MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – Varsity football returned to Iwakuni in a winning way on Saturday as Matthew C. Perry claimed its first home victory since the 2002 season, playing in its first home game in 11 years.
Caelab Ricafrente and Mick Carreiro each rushed for two touchdowns and the Samurai (3-0) racked up four interceptions, pulling away in the second half for a 39-15 win over Sotoku, a Japanese high school out of Hiroshima that Perry coach Frank Macias called the Samurai’s “nemesis.”
“I told the guys we wanted to use this game as a benchmark to see how far we’ve come,” Macias said. Sotoku has been playing twice a season against the Samurai since the team’s first incarnation as a youth services team in 1996; they’ll play each other again on Oct. 18.
While the Samurai piled up 290 rushing yards and had 382 yards total offense, it was the defense that carried the day, Macias said. Tyson Moore had two interceptions and Garrett Macias and Desmond Moore one each. Desmond Moore also had three sacks. Carreiro forced two fumbles.
“The defense was outstanding today. Desmond was an animal out there,” Frank Macias said.
Before about 300 fans at Samurai Field, Ricafrente rushed for 100 yards on 13 carries, Jarell Davis added 80 yards on 12 attempts and Carreiro ran 13 times for 54 yards. Garrett Macias went 2-for-4 for 92 yards passing and added 5 rushing yards.
“That’s a bit pedestrian considering what he’s been doing, but still a hammer,” Macias said of Carreiro, whose 6-yard second-quarter touchdown run put the Samurai ahead to stay.
The win gives the Samurai a three-game winning streak since the program resumed after an 11-season hiatus. But Macias said that well begun is only half done.
“We continue to get better,” he said. “But we’re still not there yet, we still have some problems we need to fix.”
The Samurai next visit the American School In Japan on Saturday, followed by a neutral-site date Oct. 11 at Yokota.
NOTEWORTHY – Sotoku is known more for its power baseball teams, and the Fighting Ducks became a household name during last month’s 59th National High School Tournament at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture, near Osaka. Sotoku played and lost in the semifinals 3-0 to Chukyo, a game that took 50 innings, more than 1,400 pitches and four days to finish. The game was reported worldwide on media platforms ranging from Fox Sports to Deadspin.com.