Humphreys' Brian Taylor gets wrestled down by Kubasaki's Mateo Solano. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER Okinawa — Brian Taylor sparkled on both sides of the football, leading Humphreys to its first Far East Division I championship.

Taylor, a junior receiver/safety, caught the game’s only touchdown pass, a 31-yarder near the end of the first half, and recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass as the Blackhawks (4-3) blanked unbeaten and defending champion Kubasaki 9-0 Friday at Mike Petty Stadium.

The outcome was vastly different, coach Reggie Meno said, from the two regular-season games the teams played — both wins by the Dragons.

“We took care of the football this time,” Meno said. “And our defense hung in there, from the start of the game to the end.”

The outcome was a terrific finale to the pairing of Meno and senior quarterback Bradley Miller, who threw the lone TD pass. Miller was a student in Meno’s elementary classes at Seoul American in the mid-2010s and played for Meno’s youth activities teams at Yongsan Garrison.

“At last!” Miller said of winning the title. “This feels amazing. I couldn’t have done this without my teammates.”

With time winding down in the first half, Taylor was sent to the corner of the end zone, where he outleaped two Kubasaki defenders and came down with the ball.

“I believe he’s the best receiver in Division I,” Miller said of Taylor. “I threw it down there and I knew he was going to be there to catch the ball.”

Taylor said he wasn’t even aware there were two defenders on him. “I knew before the game that we had to execute,” Taylor said. “I saw the ball in the air and I knew I had to come down with it.”

Humphreys’ other points came on a 27-yard field goal by junior Reid Kinney with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

“I was confident in my self and my team to execute,” Kinney said. “I wasn’t worried. I knew we were going to come out with the win.”

Both Humphreys’ scoring plays were set up on Blackhawks’ takeaways, Taylor’s touchdown on his own interception 44 seconds before halftime and the field goal on Marek Allen’s fumble recovery.

Humphreys' Brian Taylor goes up over Kubasaki's Keyonte Lopez and Jayden Riverea for a 31-yard touchdown catch. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kubasaki's Jayden Rivera tries to keep his balance as he gets a block from teammate Maurice Brown. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Humphreys' Joshua Canion gets run down by Kubasaki defenders Josiah Good and Ryan Hater. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Humphreys' John Campos curves around right end trying to avoid Kubasaki's Jayden Villatero and Braeden Youngblood. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Humphreys' Reid Kinney tries to knife his way between Kubasaki defenders Isaiah Thompson and Ethan Ferch. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kubasaki's Ethan Ferch gets hemmed in by Humphreys' Joshua Canion. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kubasaki (5-1) made the key plays when they had to in the previous two meetings with Humphreys, but not this time, coach Tony Alvarado said.

“Too many mistakes,” Alvarado said. “Everywhere we turned, the simplest things, we couldn’t execute and you just can’t do that” in a championship game. “Great game by Humphreys. Great execution. They drove hard. My congratulations to them.”

This was Humphreys’ first D-I championship in two D-I finals appearances. The Blackhawks lost the 2019 D-I title game 14-12 at Kadena. Humphreys won the 2017 Division II title in the second of their two small-schools finals appearances.

Kubasaki had won 12 straight games entering the final and was going for its first consecutive D-I titles in school history.