort over the superior Pirates. The Pirates will face the Deers next week in what we hope is great game, but which will not be shown on RTV, as the league is only streaming a select few Area games this season.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Eagles 9 Blue Thunders 3
Not much happened in this game, including touchdowns, as only field goals were scored. The Eagles had a total of 128 yards rushing compared to the 30 yards gained by the Blue Thunders, while in the air, the Eagles QBs were a combined 10/20 and 107 yards, and the Blue Thunders Lee Dymond was 9/21 for 71 yards. One interception was recorded by the Eagles defense, which also had two sacks. The Eagles defense also caused Lee Dymond to registered a running statistic of seven runs for minus 18 yards. Next week the Blue Thunders take on Bulls F,C, in a game where hopefully one of the teams will register a score, while the Eagles take on the high flying Dentsu Caterpillars.
Triaxis J-Stars 24 Nagoya Cyclones 20
In what was the most competitive game of week 2 Area play, the newly promoted Stars registered their first win after promotion from X2. The J-Stars rushed for 141 total yards, with TDs by Riku Saito and Ryukyo Ashida, with their running committee spreading the carries out with five different runners. J-Stars Quarterback Kohei Banba was anemic with 5/14 and 49 yards in the air, but was bailed out by the special teams play of Ashida, who returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and kicker Reo Abur, who booted the only field goal of the game. As for Nagoya, Takaru Sakaida rushed for two TDs, while Ryo Kawkami caught the other team TD as the team had a combined 6/13 for 117 yards in the air. On the defensive side of the ball, Nagoya intercepted two passes and had no sacks, while the J-Stars had zero interceptions and three sacks. Next week the J-Stars will be on a bye, while the Cyclones take on the As One Black Eagles.
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