The Grizzlies tied the game at 21 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Shunsuke Wada caught his 3^rd. Touchdown pass of the game at about the midway point of the quarter to put the Japanese all stars ahead for good when QB Shoma Taniguchi found Wada going down the right sideline on 3d. & 11 for a 77 yard score.

Ashland took the early lead when Lewis Sebrell hauled in a 22 yard scoring pass from Matt Dierks to cap the Grizzlies' opening drive.

A big 21 point second quarter by the Japan squad was ultimately the difference in the game. It started on an Ashland turnover. A fumble on a punt led to the first Taniguchi to Wada touchdown combination, a 15 yard effort.

Japan took their first lead on a 4 yard Kashuwa to Wada pass. Ashland tied it at 14 with 2:34 left until the half when Julian Ewald spun thru the line for a 19 yard touchdown.

Japan took the halftime lead of 21-14 when Yusuke Sagehari fired a 29 yard scoring pass to Masaki Matsubara.

The third quarter was scoreless, but it set up Sebrell's 14 yard run to open the fourth quarter. However, the Grizzlies never threatened again, as the Japan defense never allowed Ashland across midfield the rest of the way. A sack of the Grizzlies' Dierks on 4^th. & 10 with 42 seconds left sealed the victory for the visitors.

Sebrell was the player of the night, with 2 touchdowns on 118 yards rushing on 14 carries to go with 3 catches for 41 yards for the Grizzlies. Wada led all receivers with 102 yards and 3 TDs on 4 catches.

Notably, the teams combined for 50 passes, 26 of which were completed, with zero interceptions. It produced the highest scoring game in the Pacific Rim Bowl series, which the Japanese have evened at 5-5, with their 4^th. consecutive win. Only 4 penalties were flagged.

The Japanese team brought 60 players on the trip, a cultural exchange originally conceived by Akira Furikawa, a retired chairman of the American Football Association, and former Ashland coach Jim Nagel, and renewed every other year.

Japan    0 21  0  7 - 28

Ashland 7  7   0  7 - 21

1^st. qtr.

A - L. Sebrell 22 pass from Dierks (C. Sebrell kick)

2^nd. qtr.

J - Wada 15 pass from Taniguchi (Ohnishi kick)

J - Wada 4 pass from Kasuya (Ohnishi kick)

A - Ewald 19 run (C. Sebrell kick)

J - Matsubara 29 pass from Sagehari (Ohnishi kick)

4^th. qtr.

A - L. Sebrell 14 run (C. Sebrell kick)

J - Wada 77 pass from Taniguchi (Ohnishi kick)

Rushing

Japan - Kitagawa 7-70, Takahashi 3-31, Matsubara 7-14, Suzuki 1-4, Taniguchi 4-0, Tsuji 1-(-3), Wada 1-(-4), Sagehari 3-(-7).

Ashland - L. Sebrell 14-118, Ewald 4-24, Dierks 11-9, Hutchinson 2-3.

Totals: Rushes-Yards - Japan 27-105, Ashland 31-154

Passing

Totals: Passing Yards - Japan 207, Ashland 167

Comp-Att-TD-Int Japan 12-27-4-0, Ashland 14-23-1-0

Japan - Taniguchi 4-11-2-0 112, Sagehari 6-11-1-0 79, Kasuya 2-5-1-0 16.

Ashland - Dierks 14-23-1-0 167.

Receiving

Japan - Matsubara 5-85, Wada 4-102, Kitagawa 2-15, Setoyam 1-5.

Ashland - C. Sebrell 5-64, L. Sebrell 3-41, Hogeland 2-50, Gaviglio 2-11, Hutchinson 1-2, Gordon 1-(-1).

First Downs - Japan 13, Ashland 16

Total Yards - Japan 312, Ashland 321

Punts - Japan 7-35.0, Ashland 7-40.4

Fumbles-lost - Japan 1-0, Ashland 2-1

Penalties-yards - Japan 1-10, Ashland 3-19

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