Humphreys' Joshua Canion led all ballcarriers with 153 yards on 16 carries. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – Josiah Good watched film much of Friday, paying particular attention to Joshua Canion, the hard-running senior running back for Humphreys.
All that film study paid dividends when the Kubasaki senior linebacker made a game-saving tackle on Canion, halting what would have become an 85-yard touchdown run had Canion remained free.
The play helped the Dragons open defense of their 2024 Far East Division I championship with a 13-7 victory over the Blackhawks on Saturday.
“I was on the other side (of the field), saw him pop into the open and I knew I had to get him,” Good said of chasing down Canion on a play that began at Humphreys’ 15-yard line with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game.
Canion burst around right end and eluded several tacklers, but Good had enough in the tank to keep him out of the end zone. “I just wrapped him around his ankles,” Good said.
“He’s a tank and he’s a motor,” Kubasaki coach Tony Alvarado said of Canion, who led all players with 153 yards on 16 carries. “Humphreys always brings their A game. They came to play tonight.”
The tackle preserved the six-point win for the Dragons. Humphreys led 7-6 at halftime, but Kubasaki went ahead to stay on senior Ryan Hater’s 5-yard off-tackle touchdown run with 6:57 left in the third period. He also booted the extra point.
“I saw one on the left, I saw one on the right, they kind of tried to arm-tackle me,” Hater said. “I just went vertical, like coach tells us to, and it worked.”
Kubasaki's Maurice Brown is sent airborne by Blackhawks tackler Marek Allen, who finished with six tackles. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys' Dallas Hunter is wrestled down by Kubasaki's Mateo Solano. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Maurice Brown struggles to hold onto the ball as two Humphreys defenders wrap him up. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys' Daniel McMillan wrestles with Kubasaki running back Ethan Ferch. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki running back Ryan Hater gets free of Humphreys' Marek Allen, aided by teammate Ethan Ferch. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys quarterback Bradley Miller dashes around left end. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys got on the board first, when Canion took a handle off-tackle to the right, then cut against the grain to the left and rambled 31 yards for a score with 10:12 left in the first half. The touchdown was set up on a fumble recovery by Dallas Hunter at the Humphreys’ 48.
The Dragons answered just before half when junior Maurice Brown bulled through the line on a quarterback sneak from the Blackhawks’ 5-yard line with 35 seconds left in the second quarter. The extra-point try failed.
It was a defensive struggle; the teams combined for just 346 yards. Each team recovered a fumble, Jayden Rivera snagging one for Kubasaki, and the Dragons’ defense recorded three sacks.
Hater led the Dragons with 44 yards on nine carries, Brown ran 17 times for 38 yards and was 5-for-10 passing for 47 yards. Hater had four catches for 22 yards.
Coupled with Kadena’s 15-9 win Friday over Nile C. Kinnick, the four D-I teams combined for 44 points in two games.
Especially on defense, “you can see all four teams have worked very hard over the summer,” Alvarado said. “Nothing is free. To see both games come down to one score and the last two minutes is amazing. Great football from all four teams.”
Alvarado did say the Dragons have much to work on, as did Blackhawks coach Reggie Meno.
“We have to be consistent,” he said. “We need to execute our gameplan, minimize penalties and finish when we get the chance.”
Kubasaki faces Kadena on Friday. Humphreys hosts Kinnick on Saturday.
