This season, Jimmy Laughrea reunited with a high school and college teammate when he joined the Obic Seagulls. On Sunday, they finally reconnected in the best way possible. Twice.
Laughrea threw two of his three touchdown passes to longtime friend Holden Huff in leading the Seagulls to their first national title in seven years with a 35-18 victory over collegiate champion Kwansei Gakuin University in the Rice Bowl at Tokyo Dome.
Asaki Mochizuki and wide receiver Aruto Nishimura ran for Obic's other scores as the Seagulls pulled away in the third quarter to win a record-extending eighth crown overall and extend the X-League's winning streak in the championship game to 12 straight years.
"It's nice, it's what we've been working for," Laughrea said of winning the title with Obic after spending two seasons with the Nojima Sagamihara Rise. "There's going to be an asterisk next to this year no matter what, so next year we have the same pressure to go out and win the championship."
With the season delayed and truncated by the global pandemic, Obic played just four games in total, including a 13-7 victory over the four-time defending champion Fujitsu Frontiers in the Japan X Bowl to advance to the Rice Bowl.
The corporate league now has a 26-12 record in the game, which started in 1948 as an East-West collegiate all-star game and was changed to its present format as a national title clash in 1984. The collegians dominated in the early years, but have only won once since 2005, when Ritsumeikan triumphed in 2009.
Laughrea had thrown no touchdown passes to Huff, his teammate at Rocklin (Calif.) High School and Boise State University, prior to Sunday's game, but found him for a 14-yard score in the second quarter and again on a 42-yard catch-and-run in the third for Obic's final touchdown.
"Finally," Laughrea said. "We've been so close, it was nice to finally have that connection. These were the first two, and I'm glad we didn't go 0-for-this year."
Kwansei Gakuin, which was making a record-extending 14th appearance and its third in a row, got all of its points on touchdown runs, including a stunning 84-yard scamper by Koki Miyake with :35 left in the second quarter that sent the Fighters into halftime trailing just 14-12.
"The first half I think we might have underestimated them, but we made some changes at halftime and you can see the rest," said Laughrea, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 258 yards with one interception.
Kwansei Gakuin struck first when a squib kick on the opening kickoff hit off an up-blocker and was recovered by the Fighters. Quarterback Kosei Okuno then engineered a six-play, 52-yard drive, capped by Kimiaki Maeda's 10-yard touchdown run.
In 2018, Okuno was in the news for all the wrong reasons, as he was injured by a blatantly late hit by a Nihon University player in a spring game, which lead to the resignations of the Phoenix head coach and an assistant who allegedly ordered the "hit." It drew headlines for a sport that normally operates below the radar in the Japanese sporting world.
Veteran Obic defensive lineman B.J. Beatty blocked the extra point attempt, then Obic would later stop 2-point conversion tries after Kwansei Gakuin's next two touchdowns.
Obic came right back and marched 59 yards in seven plays, with Mochizuki going in from the 8 on a inside reverse. That play was set up by a 24-yard pass from Laughrea to Takahiro Nozaki, who would also haul in a 53-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and was named the game MVP.
The Seagulls added a second score in the first half after Toru Hirasawa blocked a punt and brought it back himself to the Fighters 14. On the next play, Laughrea used a fake pitchout to cross up the defense, leaving Huff all alone in the end zone for the Seagulls first touchdown.
Beatty's younger brother, safety Bronson, had an interception late in the third quarter, which followed a pick by Fighters defensive back Toranosuke Takehara. Obic took advantage of the turnover, with Huff scoring his second touchdown with a nifty run after a catch.
Maeda scored Kwansei Gakuin's final touchdown with 5:12 left in the game when he was stopped going up the middle, then took it around left end for a 13-yard score.
For Laughrea, the championship might feel slightly tainted, but it bodes well heading into what everyone hopes will be a full season in 2021.
"It's nice to come out with the championship, but it's an asterisk," he said. "We know that, everybody else knows that, so I'm more excited for next year and proving ourselves again.
"I think it's going to help a lot with recruiting. I think it's going to give our players a lot of confidence. I'm excited to see where we go from here."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
