OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Maybe Kubasaki should play more games against DODDS Korea teams.

Deon Lewis returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and ran for two more scores as the Dragons won the first meeting between Kubasaki’s and Osan American’s football teams 47-0 on Saturday at Osan’s Cougars Field.

“Great game for us,” said coach Fred Bales, who’s now 3-0 against DODDS Korea schools, including Kubasaki’s 38-8 win over Seoul American in the 2005 Far East Division I football championship game.

Lewis had Kubasaki’s best running game in five years, carrying 13 times for 142 yards. Christian Rivera was 7-for-8 for 107 yards and ran for two touchdowns, and Ladarius Ball and Marlin Williams each added touchdown runs. Kubasaki amassed 309 offensive yards, its most since the 2005 season.

While Lewis’ kick-return touchdown was a “good start for us,” it was a big defensive stand late in the first quarter that turned the tide of the contest, Bales said.

Kubasaki had just been stopped by Osan on a goal-line march, then the Cougars turned around and drove to the Kubasaki 2-yard line. There, Rolando Hernandez picked off a Cougars pass and returned it to the 50, from where the Dragons drove for a touchdown that made it 13-0.

“That was the momentum changer for us,” Bales said. “We just took control from there.”

Despite the one-sided nature of the final score, Bales praised his opponents for giving the Dragons a good game, the Cougars’ first under new coach Aaron Mundy.

“The Cougars played really hard; they played with a lot of heart,” Bales said. “They’ll get a lot better under their new coach.”

To do that, Mundy said, the Cougars need to get better “across the board.”

“They (Kubasaki) were top-to-bottom better than us,” he said. “We’re going to learn from this and get better; otherwise, it’s just a loss.”

Migrated