The Panaasonic Impulse face the Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers in the semifinals of the annual XLeague Green Bowl preseason tournament at Oji Stadium at the foot of the Rokko Moutains in Kobe, Japan.
The Panasonic Impulse reached the final with their 63-0 dismantling of the As One Black Eagles.
ASAHI SOFT DRINKS CHALLENGERS QB ALEX NIZNAK PHOTO: INSIDE SPORT JAPAN
This will be the Impulse’s eighth straight Green Bowl final appearance,.The Challengers return to the final for the first time in two years after defeating Elecom Kobe Finies in the first semifinal.
Asahi are led by American QB, Alex Niznak, (who played in Sweden with the Uppsala 86ers and in Brazil) who scored a rushing touchdown in to open the scoring for the Challengers against the Finies. That gave Asahi a lead they never relinquished as they ran out 23-10 victors. In the lineup for the Challengers is another veteran of play in Europe, Robert Johnson.
Impulse as expected had little trouble dealing with Black Eagles — Lionel Piguet, Inside Sport: Japan, May 5, 2018
Panasonic quarterback Benjamin Anderson, in his second year with Impulse, leads an offense that runs the spread option out of the pistol formation.
The Challengers were the last team to beat Panasonic in this tournament in Japan when they won the Green Bowl in 2013 on the same field.