Kubasaki's Haustyn Lunsford, avoiding a tackle by Kinnick's Donovan San Nicholas, rushed for two lengthy touchdown runs for the Dragons. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – A pair of senior running backs came up big for Kubasaki, which captured the top seed Friday in next week’s Far East Division I semifinals.

Lukas Gaines and Haustyn Lunsford each ran for two touchdowns, Lunsford intercepted a pass and the Dragons scored early and often in a 34-0 shutout of Nile C. Kinnick.

“Lukas is just a man on fire, a man on a mission right now,” Dragons coach Tony Alvarado said of Gaines, who ran for touchdowns of 5 and 38 yards, while Lunsford added scoring runs of 66 and 55 yards.

“Our offensive line executed, they made holes for (Gaines and Lunsford) and while (Kinnick’s defense was) keying on (quarterback) Carlos (Cadet), they had some big runs. Everybody contributed and did their part,” Alvarado said.

With the victory, the Dragons completed an unbeaten regular season and earned host rights to one of two D-I semifinals scheduled for next weekend on Okinawa.

Kubasaki’s opponent, as well as that for No. 2 seed and defending Far East D-I champion Kadena, will be announced Tuesday, DODEA-Pacific athletics coordinator Tom McKinney said. It will either be Kinnick or Humphreys, which lost 36-15 at American School In Japan earlier Friday.

“We got beat by a good football team,” said Red Devils coach Dan Joley. “They had a nice 1-2 punch. Coach Alvarado is doing a nice job with that squad.”

Lukas Gaines rushed for two touchdowns for Kubasaki. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick quarterback Arashi Blocton tries to avoid Kubasaki's Kaiser Armour (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

Kinninck's Jesse Brooks looks for running room against Kubasaki's Jackson Nicolas and Jason Glade. (Jim Mills/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Derek Ulrich tries to outrun Kubasaki's Elijah Durnell and Lukas Gaines. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Carlos Cadet runs around right end as Kinnick's Joseph Mauldin pursues. (Tiffany Mae Okamura/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Haustyn Lunsford takes off on one of his two lengthy touchdown runs for the Dragons. (Tiffany Mae Okamura/Special to Stripes)

Kubasaki's Lukas Gaines outruns Kinnick's Kavaughn Woodson to the end zone. (Tiffany Mae Okamura/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's defenders like Cayden McDonald kept a sharp eye on Kubasaki quarterback Carlos Cadet. (Tiffany Mae Okamura/Special to Stripes)

Gaines put the Dragons on the board with his 5-yard TD run, 3:39 into the contest. “When we got that first push in, the boys felt good,” Alvarado said.

Then in a span of 2:47 late in the first quarter and early in the second, Kubasaki put the game away with a three-touchdown burst, Lunsford’s 66-yard scoring run leading the assault.

Lunsford then got his interception on Kinnick’s next possession. Gaines added his second TD, Kubasaki covered the ensuing kickoff, then Cadet scored from a yard out to make it 27-0 14 seconds into the second quarter. Lunsford capped the scoring with his 55-yard TD run 6:09 before halftime.

Isaiah Thompson and Kaiser Armour combined for one sack and Jackson Nicolas had another for the Dragons. Tre Johnson also had an interception and Skylar Waltz recovered a fumble for Kubasaki.

Despite the one-sided nature of the score, Alvarado was complimentary of the Red Devils. “You just never know what could happen,” he said. “Kinnick is a great team that brings it every single time.”

For the Red Devils, sophomores Jacob Bojorquiz (nine tackles) and Emanuel Zarraga (six tackles, three for losses) sparkled on defense in the second half, Joley said. Senior Joseph Mauldin pitched in as backup punter.

“I’m excited to bring some of our young players to Okinawa next week,” Joley said.