Pacific
Big plays propel Kubasaki past Seoul American
Stars and Stripes
October 8, 2016
Seoul American quarterback David Messinger looks for room to avoid the tackle of Kubasaki's Trey McKoy, Antonio Mitchell and Hayden Williamson. (Caylin Smith/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American quarterback David Messinger looks for room to avoid the tackle of Kubasaki's Trey McKoy, Antonio Mitchell and Hayden Williamson. (Caylin Smith/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American running back Levi Johnson gets wrapped up by Kubasaki's Alex Ramos. (Caylin Smith/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American quarterback David Messinger knifes his way to daylight through teammates and Kubasaki opponents. (Claire Ancheta/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American's Gary Moran grabs the ball away from the outstretched hands of Kubasaki defender Alex Ramos. (Claire Ancheta/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Bobby Riegert was 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks against Seoul American. (Claire Ancheta/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American running back M.J. Haynes runs to avoid the tackle of Kubasaki defensive back Omar Garcia. (Claire Ancheta/Special to Stars and Stripes)
YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea – Special teams helped Kubasaki remain perfect off of Okinawa and in the chase for their sixth straight berth in the Far East Division I title game.
Anthony Macaluso ran back a kick for a touchdown and Alex Ramos returned a punt for a score and the Dragons held off a fourth-quarter comeback for a 28-18 win Saturday at Sims Field.
“It was a big-play night,” coach Fred Bales said of a Kubasaki team (2-2) that “didn’t sustain much of anything on offense. We’re still chopping wood, trying to find some kind of rhythm. But it was a good win for us.”
Macaluso emerged as the Dragons’ “leading man” Saturday, Bales said. He ran 12 times for 84 yards, was 1-for-3 passing for 12 yards and scored what Bales called two crucial touchdowns at the right moments.
The Falcons (0-4) had just cut Kubasaki’s lead to 7-6 on a 23-yard scoring run by Gary Moran just before halftime. Kubasaki ran a fake-reverse return, with Macaluso taking the ball 84 yards for a score.
“That was big,” Bales said.
As the third quarter opened, Macaluso gave the Dragons a 15-point cushion with a 14-yard touchdown run.
Ramos put it out of reach with a 62-yard punt-return touchdown in the fourth period, and Antonio Mitchell sealed the victory with a last-minute interception of Falcons quarterback David Messinger.
It was by no means an easy task beating the Falcons on their home turf, Bales said, adding that Seoul American was a “lot better team” than it was three weeks earlier when the Falcons lost 48-6 at Kadena. Bales was in attendance at that game.
“They (Falcons) came to win today,” Bales said. “They took it to us, they played strong, they did a good job of getting ready for us and took away a lot of things from us.”
“We’re making improvements,” Falcons coach Shawen Smith said.
Messinger kept the Falcons in the contest with a pair of second-half touchdown passes, a 60-yarder to M.J. Haynes and a 23-yarder to Willie Grandison to cap a three-play, 68-yard fourth-quarter drive to cut the gap to 28-18.
“The defense played fantastic. We’ve had some injuries, but the backups are coming into their own,” Smith said. “We still got the L, we had a few mistakes on special teams, but overall, it was a great improvement over the first three games.”
The Falcons, who are all but out of the title chase, take to the road Saturday for a game at Nile C. Kinnick; kickoff is at 2 p.m.
The Dragons – who won 13-6 at Kinnick in their other off-island game on Sept. 17 – next play a non-divisional home game against the Singapore Eagles; kickoff is at 6 p.m. Friday.