CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – After two years of knocking on the Far East Division I football title-game door, coach Fred Bales says he hopes this is the year that Kubasaki kicks it in.

Jarrett Mitchell ran for three touchdowns, Winston Maxwell and DeQuan Alderman each added a scoring run and Kareem Key returned a fumble 12 yards for a TD as the Dragons beat Seoul American 34-10 on Saturday at Mike Petty Stadium.

With the win, the Dragons (6-2) earned the visitor’s berth in the D-I championship for the third straight year. They visit Kadena at 6 p.m. Saturday at Ryukyu Middle School’s Habu Field. Kubasaki lost the season series to Kadena 2-1, but beat every other D-I opponent this year.

“Maybe the third time will be the charm,” said Bales, whose Dragons are 1-2 in D-I title games. “We’re going in expecting to win and we’ll be ready to play. Two tremendous teams, two tremendous programs. It’s going to be a tremendous game.”

The Dragons did come out of the game with a handful of injuries; Bales did not identify which players would be ready for Kadena and which would not. “That will be a factor, but we’ll be ready. That’s part of the game.”

Maxwell finished with 87 yards on 11 carries and Alderman, replacing injured quarterback Joe Cervantes, was 2-for-4 for 46 yards and ran eight times for 85 yards. Tristan McElroy and Tyshon Butler each had eight tackles and Mitchell picked off a Falcons pass.

Mitchell kept adding to his Okinawa single-season rushing record numbers, carrying 13 times for 207 yards. He finished the regular season with 1,692 yards and 19 TDs on 141 carries, 12 yards per carry. His touchdown runs were for 54, 60 and 67 yards.

The Falcons managed Tristan Williams’ 27-yard first-quarter field goal and a 56-yard touchdown scramble by Max Weekley. Seoul American won its season opener, but finished the campaign with six straight losses.

Still, coach Jim Davis called this the “best game of the season” for his Falcons. “We got beat by a better team with one of the best athletes in the Pacific. We can build on this.”

“Seoul American played us confident. They’re a worthy opponent,” Bales said.

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