Pacific
Yokota improves to 2-0 with another rout
Stars and Stripes
September 11, 2015
Tyson Moore's 39-yard pass catch set up Matthew C. Perry's lone touchdown, a 9-yard second-quarter run by Jason DeGrace. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Tyson Moore's 39-yard pass catch set up Matthew C. Perry's lone touchdown, a 9-yard second-quarter run by Jason DeGrace. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Yokota Panthers backs Shota Sprunger, from left, Jam Harveyand Marcus Henagan lead the team onto the field for the second half. The three combined for 473 yards total offense, Sprunger scoring four times, Harvey twice and Henagan accounting for three touchdowns. (Jacob Mansberger/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Yokota quarterback Marcus Henagan eludes the tackle of Matthew C. Perry defender Llewellyn Castro. (Jacob Mansberger/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Matthew C. Perry receiver Tyson Moore gets hauled down from behind by Yokota defensive back Robert Johnson. (Jack Higbee/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Matthew C. Perry running back Desmond Moore has nowhere to go against the Yokota defense. (Jack Higbee/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Yokota fullback Jam Harvey darts around Matthew C. Perry defender Michael Perez. (Jack Higbee/Special to Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Marcus Henagan and Jam Harvey continue piling up yards and points. Shota Sprunger returned from injury in style. And life as a first-year Division II football program continues to agree with Yokota.
Henagan racked up 239 yards total offense and accounted for three touchdowns, while Harvey added 129 yards and two TDs and Sprunger scored four times as the Panthers won by a lopsided margin for the second straight week, routing Matthew C. Perry 55-7 on Friday at Yokota’s Bonk Field.
“It was nice to have Shota back,” Panthers coach Tim Pujol said. “It showed in the first quarter; it showed in all phases on the game, offense, defense and special teams. And Jam had a big game. He got some things done in different ways. He was also in on a lot of tackles.”
Sprunger rushed for touchdowns of 28, 3 and 13 yards and caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Henagan; he netted 124 all-purpose yards for the Panthers (2-0). Harvey added 109 rushing yards, 82 coming on his second touchdown run; he earlier scored on an 8-yard run.
Henagan was 4-for-7 for 93 yards, including a 55-yard scoring pass to T.J. Reney. Ty Dotson came in in relief in the second quarter and went 2-for-2 for 79 yards, including a 71-yard TD strike to Henagan.
Robert Johnson picked off two passes and C.J. Thomas recovered a fumble, each of which put the Panthers in good field position, along with a bad punt snap by the Samurai (1-1).
Those miscues “set us up in really good scoring shape early,” Pujol said.
The victory put the Panthers another step toward a possible berth in the Far East Division II title game Nov. 7 at the site of the D-II team with the best record in DODDS Korea. Yokota still faces Perry and Zama on the road and Robert D. Edgren at home.
“We have a lot of work in front of us,” Pujol said, noting that the Panthers also must play Division I Nile C. Kinnick, American School In Japan and Kubasaki. “They’ll all be tough games for us and make us better down the road.”
Perry got its lone points in the second quarter on Jason DeGrace’s 9-yard run, set up by Garrett Macias’ 39-yard pass to Tyson Moore. Macias had 125 yards total offense and Moore 112 all-purpose yards, and the Samurai ran 66 plays to Yokota’s 35.
“We faced a team bigger and stronger than us,” Samurai coach Frank Macias said. “This was the first time we got punched in the mouth and we’ll learn from it. Last year, we were the tough guy on the block. Then, Yokota moved in.”