The X1 Super Rice Ball Tournament (RBT) continues Sunday, November 24 as the #4 ranked SEKISUI Challengers take on the #5 Tokyo Gas Creators at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka, Japan.
Sekisui was one of the surprises of the regular season finishing with a 4-2 record. The Creators wound up fifth with a record of 3-2-1 after having played to a 24-24 tie with the Nojima Sagamihara Rise.
Offensively, Tokyo has the edge averaging 23.5 points a game as compared to 22.5 for the Challengers. However, Sekisui’s defense held opponents to 14.1 points a game as opposed to the Gas Creators’ mark of 18.3.
Challengers’ QB Garrett Saffron Photo: @xleague
Challengers’ quarterback Garrett Saffron threw for 1,278 yards and 12 touchdowns with Jeremiah “Boogie” Knight his favorite target with 58 catches for 649 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, the Challengers secondary is tough with defensive back Tre’Vaughn Craig is second in the league in picks and 11th in tackles while teammate Yusuka Chiba is fifth in tackles.
Tokyo quarterback Jerod Evans has thrown for 1,126 yards and nine touchdowns in the six games while adding four more on the ground. Wide receiver Justin Hobbs has 25 receptions for 365 yards and four scores. Running back Ryotaro Hoshino has rushed for 252 yards and three touchdowns ranking him sixth in the league.
Tokyo’s defense is led by defensive lineman Kaoru Yoshida, who was the defensive MVP of the week in Round 6. That day, in a 37-17 win over the Fukuoka Suns, he recorded 10.5 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. He is the second leading tackler in the league with 25.5 and three sacks. Defensive back Shoma Yamamura is ranked 7th in the league in tackles with 22.
These two teams did not face each other during the regular season. The winner of this game will advance to the semifinals to face either the Fujitsu Frontiers or IBM Big Blue.
Source: XLeague.