Pacific
Yokota coach grumbles despite lopsided win over Yokosuka
Stars and Stripes
June 24, 2012
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – To hear Selwyn Jones talk after Saturday’s game, one would have thought his Yokota Warriors lost to Yokosuka instead of dominating the Seahawks 36-6 as the scoreboard indicated.
“We got the V, but I’m not happy,” Yokota’s coach said after former Yokota High School heroes Anthony McNeill ran for two touchdowns and Stefan Welch booted a field goal and three extra points.
Jones felt his Warriors let down some after their crucial 20-19 win June 9 at Misawa Air Base, which put Yokota in the driver’s seat to capture the North Division title and a first-round playoff bye.
“On offense, defense, special teams, our execution was not up to my standards,” Jones said. “I was very upset. We had a big high after that Misawa game. We overlooked Yokosuka. They came to play.”
If it had been the “old Yokosuka” team that won the first five Torii Bowl title games after the league organized into its current form in 2000, “they would have beaten us big. And my guys know it.”
Despite not firing on all cylinders, the Warriors still got a 6-yard TD run from Khevin Peoples, a 45-yarder from K.B. Fortin and a 3-yarder from quarterback Darone Frierson.
The Seahawks “cleared the decks,” coach James Price said, of players he felt weren’t carrying the load, and showed up at Yokota High’s Bonk Field with just 14 in uniform. But it was the 14 he wanted to bring, Price said.
“We looked a lot better” than the Seahawks did in last month’s 53-0 loss at Yokosuka, Price said. “The guys played hard.”
Quarterback DeForest Pittman’s 35-yard pass to Antione Holder accounted for the Seahawks’ lone points in the third quarter.
Yokota now needs a home win over Misawa in a game originally scheduled for May but which has now been postponed twice. It’s now slated to be played July 7.
That will force the North Division playoffs to start a week late, on July 14 with the second round on July 21. The Torii Bowl, originally scheduled for July 28, has been pushed back to Aug. 4 to be played at the South Division champion’s site.