YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — After a close call last week, the Yokota Panthers rebounded in a big way.

Chris Roach scored three times and Shamarr Howell crossed the goal line twice as the Panthers rediscovered their dominant form in a 55-0 rout of American School In Japan on Thursday at Yokota’s Bonk Field.

In perfect weather, the Panthers looked nothing like the team that barely slogged past Kinnick 7-6 in the rain six days earlier.

“We played pretty sharp, ran and threw the ball well,” Yokota coach Tim Pujol said. “We were able to mix up the run and the pass and ran a lot more plays than we did last week.”

After fumbling the ball away three times against the Red Devils, Pujol said the emphasis in practice this week was to eliminate turnovers and penalties. Other than a handful of illegal procedure penalties, “we did that,” Pujol said.

Roach ran 13 times for 134 yards and two scores, Howell added a 1-yard TD run, Josh Cunningham added 118 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and Derek Parker ran 21 yards for a score. Quarterback Shawn Novak was 3-for-3 for 41 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to D.J. McCary.

Cortez Stroud, Jamal McNeill, Derek Parker and McCary each had an interception. Howell returned a punt 60 yards for a TD, and Roach ran one back for a 37-yard score.

The game was played on Thursday night because ASIJ has a four-day weekend this week.

Yokota hits the road for its next two games, starting Friday at Edgren (2-1), then Oct. 15 at Zama American (1-3). ASIJ, 0-4 for the first time since 1988, has next week off before hosting Edgren on Oct. 16.

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