CAMP WALKER, South Korea – Running back Ty White and the Seoul American defense have the Falcons entering next week’s Far East Division I football semifinals on a winning note, but barely.

White ran 53 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, and the Falcons defense made it stand up, halting a drive at the 5-yard line where Daegu missed a field goal, preserving Seoul American’s 10-7 win over the Warriors on Friday at Camp Walker’s Kelly Field.

“They gave us a good fight,” coach Rydell Wilkins said of the defending Far East Division II champion Warriors (1-5).

After starting the season 1-2, the Falcons have won four straight, but this was far closer than the last three, which they won by an average margin of 27 points.

“To be in a close game like this is not a bad thing for our team,” said Wilkins, whose Falcons travel to Kubasaki for Saturday’s D-I semifinal at the site of Seoul American’s 41-17 loss to the Dragons on Sept. 17.

“Man-for-man, they have as much talent as anybody else out here,” Warriors coach Ken Walter said of the Falcons.

Harold Martin’s 22-yard first-quarter field goal and White’s touchdown run proved to be just enough for the Falcons. White finished with 122 yards on 13 carries and leads Korea with 733 yards on 108 attempts.

Daegu answered on Xavian Washburn’s 1-yard third-quarter touchdown run, capping a 60-yard drive.

“We had a bad first half, penalties and turnovers hurt us, but we came around in the second half,” Walter said.

Daegu’s Lee Wright tweaked an ankle and was held to 40 yards on 11 carries. Romar Banzon led the Warriors with 78 yards on 15 tries. Washburn led both teams with 16 tackles.

“Overall, a good defensive game,” Wilkins said.

Daegu next hosts Zama American at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 for the D-II title, the third straight year the two teams have met for the championship.

Migrated