Edgren quarterback Haruki Jones scores the game’s lone touchdown. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan – Normally on fourth down and goal to go at opponent’s the 1-yard line in the closing seconds of a game, a team would do its utmost to put the ball into the end zone.

Instead, Robert D. Edgren quarterback Haruki Jones took the snap, backed up 4 yards and knelt down, ending the contest.

He had good reason.

His Eagles led Yokota 7-0, with his 4-yard touchdown run and Cole Donnelly’s extra-point kick providing the game’s only points as Edgren blanked the Panthers and took sole possession of first place in the DODEA-Pacific Division II football standings.

“It tightens things up,” said coach Michael Woodworth, whose Panthers fell to 2-2 in Division II, a half-game behind second-place Zama (2-1) and a game behind division-leading Edgren (3-1). The Trojans lost at home in overtime to Matthew C. Perry 21-15.

Each team’s rushing attack chewed up yardage between the 20-yard lines, but only once could either team find the end zone.

It was a case of the Eagles’ defense doing the job keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard, while the offense took time off the clock, Edgren coach Brian Johnson said.

“Third-down conversions,” he said of the key to victory for Edgren. “We kept the ball and kept moving the chains in the fourth quarter and just marched it down the field.”

Jones rushed 12 times for 45 yards, Donnelly added 30 yards on three attempts, Micah Magat ran for 30 yards on four carries and P.J. Lorenzo led the Eagles’ run game with 90 yards on 15 carries.

Josh Low and Yokota were able to gain plenty of yards, but could not find the key to the end zone. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)

Liam McDonald had one of two Edgren interceptions, this on a pass intended for Yokota’s Kicoh Guenther. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)

Yokota's Kicoh Guenther looks for running room against the Edgren defense. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)

Helping the Eagles’ cause was a pair of interceptions, one by Liam McDonald and another by Terrance Dove.

Yokota moved the ball efficiently as well, with Josh Low carrying nine times for 105 yards and Jay Douglas adding 112 yards on 14 attempts.

But the Panthers simply couldn’t find the goal line, while the Eagles’ offense burned oodles of time off the scoreboard, Woodworth said.

“They ate up the clock (and) we couldn’t punch it into the end zone,” he said. “We’re going to work on that. Edgren has a really good football team.”

Next up for Yokota is a visit to Matthew C. Perry at 6 p.m. Friday, with each team trying to get a leg up in seeding for the D-II semifinals scheduled for Oct. 18-19. Edgren gets a week off, then travels to Zama for an Oct. 11 showdown that could determine the division’s top seed.

“That might decide everything,” Johnson said.