The Fujitsu Frontiers broke their championship jinx against the Obic Seagulls Monday in the Tokyo Dome defeating their arch rivals 16-3 in front of 25,445 spectators to capture Japan X Bowl 30.
This was the fourth meeting between these two teams in the X League championship game. The Seagulls had won the previous three.: 2002 (14-7), 2011 (24-17) and 2013 (24-16).
Fujitsu quarterback Colby Cameron (Louisiana Tech University) completed 11 of 20 passes for 116 yards adding a team-high 86 yards rushing on 27 carries. Meanwhile running back Gino Gordon (Harvard) scored the game’s only touchdown in a game marked by defense.
The Frontiers, who scored an average of 26.7 points per game during the season, could muster only three field goals in their first four possessions. But that was enough on a night when their defense held the Seagulls to only four yards on the ground and 175 overall.
The showdown of the league’s two undefeated teams turned out to be a defensive game with neither team finding the end zone until 0:39 left in the third quarter, when Gordon rushed four yards for a score.
The Fujitsu defense also sacked the Obic quarterbacks, starter Jerry Neuheisel (UCLA) and backup Shun Sugawara, three times.
It was a dismal night for the Seagulls offense and both Obic quarterbacks. Neuheisel was replaced at halftime by Sugwara with Obic trailing 9-0. Sugwara, who had led the Seagulls to four straight national championships from 2010-13, fared no better failing to spark the offense or lead any scoring drives.
“This is the happiest moment.I ran a lot in the first half and tired a bit. But we played a better game in the second half.”
Cameron was unable to finish the X Bowl two years ago due to a shoulder injury.
He will now get a chance to win the overall Japanese title in the Rice Bowl, against the Japanese collegiate champion. That game is scheduled for Jan. 3.
Waseda University takes on Kwansei Gakuin for the college crown on this Sunday in the Koshien Bowl at Koshien Stadium to decide who gets to face the Frontiers.