MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- It was a cold and windy day, but that didn't keep Iwakuni's Flag Football All-Star teams from displaying their excellent football skills against the Sasebo All-Stars. Iwakuni teams won two of the three games and left with bragging rights until next year's games.
The first game pitted the Redskins, who finished the year with a 7-0 record, against the Sasebo 7-9 year old All-Stars. The tone was set on the first play of the game when Logan Houck threw a pass to Javontae Antal, who raced down the field for a 55-yard score. Houck then ran a quarterback reverse for the extra point.
On their second offensive possession, Jeremy Herron ran a slot reverse for a 55-yard touchdown score. Houck threw a pass to Freddie Jones in the flat who dove in for the two-point conversion to make the score 14-0.
The third score came when Antal intercepted a Sasebo pass and ran it in for a score. The Redskins scored two more touchdowns but they were called back on penalties, ending the game at 21-0.
The tempo was now set for the second and perhaps most exciting game of the day - the game between the 10-12-year-old All-Star teams.
Sasebo struck on their first possession with a long pass for a touchdown but missed the extra point. The Iwakuni All-Stars, the Blue Devils were outsized and disappointed, but fought back.
On the next Sasebo possession, Terricus Alexander intercepted a pass and scampered 35 yards for a score to tie it at 6-6. But Sasebo struck right back with another long bomb and took the lead with a score of 12-6, and then scored the ensuing two-point conversion to make it 14-6.
After this score, Sasebo was held in check by a great Iwakuni defense, led by Drew Bellows, who had five tackles for losses. The Blue Devils struck back right after the half, drove down the field and culminated the drive with a pass from Nathan Houck to Kenneth Rowland to notch it at 12.
The Blue Devils went for the two-point conversion and got it with a pass from Houck to Rowland. But it wasn't over by a long shot.
With less than four minutes to go, the Sasebo All-Stars scored once again but failed on the two-point conversion to give them a 20-14 lead.
But just when it appeared things weren't going well, Houck hit Rowland with a short pass, and he sprinted 45-yards down to the four-yard line. On fourth and goal with less than 30 seconds in the game, a pass intended for Rowland was deflected right at the goal line leaving Sasebo the winners and a rubber match yet to be played.
The final game was between the 7-9 year old All-Star team from Sasebo and the other Iwakuni All-Star team, the Cowboys. Iwakuni stopped Sasebo inside their 20-yard line on the first two possessions and capitalized by scoring on both possessions to take a quick 12-0 lead. Cario Akins scored both touchdowns with runs off of a quick pitch right and then an option keeper on the second series. Iwakuni kept the Sasebo All-Stars frustrated all day with aggressive defense.
In the second half, Brandon Meeks took a beautiful pass from Akins down the field to ensure the win for the Iwakuni All-Stars with an 18-0 score. The final win ensured that Iwakuni had bragging rights until next year.