(Stars and Stripes)

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – If the best offense is a good defense, Kadena’s secondary served as a poster-child example Saturday.

Hajime Reed and Neil Kentish each returned interceptions for touchdowns and the Panthers scored 22 unanswered second-half points to pull away from Humphreys 39-20 in the second of two DODEA-Pacific Division I football semifinals.

“Humphreys was tough. They didn’t make it easy. But our kids stepped up,” said assistant coach Frank Macias of the defending champion Panthers (4-2).

They will face unbeaten Kubasaki next Friday at 6 p.m. at Mike Petty Stadium, shooting to extend their Pacific record of seven D-I titles.

Reed returned his interception 33 yards for a touchdown, had 88 yards on eight carries and a two-point conversion. Kentish’s pick-six went for 12 yards.

DeShaun Nixon was 11-for-13 for 183 yards, including touchdown passes of 70 yards to Dylan O’Neill and 12 to Javier Williams on a circus catch. O’Neill also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD. And Kadena’s Julius Gantz blocked a punt into Humphreys’ end zone for a safety.

But unlike the Panthers’ 30-0 shutout of the Blackhawks on Sept. 7 at the same field, Humphreys (2-4) refused to go quietly.

“The boys weathered some adversity in the first half,” Panthers assistant coach Steven Ferch said. “But they came back in the second half and did very well. Humphreys played well. They moved the ball. They ran the ball well.”

The Blackhawks ran it to the tune of 194 yards on 15 carries by Joshua Canion, the team’s leading ground gainer this season. Davion Hampton returned a fumble 99 yards for Humphreys’ other touchdown.

“We just told the boys, football 101. We have to leave everything on the field,” Blackhawks coach Reggie Meno said of the difference between the games the two teams played.

The D-I final was originally scheduled for Saturday but was moved to Friday because of a scheduled power outage on Camp Foster.

“Now we have a huge task coming up,” Macias said. “We’re going to have to work hard to keep up with Kubasaki. They’re a strong team.”