In week 2 of X League Super play there was a shake up at the top of the power rankings as the Obic Seagulls, Tokyo Gas Creators and Sekisui Challengers put the top teams in the league, Fujitsu and Panasonic, that they can no longer be taken lightly this season. In fact, this season might be the first one in many years where the final game, the Rice Bowl, will not be another Panasonic vs. Fujitsu meet up in the Tokyo Dome. Unfortunately, this week also sadly brought another painful reminder of why the X League needs to address the on going issue of parity, for the beat down of weaker teams continued.
2-0 Obic Seagulls1-1 Tokyo Gas Creators1-1 IBM Big Blue0-2 All Mitsubishi Lions
Central Division Standings
2-0 Fujitsu Frontiers2-0 Nojima Rise0-2 OrientalBio Silver Star0-2 FujiFilm Minerva
Western Division Standings
2-0 Panasonic Impulse1-0 Elecom Finies0-1 Sekisui Challengers0-2 Pleiades Suns
Highlights
Tokyo Gas Creators 12 IBM Big Blue 7
It was "Friday Night Lights" as the X League opened up the week in the Tokyo Dome, and on the opening kick off IBM's Logan "LJ" Stewart ran the ball all the way to the end zone for an early lead. However, that would be the only highlight for IBM, as Big Blue struggled on offense, with only 51 team rushing yards and 113 yards passing. For Tokyo Gas, they also struggle on offense with only 80 rushing yards and 135 passing yards, their only touchdown came on a Jerod Evans run, which was supplemented by a field goal and late game safety. The Tokyo Gas defense was stingy and recorded two sacks and one interception. The true bright spot of the game was the large crowd who turned out to watch the game on Japan's main athletic stage.
Nojima Rise 31 FujiFilm Minerva 11
Kurt Palandech carried the load for the Rise as he went 14/19 for 200 yards in the air (with two TD passes to Tay Cunningham and Junpei Yoshimoto) and 40 yards rushing on six attempts. Kurt's 40 yards on the ground were supplemented by his backfield, which rushed for another 81 yards and two TDs (one each by Yoshizawa Sho and Ryunosuke Kawamura) and his backup, Rintaro Majima, who was 6/14 for 61 yards passing. On the other side, the Nojima defense recorded two interceptions and registered three sacks. For FujiFilm, QB Takashi Suzuki was 17/30 for 161 yards passing and one TD pass to Akihiro Koyama (with a two point PAT), while the backfield only rushed for 54 yards. The Minerva fought valiantly, and did manage to pick off two Nojima passes.
Obic Seagulls 84 All Mitsubishi Lions 0
In a game that, to be honest, was an embarrassment for league, the Obic Seagulls unnecessarily humiliated the Lions and ran up the score, which, had the X League utilized 15 minute quarters would have likely been a 100+ point victory. It is games likes these that give the league a self-inflicted black eye and sully its reputation. In sum, there we five rushing TDs and five TD receptions, as well as a punt returned for a TD (by Jason Smith), and a pick six by Satoru Takahashi. As for All Mitsubishi, they were lucky to roll up exactly 100 yards of total offense for all the pounding Obic inflicted from start to finish.
Panasonic Impulse 14 Sekisui Challengers 13
In what was the week's closest game, Panasonic clearly was not ready for the Challengers as the underdog took charge and held them to 136 rushing yards and 81 passing yards. One TD was scored by the Impulse on a punt block return, while their second TD was the result of a pass from Yuya Araki to Takayo Suzuki. As for Sekisui, they outgained the Impulse with 62 rushing yards and a total of 196 passing yards (Safron was 25 for 37 with no interceptions) and TD passes to Boogie Knight and Akira Kameyama. Overtime was avoided when the Challengers missed the PAT after their second TD in the fourth quarter.
Elecom Finies 28 Pleiades Suns 6
After having their week one game postponed due to a typhoon in week one, David Pindell and his Finies returned to league play as he went 16 for 21 and 192 yards, with three TD tosses in a convincing win over the Suns. His backup, Shinohara Roihito, was three for three and 38 yards with an additional TD toss. Catching those TD passes were Tatsuya Miki, Malone Mataele, Daiki Uchida and Yuuma Hashimoto. The ground game registered 93 yards, with Pindell running for 35 of them. The Elecom defense registered two interceptions and three sacks, while holding the Suns to 70 rushing yards and 206 passing yards combined by three QBs. The only scoring for the Suns came on two field goals by Tasei Takagi.
Fujitsu Frontiers 58 OrientalBio Silver Star 3
If anyone can recall the last time Fujitsu was ever behind or in danger of losing a game, it is not this writer, as the Frontiers just simply destroyed the Silver Star. Trashaun Nixon was Paytonesque as he ran for 166 yards and scored two TDs. His backfield colleague Takaki Miyake was Roland Harper (former Chicago Bear and backfield mate to Walter Payton) like in running for 78 yards and one TD, while Tsubasa Takagi went 10/17 for 118 yards and three TD throws. The Frontier backup QBs (Yota Kamata and Masayuki Hamaguchi) went a combined 8/10 for 105 yards and two TD passes. The recipients of these TD throws were Grant Somergy (2), Takeshi Yokogawa (2) and Yusei Kami (1). The defense registered three interceptions and held the Silver Star to 78 yards passing and 59 rushing yards. The bright spot for the Silver Star was Devin Phelps who caught seven passes for 42 yards. The lone score by the Silver Star was a field goal by Umegaki Hikaru.
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