CAMP COURTNEY, Okinawa — Shawn Alderman’s running brought Courtney-Hansen’s two-game losing skid to a screeching halt, while making an already long road trip for the Yokota Raiders even tougher.
Coming off early-season injuries, Alderman rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries, including a 28-yard third-quarter touchdown that lifted the Titans over Yokota 10-0 on Tuesday in a U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League game that had twice been postponed because of Typhoon Etau.
Courtney-Hansen (3-3) kept its playoff hopes alive, remaining 1½ games behind league-leading Yokosuka.
Yokota (1-4) was virtually eliminated from the race.
“Everybody we’ve played has had praise for him,” Titans coach Tony Bowman said of Alderman.
“By the end of the season, I’m hoping he gets consideration as an all-league back. He’s a fighter. He won’t give up. He’s battled back from injuries and given us some impressive performances.”
The diminutive, fleet Alderman took a pitchout from quarterback Rafael Dominguez, darted around left end, avoided several tackles, tiptoed down the sideline, somehow stayed inbounds in a manner resembling Richard Gere’s tap-dance in the movie Chicago, then scampered into the end zone.
Alderman also caught four passes for 26 yards, accounting for 135 total yards in a game bereft of explosive offense. The Titans managed 135 net yards on 54 plays, with Dominguez going 7-for-20 for 54 yards passing.
“We put in some new stuff that slowed us in the first half,” said Bowman, whose team went with a no-huddle offense throughout. “We still have a few wrinkles to work out on offense, but the defense, that was a typical Titans performance.”
It was much rougher for the Raiders, who dressed 15 players. Ten others couldn’t go because of duty commitments, and the 15 who traveled to Okinawa came sporadically, catching whatever space-available flights they could while dodging Etau, which raked Japan last week.
Yokota managed 37 net yards on 40 plays. A bright spot was Dwayne Stephens, who didn’t arrive until Tuesday morning but still gained 43 yards on 12 carries, while defensive end Cedric Smith recorded two sacks and recovered a fumble. Backup quarterback Henry Freeman started and went 0-for-16.
“It would have been a much more even match with more guys,” said interim Raiders coach Jason Wolff, who lost his debut and faces a Thursday game with the Futenma Falcons, giving his exhausted players 48 hours to rest.
“Just getting down here was iffy. I’m pretty proud, considering the nonsense we’ve been through. These guys realize how fortunate they are just to play football. Our command has been helpful, but the job still has to get done back home.”
Futenma faced a similar predicament on Aug. 2, bringing 15 players up to Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, for a 28-0 loss to the White Dolphins.
“We’re football players,” Yokota linebacker/fullback Greg Powell said. “That’s what we’re here for. We came to play football.”
The outmanned Raiders were praised by Bowman as well.
“They’re a game team,” he said. “Coming down here, with the typhoon and all, to do what they did with 15 players, they have a right to be proud.”
