Red Devils return from tough road loss suffered at the hands of Kubasaki

YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

10.20.2013

Courtesy Story

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Nile C. Kinnick High School varsity football team Red Devils returned to Yokosuka Base Oct. 20, a day after suffering their second consecutive loss to Okinawas’ Kubasaki High School Dragons, 38-7 at Mike Petty Stadium.

The Dragons recovered two fumbles - one returned 25 yards for a touchdown by Kareem Key - and two interceptions, including DeQuan Alderman's 35-yard TD return, and Jarrett Mitchell rushed for 248 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns to push the Dragons record to (5-1 overall, 3-1 D-I)

"Dropped balls, a couple of fumbles, two interceptions at critical times, which cost us," Kinnick coach Dan Joley said, calling them the "difference in the game."

Kinnick faced an uphill battle from the start due to not being able to practice on a normal basis throughout the course of the week, due to last Monday being a holiday, Tuesday a partial practice and Wednesday was an off day, due to a typhoon. That left the Red Devils with only Thursday to conduct a regular practice, proceeding to leave the school grounds first thing Friday morning to board a flight down to Okinawa.

Kubasaki themselves last played in a 31-7 victory over Robert E. Edgren, Sept. 28, so being rusty was a concern for head coach Fred Bales.

Scheduling or not, Kubasaki deserves credit for containing the dynamic duo of quarterback Dustin Wilson and running back Dre Paylor to a combined 210 yards on 39 carries. Paylor still leads the Pacific with 1,687 yards on 206 carries. Wilson's 7-yard touchdown run in the second half accounted for Kinnick’s only score of the game.

Kubasaki scored on its first two possessions, with Mitchell exploding on a 96-yard TD run that highlighted the second. He finished the game with 248 yards rushing on only 15 carries. The reigning Pacific rushing champion broke his own Okinawa record of 1,392 yards; he has 1,400 on 109 carries and 16 TDs this season.

Joley maintains a back to work mentality for the remainder of the season, and remains focused on D-I championship play heading into their next contest against Yokota Panthers at Yokota High School’s Bonk Field, Oct. 25.

“I am really optimistic about the rest of the season,” said Joley. "We're just licking our wounds a bit. We have a couple of players hurt, but we'll get them healthy and go from there.”

• Date Taken: 10.20.2013
• Date Posted: 11.01.2013 03:17
• Story ID: 116108
• Location: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP