Japan: Panasonic Impulse defeat Obic Seagulls to advance to the Rice Bowl for the 4th straight year

The Panasonic Impulse advanced to the Rice Bowl final for the fourth year in a row after defeating the Obic Seagulls 24-5 in a game played at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka.

Trailing 5-0 early on, Panasonic then outscored the Seagulls 24-0 the rest of the way for the win.

Obic Seagulls RB Lee Zhuo Photo: @xleague

Obic opened the scoring trapping Impulse quarterback Yuya Araki in the end zone for a safety. Then Seagulls quarterback Tyler Kulka marched his team down to the Panasonic 20 yard line and kicker Joji Yamazaki then booted a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 5-0.

The second quarter saw both teams squander field goal chances but with just under four minutes left in the first half, Impulse running back Genmei Tachikawa found a seam and raced 68 yards down to the Obic four yard line. On the next play he punched the ball in to give Panasonic a 7-5 lead heading into the break.

The Impulse started the second half with another scoring drive, with Shintaro Saeki kicking a 22 yard field goal to increase the lead to 10-5.

Both defenses stiffened in the third quarter leaving the score unchanged until early in the fourth when Impulse running back Victor Jamo Mitchell capitalized on a bad punt by Obic to score from 27 yards out to boost Panasonic’s lead to 17-5,

The Impulse defense forced another turnover as defensive lineman Tomoki Obata sacked Kulka forcing a fumble which Panasonic recovered on the one yard line. Tachikawa scored again to give Panasonic an insurmountable 24-5 lead with less than five minutes remaining.

Although Obic outgained the Impulse 278 yards to 175, the Panasonic defense made the different, forcing key turnovers.

Source: X-League