Kinnick gets back on winning track by stunning Kubasaki

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Rico Myhand missed the last two seasons with injuries. On Friday, he played like a man making up for lost time.

The senior running back rushed for two touchdowns and caught a third one, while senior Atsushi Blocton scored on offense and special teams as Nile C. Kinnick began the season with a 54-7 romp over Kubasaki.

“It feels like I’m accomplished,” Myhand said after the contest. “I’ve been through so much adversity, but in the end, I just wanted to play football.”

Myhand finished with 97 yards total offense on 10 plays, rushing for a 26-yard touchdown on the opening drive, then adding a 3-yard scoring run and catching a 43-yard TD pass.

The Red Devils finished last season winless but led Friday’s contest throughout. The Dragons (1-1) won the 2024 Far East Division I championship and finished that season unbeaten and suffered their only loss last year in the D-I final.

Friday’s game was played with a running clock for most of the second half, after Blocton returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. He added a 34-yard rushing TD and totaled 169 all-purpose yards on six touches.

“Anything to help the team,” Blocton said.

Kinnick's Zeph Miyashiro tries to avoid Kubasaki's Tony Jordan. (Eryzah Joyce Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Rico Myhand stiff arms Kubasaki's Sho Okuhara. (Eryzah Joyce Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Emmanuel Zarraga wraps up Kubasaki's Keyonte Lopez. (Eryzah Joyce Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Terrion Fleming tries to run through the tackle of Kubasaki's Calvin Clena. (Eryzah Joyce Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Calvin Clena gets wrapped up by Kinnick's Tristan Roethle and Jacob Bojorquiz. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kubasaki's Maurice Brown looks for space between Kinnick's Tristan Roethle and Trey Ewing. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kinnick's Brady Mauldin avoids Kubasaki's Jayden Villatoro en route to a 19-yard touchdown run. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kinnick’s offense was balanced. The Red Devils rushed 24 times for 174 yards and sophomore quarterback Brady Mauldin was 8-for-14 for 133 yards. Kinnick had four takeaways to one for Kubasaki.

“Brady’s done a good job of spreading the ball around and the defense played phenomenally, lights out,” Kinnick coach Dan Joley said. “The guys are just hungry.”

“They really like each other, they know what they’re supposed to do and they figure it out together,” Red Devils assistant coach Gary Wilson said.

Defensively, the Red Devils held the Dragons to 107 yards on 40 plays. Blocton also intercepted a pass, while Caiden McDonald rushed 3 yards for a touchdown and returned a fumble 20 yards for a score against Kubasaki, which had but two days to prepare due to Typhoon Saudel.

“We made too many mistakes, we missed two many tackles,” Dragons coach Tony Alvarado said. “Kinnick had a great gameplan and they executed very well.”

Keyonte Lopez broke the shutout for Kubasaki with 4:59 left in the first half on a 5-yard touchdown run. It capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive covering 4:40. Mateo Solano led the Dragons with 54 yards on 10 carries and had a 21-yard return.

Kinnick next travels to American School In Japan on Sept. 11. Kubasaki has the next couple of weeks off and will next host Humphreys on Sept. 19.

Kubasaki's Mateo Solano gets wrapped up by three Kinnick defenders. (Mackenzie Talbot/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Mateo Solano skies for the ball. (Ciara Marie Galvez/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Marcus Waltz falls on the football. (Ciara Marie Galvez/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Terrion Fleming gets wrapped up by Kubasaki's Mateo Solano. (James Brogen/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Maurice Brown darts around right end. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Keyonte Lopez stiff arms Kinnick defender Sammy Labato. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Keyonte Lopez tries to fend off Kinnick's Ryder Saito. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)