Homecoming week ended on a sweet note for the Kadena Islanders and Buccaneers, as they swept Friday’s Okinawa Activities Council doubleheader at McDonald Stadium.

A.J. Morgan ran for three touchdowns and Tyler Schmidt rushed for two to boost the Bucs over the Kubasaki Samurai 55-8. Keith Loving and Demetrius Kenney ran for one TD each and Alex Berrios threw for another in the Islanders’ 21-0 shutout of the Kubasaki Shogun.

Zama American kept its slim hopes for a berth in next month’s Rising Sun Bowl alive and severely damaged Nile C. Kinnick’s chances with a 14-6 victory at home.

Okinawa

Kadena Islanders 21, Kubasaki Shogun 0

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Not since the Yokota Panthers of 1988 has a team gone a whole season without allowing a point, but the Islanders (4-0) have been successful at keeping opponents off the scoreboard thus far.

“We’ll see. We have a lot of work to do,” coach Sergio Mendoza said.

The Islanders’ defense, which has racked up four shutouts, held the Shogun (1-4) to 90 yards and three first downs.

The Shogun’s deepest penetration came in the waning moments, when Matt O’Neill ran 41 yards to the Islanders’ 3-yard line, but the Islanders’ Enrique Ferreira pounced on a Shogun fumble on the next play.

“We were doing some different things on defense that worked out well for us,” Mendoza said.

The Islanders’ offense piled up a season-high 343 yards. Kenney ran 14 times for 122 yards, including a 56-yard fourth-quarter TD. Loving (13 carries, 82 yards) added a short first-quarter TD run, and Berrios capped the first half with a 5-yard TD pass to Arnold Tillman.

Berrios finished 3-for-8 for 53 yards and wingback Antoine Smith rushed seven times for 57 yards. Ted Awana recorded an interception and a sack for the Islanders.

O’Neill led the Shogun with 73 yards on 12 carries. Chris Robinson had an interception, Joe King recovered a fumble and Ronnie Stevens added a sack.

Kadena Buccaneers 55, Kubasaki Samurai 8

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Morgan ran for 115 yards on seven carries, including scoring runs of 1, 30 and 76 yards, but it was Schmidt who impressed out of the starting tailback slot, with 118 yards and TD runs of 14 and 4 yards on 11 carries.

“He played his butt off tonight,” coach Brian Wetherington said of Schmidt, who also intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and totaled 167 all-purpose yards.

“We wanted to feature him tonight at tailback. It’s not just a one-man show. It takes 11 guys. I had 11 studs out there, they played both sides of the ball in the first half and they did a good job.”

Schmidt, playing quarterback in the second half, threw a 22-yard touchdown to Gary Wright.

Thomas Armani fell on a fumble in the end zone and Justin Thomsen returned an interception 15 yards for a score.

The Buccaneers (3-1) forced six turnovers and recorded two sacks and held the Samurai to 43 yards on 47 plays. But the Samurai (0-5) scored their first points of the season, on a 1-yard fourth-quarter run by Sean Vaught.

Japan

Zama American 14, Nile C. Kinnick 6

CAMP ZAMA, Japan — A week after losing by 33 points to Japan Football League-leading Yokota, the Trojans (4-3 overall, 3-3 JFL) rebounded behind a 1-yard first-quarter touchdown by Russ Casimire and a 30-yarder in the fourth by Donovan Nance.

Zama won despite turning the ball over four times, including lost fumbles at Kinnick’s 2-yard line in the first period and the 7 in the third.

“We did everything we could to lose the ballgame and we still won,” coach Ron Geist said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We dominated, but we were our own worst enemy.”

Casimire, coming off a concussion suffered against Yokota, ran 20 times for 140 yards and Nance gained 120 on 14 carries. Luis Cuadrado added 64 yards on eight attempts. Anthony Garcia had two interceptions.

Kinnick (5-2, 4-2) needs Yokota (6-0, 5-0) to lose at least twice to have a shot to play in the Rising Sun Bowl, slated for Nov. 15 on Okinawa.

“It’s out of our hands, that’s for sure,” offensive coordinator Jimmy Davis said.

Kinnick’s Brenden Lynce (nine carries, 91 yards) scored on a 1-yard run on the game’s first possession.

Lenny Lynce went 5-for-6 for 66 yards, ran five times for 46 yards and had two returns for 50 yards, plus 13 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Jarvis Williams had 12 tackles, and Kenny Long intercepted a pass for Kinnick.

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