Kubasaki's Lukas Gaines takes off on his 72-yard touchdown run. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – The football game usually comes before the homecoming dance. But after Monday’s rare finish of a game postponed by lightning, the Kubasaki Dragons felt like dancing again.
The Dragons turned into two identical halves of football – at least on the scoreboard – over two days in a 26-0 victory that capped a regular season sweep of Kadena for the first time in a decade.
Kubasaki led 13-0 at half when the game was halted Friday, then doubled that total Monday, led by quarterback Carlos Cadet and fullback Lukas Gaines.
“I’ve never been involved in a game like that,” Dragons coach Tony Alvarado said. “I didn’t know what to expect, how my guys would come out. And they did well.”
The Dragons took command of the DODEA-Pacific Division I race at 4-0, with one game left Oct. 11 at Nile C. Kinnick. The defending D-I champion Panthers fell to 3-2, with both losses coming to Kubasaki.
It was the first time the Panthers were shut out since losing 6-0 to Kubasaki on Oct. 1, 2021.
“It was nice to get that second win,” Alvarado said. “But it’s not over yet. We still have work to do.”
Kadena's Hajime Reed looks for running room against the Kubasaki defense. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Tre Johnson dives for a couple of extra yards against Kadena. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Lukas Gaines gets dragged down by Kadena's Carson Kenderdine. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Haustyn Lunsford tries to outrun Kadena defender Neil Kentish. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
The Panthers have won their three games by a combined 117-7, but just have not been able to solve the Kubasaki puzzle this season, losing 14-13 on Aug. 23 in addition to Monday’s defeat.
“We got beat by a better team,” Kadena coach Sergio Mendoza said. “We’re going to have to fix some stuff within ourselves going forward.”
Cadet accounted for all of Kubasaki’s points in the first half on Friday, running 35 yards for one touchdown and passing 55 yards to Haustyn Lunsford for another.
The Dragons picked up right where they left off Monday. Cadet capped Kubasaki’s first possession with an 11-yard keeper for a touchdown 3:10 into the third quarter.
Kadena then drove methodically from its 15-yard line to Kubasaki’s 8 on 12 plays in 7:26. But on first-and-goal, the Panthers fumbled and Jackson Nicolas recovered for the Dragons.
Kubasaki then put it out of reach when Gaines took a handoff on a counter play 72 yards untouched up the left sideline for a TD.
“That was a nice run by Lukas,” Alvarado said.
Once more, Kadena tried to get on the scoreboard with a lengthy drive mostly on rushing plays. But Nicolas sacked Panthers quarterback DeShaun Nixon on fourth-and-5 at Kubasaki’s 33 with 31 seconds left and the Dragons ran out the clock from there.
“To see him (Nicolas) step up, to see him grow is amazing,” Alvarado said. “He’s a great young man.”
Cadet went 3-for-3 for 81 yards and rushed 13 times for 52 yards. Gaines had 110 yards on 10 carries, a fumble recovery and seven tackles, one for a loss. Tre Johnson had nine tackles, two for losses.
Kubasaki has the week off, then finishes the D-I regular season at Kinnick. If the Dragons win, Kubasaki, Kadena and Kinnick would finish 1-2-3 in the regular-season standings, but if Kinnick wins, it would be Dragons, Red Devils and Panthers 1-2-3.
