Perry's Kelton Clark readies to catch the ball in front of Edgren's Jason Hopkinson. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan – Jeremiah Wardrobe came dressed for success. As a result, Matthew C. Perry completed an unbeaten regular season and now prepares to host the Far East Division II football final again.
Wardrobe, a senior, rushed for two lengthy touchdown runs and caught a TD pass and Kameron Ramos ran for another score and the Samurai blanked Robert D. Edgren 30-0 Friday at Eagles Field.
“The boys played well and had good chemistry,” Samurai coach A.J. Edwards said. “The young players who don’t play that often also rose the occasion and made plays when they had to.”
It was the second straight Friday that Perry beat the Eagles. On Oct. 10, the Samurai got a stellar performance from Ramos in a 47-26 victory over Edgren.
This time, Perry’s defense buckled down against an outmanned Edgren squad missing 10 players due to injury, coach Hoa Nguyen said.
“We didn’t have the depth,” Nguyen said. “The boys gave it their all, but we didn’t have the numbers. (Perry) played well on the other end. Very disciplined. Very good team. They dictated the flow of the offense and the tempo of the defense.”
Despite the one-sided nature of the score, Edwards tipped his hat to what he called a strong effort by the Eagles.
“Those boys played hard and with heart,” Edwards said. “I appreciate all they do and look forward to more chances to play them in the future.”
Wardrobe ran for two touchdowns of 55 yards each on his only two carries, caught a 26-yard TD pass and totaled 156 all-purpose yards. Ramos added a 74-yard scoring run and finished with 166 yards on six carries. Ramos also passed for 49 yards.
Now, the Samurai await the outcome of Saturday’s Osan at Yokota game. If the Panthers win, they go to the D-II championship game next Friday, which would be a rematch of last October’s Yokota 22-10 win over the Samurai. If Osan wins, the Samurai would host Zama.