Kubasaki's Marcus Lee tries Saturday to chase down Yokota's Decorio Perry. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
Kubasaki's Marcus Lee tries Saturday to chase down Yokota's Decorio Perry. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
Kubasaki's Winston Maxwell closes in Saturday on Yokota quarterback Marcus Henagan. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
Kubasaki's Caleb Sablan wraps up Yokota running back Shota Sprunger on Saturday. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
Yokota's Decorio Perry tries Saturday to elude the tackle of Kubasaki's Caleb Sablan. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
Kubasaki's Winston Maxwell tries to shake the tackle Saturday of Yokota's Shota Sprunger. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes )
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – One of Fred Bales’ worries heading into the season was having to replace transferred quarterback DeQuan Alderman.
DeCurtis Davis on Saturday went a long way toward alleviating that concern. And in accounting for 221 yards of offense and four touchdowns and helping lead Kubasaki past Yokota 36-18, Davis gave the Dragons new life in their bid to repeat the Far East Division I title.
“He’s come a long, long way with his approach to the game,” said Bales, the Dragons head coach. “He’s taken on a serious demeanor. We’ve put the team on his back and challenged him to be a leader. He’s taken that on and we’re really proud of him. He is a player.”
His numbers reveal a player equally adept at throwing and running with the football in helping the Dragons level their record at 1-1.
Davis was 9-for-13 passing for 109 yards, including touchdowns of 38 yards to Javohn Journigan and 19 to Jacob Green. He did his best running in the second half, scoring on runs of 9 and 23 yards and finishing with 112 yards on 11 carries, all but 14 in the second half.
“He did a good job,” said coach Tim Pujol of the Panthers (1-2). “He threw the ball well, made a lot of plays with his feet keeping the play alive and still looking downfield. He’s a good runner. And good mechanics, nice faking in the backfield.”
Green also scored on a 9-yard run. Winston Maxwell was held under 100 yards, finishing with 84 on 11 carries, but did accrue 148 all-purpose yards plus one of two sacks by the Dragons. Isaiah Johnson accounted for 132 all-purpose yards. Kubasaki totalled 351 yards of offense.
Davis “got some help from some other guys, too,” Pujol said. “Winston was great. And their defense was very aggressive up front.”
The Panthers’ answer came in the form of their own junior quarterback, Marcus Henagan. He accounted for all of Yokota’s points, on touchdown runs of 1, 1 and 4 yards. Jamarvin Harvey led the Panthers with 62 yards on 11 carries.
Kubasaki rebounded after losing its D-I opener 22-18 the week before at Nile C. Kinnick, and will next host Kadena on Friday. Though the Dragons have new life, Bales said he’s taking nothing for granted.
“It’s just a week at a time,” he said. “There are some really good Division I teams this year. Every week, you have to be prepared and bring your A game.”
While the loss seriously harmed Yokota’s chances at the D-I title, the Panthers have other goals to chase, such as the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools title, which they’ve won 31 times.
“We’re going to prepare for ASIJ,” Pujol said of visiting defending Kanto champion American School In Japan on Friday. “We have three Kanto games in a row, we want to set our sights on a Kanto championship and continue to improve as a team.”
