Dentsu Caterpillars quarterback Aaron Ellis tossed three touchdown passes in helping his team to a comfortable 42-10 win over the Nagoya Cyclones at MK Taxi Field Expo as Japan’s XLeague Area Division wound up its second weekend of play.
With the win, Dentsu moves to 2-0 on the season.
The Caterpillars took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Ellis found wide receiver Kento Minami for a 74 yard touchdown. The Caterpillars defense extended the lead to 14-0 after defensive back Sakagami Taiichi picked off a pass by Cyclones quarterback Soya Kamiya and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
Nagoya struck back two possessions later with Kamiya connecting with wide receiver Yutaro Takagi from 25 yards out to reduce the lead to 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
Dentsu WR Kento Minami hauling in 74 yard TD pass from QB Aaron Ellis
Dentsu defensive back Kei Sugiyama then picked off Kamiya again, this time right on his own goal line and returned to the 40 yard line. Ellis went back to work marching the Caterpillars down to the Nagoya five yard line before handing off to running back Shu Endo who plunged into the end zone to boost the lead to 21-7.
Dentsu tried an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff but the Cyclones recovered in good field position. However, they had to settle for a 43 yard field goal from the toe of Takuto Matsuhisa to close the gap to 21-10.
With just over a minute left in the first half, Ellis had moved the Caterpillars down to the Nagoya 22 yard line. He then found Minami streaking down the sideline and hit him with a beautiful pass which he took into the end zone to give Dentsu a 28-10 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw both defenses stiffen and neither team able to move the ball consistently.
With just under four minutes left in the game, Kamiya moved his team down to the Dentsu three yard line but he was picked off in the end zone by Caterpillars defensive back Hirao Takuma. Endo then found a seam and raced 50 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Cyclones 30. Two plays later, Ellis hit Kaiki Sato with an 11 yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 35-10.
A minute later, Kamiya threw his fourth interception of the game as Kohei Nishihara picked him off at the Cyclones 40 returning the ball to the 27. Dentsu running back Jun Tamada sliced through the tired Nagoya defense for a 10 yard touchdown run to finalize the score at 42-10.
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