Zama rallies past Yokota to stay unbeaten

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — While Gabriel Simpkins and Thomas Diaz gained their usual yards on offense, it was two key defensive plays that sealed Zama’s rights to host the Far East Division II title game later this month.

Andrew Romero returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown and Milo Ivulich took an interception 29 yards for a score in a 25-13 win over Yokota on Friday.

“Just bring it back to the house, follow my blockers to the end zone,” Romero said of his fumble return on the last play of the first half that gave the Trojans a 12-0 lead at intermission.

Ivulich’s pick six with 14.7 seconds left in the contest capped the scoring. He said he remembered Simpkins giving him some tips on eluding tacklers that gave him the edge on the interception.

“I saw a man in front of me and I thought of what Gabe taught me, to be like him in a shifty kind of way,” Ivulich said. “I just got one lucky break.”

With the win, the Trojans stayed unbeaten and earned the right to host the D-II championship on Oct. 23. Their opponent: The same Panthers they played Friday, and whom they beat 43-7 the first time they met on Sept. 4 at Zama.

‘You could see the way they (Panthers) were executing, this was going to be a tough game,” Zama’s defensive captain Garrett Allen said. “They played really hard.”

Big defensive plays were plentiful on both sides. Romero had two of Zama’s four fumble recoveries, while Jaydn Hooker of Yokota had two interceptions – giving him six in the last three games. The Panthers also recorded six sacks, three by Gabriel Michaud alone.

Yokota's Kaito Wilson tries to outrun Zama's Hugo Sherratt. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Yokota's Quincy Brown gets wrapped up by two Zama defenders. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Zama's Thomas Diaz tries to outrun Yokota's Lucious Como and Abraham Ponce. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Yokota's Gabriel Powell comes up short on a field goal attempt. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

The Trojans scored first on Diaz’s 60-yard TD pass to Simpkins, followed by Romero’s fumble return.

But the script turned markedly from the first time the teams faced each other. Yokota got on the board on quarterback Liam Douglas’ 1-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the third quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage, Hooker got his second interception, which set up Yokota’s second touchdown, a 3-yard scoring run by Mitchell Powell. That gave the Panthers their lone lead, 13-12, with 1:40 left in the third period.

Zama scored its last two touchdowns in the final two minutes. Hugo Sherratt’s fumble recovery set up Simpkins’ 12-yard touchdown, which put the Trojans up 19-13 with 42.4 seconds left. Ivulich’s pick six followed with 14.7 seconds left.

Simpkins had 145 yards total offense, while Ivulich recorded 116 all-purpose yards for Zama. Keito Kawamura-Johnson had 143 all-purpose yards plus an interception.

“We showed we could beat them (Trojans),” Panthers coach Michael Woodworth said. “We just made too many mistakes.”

Zama closes out its regular season at home Friday against Matthew C. Perry. The Panthers are done until the D-II championship.