(Stars and Stripes)

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan – A special-teams mistake put Zama in an early hole. But the rest of the game was all Trojans as they righted the ship Friday following their Division II championship game loss last October.

Gabriel Childs returned an interception 60 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and Zama scored on all sides of the ball to rally from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Robert D. Edgren 17-2 at Eagles Field.

“All three phases of the game showed up on the scoreboard,” said coach Scott Bolin, whose Trojans have won 15 of their last 16 games dating back to the start of the 2022 season.

“This was a team effort, which we like and what we’re into, but this one was anchored on the defense,” Bolin said of a unit coached by former Eagles coach Chris Waite.

Zama’s defense kept the Eagles off the scoreboard and also forced four turnovers, including Childs’ pick-six.

“They blitzed us really hard and they did a great job of filling the gaps and just disrupted our offense,” said new Eagles coach Brian Johnson. “That’s what slowed us down on offense. Our defense did a great on their offense, except for one play.”

Zama briefly fell behind when a bad snap on a punting down sailed out of the end zone.

But the Trojans promptly seized the lead for good when Adrian Santiago-Cruz, Zama’s new starting quarterback, found Isaiah Segarra for a 55-yard touchdown pass. The 14-2 lead stood through halftime. Then Toro McClendon capped the scoring with a 22-yard fourth-quarter field goal.

The victory came despite a couple of injuries. “The team responded very well,” Bolin said. “Far beyond what we asked of them. We knew there would be adversity. The idea was to work through those things, get them squared away.”

Now, the Trojans get a couple of weeks off before an inter-division matchup Sept. 13 at Nile C. Kinnick. The Eagles travel to Matthew C. Perry for a game next Friday.

The two weeks off are critical for the Trojans, Bolin said. “They’re crucial to fixing the things we need to fix. We start the rest of our schedule (Sept. 13) and we have to battle week to week. Nothing is a foregone conclusion.”