Kadena quarterback Cody Sego runs around right end against Nile C. Kinnick defenders Josh Brotherton and Dwayne Lyon. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena quarterback Cody Sego runs around right end against Nile C. Kinnick defenders Josh Brotherton and Dwayne Lyon. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena running back Abe Patterson tries to slither through the tackle of Nile C. Kinnick's Harry Cheng as teammates John Murphy and Cody Sego watch. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena running back Uriah Morris drags one Nile C. Kinnick defender and leaves a heap of others in his wake. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick quarterback Kacey Walker gets run down by Kadena defender John Roush as Red Devils teammate Devoney Stanley tries to escort and Panthers defender Donte Savoy moves in. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena running back Jericho Williams dashes around right end ahead of Nile C. Kinnick defenders Andrew Urette, Devoney Stanley and Josh Brotherton. (Jessica Bidwell/Stars and Stripes)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – Needing to rebound after their first loss of the season, the Kadena Panthers got a two-pronged boost from Uriah Morris and Jacob Parker – and punched a ticket to a fourth straight Far East Division I title-game appearance.
Morris, a sophomore, ran for two scores, and Parker, a senior, picked off two second-half passes, helping the Panthers hold off Nile C. Kinnick 22-12 on a steamy Saturday. Two-time defending champion Kadena travels to American School In Japan to play for the title Nov. 12.
“We didn’t want it to end today,” coach Sergio Mendoza said of coming back from a 34-20 loss on Oct. 15 at ASIJ.
“We’ve lost before during the season and we’ve come back from losses, to learn, to be better individuals and teammates. Losing reveals character more than winning does. It revealed a lot, knowing what we had to do and what we had to accomplish,” Mendoza said.
Morris, who scored on runs of 15 and 30 yards, said the Panthers talked in the aftermath of the ASIJ defeat and worked to improve in the run-up to the Kinnick game.
“We had to tighten up on defense, make sure we contain the outside runs; that’s what really hurt us last week,” said Morris, who totaled 140 yards on 15 carries. “Our blocking schemes were better, our runners ran as hard as they could. We just came and did everything we could.”
Parker intercepted passes on the Red Devils’ first second-half possession and again late in the fourth quarter.
“He came up big,” Mendoza said. “He knows that this is his senior year and that we didn’t want it to end.”
As a team, the Panthers ran the ball 65 times for 440 yards, getting 116 yards on 11 carries by Jericho Williams. Marquis Thompson also scored for Kadena, a 3-yard second-quarter TD run. Kadena ran 72 plays to 34 for the Red Devils.
“I’m proud of them. They played tough today,” Mendoza said.
After winning its previous four games and outscoring those opponents 175-40, the Red Devils were held to 182 yards – 86 coming on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Chauncey Jamerson with 1 minute, 55 seconds left. Kinnick needed a victory over Kadena to host ASIJ for the D-I title.
“We just got beat by a better football team across the board,” Kinnick coach Dan Joley said. “Their defense was solid. Our offense got a little frustrated trying to move the ball. Defensively, they were a little bit more physical than we thought they would be. They’re a big, tough football team.”
The weather – 86 degrees, 100-percent humidity - was not a factor, Joley said. “No excuses for what happened today,” he said. “We got beat by a better football team.”
Next for Kadena is the final regular-season game at 5 p.m. Thursday at Kubasaki, the last tune-up before the championship and a chance to avenge the Oct. 15 defeat.
“They’re a really good team,” Mendoza said of the Mustangs, who punched their title-game ticket with a 28-10 win Friday at Kubasaki. “They’re really disciplined. But we’re going to do our best.”
Kinnick, which still has a chance to win the DODEA-Japan and Kanto Plain titles, closes its season Friday with its 70th anniversary homecoming game against Zama American. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Twitter: @ornauer_stripes
