This past weekend, the previously winless Fujifilm Ebina Minerva AFC stunned Japan’s X-League by taking an early lead and then hanging on for a 17-17 tie with IBM Big Blue.
The tie still leaves Fujifilm (0-4-1) in last place in the XLeague Super Central conference while IBM (2-2-1) now sit in third place in the Super East with one game left in the regular season.
Fujifilm Ebina relied heavily on their run game with Derek Williams Akira leading the way with 15 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown. He shocked the Big Blue defense on the first offensive series on a second and 10 from his own 20 yard line, bursting off tackle, breaking a pair of tackles and racing untouched the rest of the way to give his team a 7-0 lead. Neither team found the scoreboard again until Fujifilm kicker Ikuta Ohno booted a 46 yard field goal with eight minutes left in the first half to extend the lead to 10-0.
The Big Blue offense were held pointless through the first two quarters of the game
Fujifilm Ebina QB Takashi Suzuki Photo: ©XLeague
IBM did get a couple of chances. On a third and five from their own 34 yard line, running back Hiramatsu Ikuha slid through a gap on the right side and raced down the sideline only to be knocked out of bounds at the Fujifilm four yard line. However, a 19 yard field goal attempt went wide.
After two missed field goals from Fujifilm in the third quarter, the score remained 10-0 in Fujifilm’s favor until the 10 minute mark of the fourth period. QB Yuki Masamoto connected with WR #80 for a 39 yard gain down to the 15 yard line. Then he handed off to Keita Suzuki who made no mistake scoring Big Blue’s first pointsof the game to close the gap to 10-7.
Four minutes later, on a third and goal from the five yard line, Masamoto found Takaki Suzuki in the corner of the end zone to give IBM a 14-10 lead.
With just over two minutes remaining, the Fujifilm offense finally came alive as Suzuki hit wide receiver Kinushin Adachi over the middle for a 40 yard gain down to the 36 yard line. Suzuki then threw a 19 yard pass to Shoei Koyama on the one yard line. One play later Ryota Osako barged his way into the end zone to give Fujifilm a 17-14 lead with 50 seconds on the clock.
With disaster looking them in the face, the IBM offense went to work. Masamoto marched his team down to the 21 yard line and with six seconds left, tossed a pass to Katsuhito Omi on the goal line. Omi stretched his arm across the goal line as he was being tackled and it was ruled a touchdown. However video review determined his knee hit the ground first.
So with no time left, Ikuya Ohno kicked a game-tying 38 yard field goal.
