The Panasonic Impulse (6-0) wasted no time in the final regular season game of the year against the Nojima Sagamihara Rise (3-2-1) at the MK Taxi Field Expo in Suita City this past weekend, jumping out to a 28-3 halftime lead and then cruising to a 38-6 win.
With the victory, Panasonic clinched second place in the standings and will now face the seventh place Elecom Kobe in the quarterfinals. The loss dropped the Rise down to sixth spot and they will now take on the third place team, the Obic Seagulls in the quarterfinal round.
Impulse quarterback Yuya Araki threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns while running back Victor Jamo Mitchell added two more on the ground. Mitchell also caught two passes, one for a touchdown while Genmei Tachikawa added the other aerial score.
For the Rise, quarterback Kurt Palandech completed 25 of 39 passes for 223 yards but could not find the end zone. Tay Cunningham caught eight of those passes for 119 yards while running back Sho Yoshizawa rushed for 92 yards on 15 carries. Kicker Taiki Sato booted two field goals to account for all of Nojima Sagamihara’s scoring,
The Impulse opened the scoring on their first possession of the game as Araki marched his team down to the Rise five yard line and then let Mitchell do the rest.
Then, with 3:22 left in the first quarter, Panasonic defensive lineman Yuya Arimura picked off a Palandech pass. Araki capitalized on the opportunity finding Mitchell racing down the sideline for a 47 yard touchdown to boost the lead to 14-0.
Nojima Sagamihara finally managed to reach the red zone advancing down to the nine yard line but got no further and had to settle for a Taiki Sato field goal to narrow the lead to 14-3 early in the second quarter.
However, Panasonic returner Takuya Fujimoto returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards down to the Rise 27 yard line. Less than a minute later, running back Genaki Tachikawa slid off tackle to score from the three yard line to extend the lead to 21-3.
Then, with 3:38 left in the first half, Mitchell scored again, this time from three yards out to give Panasonic a commanding 28-3 lead.
Sato booted a 33 yard field goal for the Rise on the final play of the first half to close the gap to 28-6.
In the second half, Panasonic’s offense continued to dominate and at the 2:13 mark of the third quarter, Araki connected with Tachikawa on a screen pass and the running back raced 48 yards down the sideline to boost the lead to 35-3.
Panasonic kicker Shintaro Saeki booted a 42 yard field goal midway through the final stanza.
In other action, the Fujitsu Frontiers pounded IBM Big Blue 63-14 to finish first. The two teams will face each other again in the quarterfinals. The Obic Seagulls defeated Elecom Kobe 37-7 and finished third. Sekisui blanked Fujifilm Ebina 22-0 to wind up in fourth and will take on the fifth place finishers, Tokyo Gas, in the quarterfinal round.