Kubasaki's Lukas Gaines looks for running room between ASIJ defenders Oskar Vermiere and Alex Moores. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Dave Ornauer
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – Lukas Gaines lost a fumble on the game’s second play. From then on, he was a man on a mission.
The Kubasaki senior recovered a fumble of his own, rushed for a touchdown, returned an interception for another, accounted for 193 all-purpose yards and the Dragons scored 25 unanswered points to rally past American School In Japan 38-14 Saturday.
“He had an incredible game,” coach Tony Alvarado said of Gaines, who never leaves the field, playing fullback, linebacker and an up-man on special teams.
With the victory, the Dragons kept hold of the top spot in the Division I standings at 3-0, while the Mustangs fell to last place at 0-3.
It was Gaines’ pick-six, coming with 1 minute, 43 seconds left in the third quarter, that proved to be the game-sealing play. It came with the Mustangs struggling to get out of their end of the field and trying to rally from an 11-point gap.
“I looked to my right and Tre (Johnson) was telling me someone was coming my way,” Gaines said. “So I saw the pass and caught it. Once I had it, I looked for green and I found it.”
Gaines finished with 101 yards on 12 carries and 92 yards on three returns, including the 48-yard interception-return touchdown.
Led by quarterback Carlos Cadet’s 213 yards and four touchdowns on offense, the Dragons outgained the Mustangs 402 to 181 on offense.
Kubasaki's Josiah Good and Tai McMillan bottle up ASIJ running back Micah Eickbush. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Jayden Rivera looks to elude ASIJ defender Ammon Summers. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Haustyn Lunsford had 82 rushing yards on eight carries for Kubasaki. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Isreal Rodriguez accounted for 140 yards total offense and both ASIJ touchdowns. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Lukas Gaines was a man on a missioin for Kubasaki: He rushed for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki quarterback Carlos Cadet shrugs off the tackle of ASIJ's Michael Piscopo. Cadet accounted for 213 yards and four touchdowns on offense for the Dragons. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
The lead see-sawed throughout the first half. ASIJ scored first on Isreal Rodriguez’s 53-yard touchdown pass to Shou Murakami-Moses to make it 7-0.
Cadet replied with a 10-yard TD run, then Gaines scored from the ASIJ 8-yard line to put the Dragons up 13-7. Rodriguez’s 1-yard touchdown run, set up on two passes to Murakami-Moses for 43 yards, put ASIJ up 14-13 late in the first quarter.
Both Rodriguez and first-year coach Ron Schnell said it was the best football ASIJ has played all season, until injuries caught up with the Mustangs.
“We gave Izzy (Rodriguez) time to throw the ball, gave him protection,” Schnell said. “We had good containment until the second half. We just ran out of people. Kubasaki’s a good team.”
“We just have to focus on bringing that the whole game,” Rodriguez said.
Alvarado said he was impressed with the Mustangs’ play early on.
“They came to play,” Alvarado said. “They had a great gameplan and they executed it to perfection” in the first quarter. Of Rodriguez, Alvarado said he was “patient, he made smart choices and the receivers ran good routes.”
But after the first quarter, it was all Dragons.
Cadet tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to 6-foot-3 receiver Alex James to put Kubasaki ahead to stay 19-14 4:35 before halftime, then Cadet added a 5-yard TD run with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
That preceded Gaines’ back-breaking interception return. The Dragons iced the cake with a 70-yard Cadet touchdown pass to Elijah Durnell with 4:20 left.
“The line is amazing,” Gaines said. “Our quarterback and receivers are great. The holes the line produced, it was outstanding.”
Cadet finished with 112 yards on 15 carries and went 5-for-11 for 101 yards. Haustyn Lunsford added 83 yards on eight attempts for a Dragons run game that amassed 301 yards on 38 carries. Maurice Brown also intercepted a pass and Kaiser Armour had one sack and blocked two ASIJ punts.
Rodriguez was 10-for-25 through the air for 132 yards and had eight rushing yards on six carries. Murakami-Moses caught four passes for 112 yards.
The Dragons next host Kadena, in what may be a battle for the top seed in next month’s Division I playoffs. The Mustangs visit Humphreys, with the last playoff berth likely on the line. Kickoff for both games is 6 p.m. Friday.
