NISHINOMIYA, HYOGO PREF. ¨C Mitsuhiro Izu completed 16 of 27 passes for 171 yards and scored a touchdown to help the Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters beat the Waseda University Big Bears 31-14 on Sunday at Koshien Stadium.

The victory gave the Fighters their first collegiate national championship in two seasons and 28th overall.

The Fighters will play the X League champion Fujitsu Frontiers on Jan. 3 at Tokyo Dome for the overall national crown in the Rice Bowl.

¡°Waseda¡¯s offense forced us to make an adjustment early in the game, but we managed to find a way to counter,¡± said Akira Toriuchi, who earned his 10th national title as the Fighters head coach. ¡°Izu could have played better. The Frontiers are a good strong team, but we¡¯ll give them a hard time.¡±

Izu put in a solid quarterback performance to lead four scoring drives that saw three different players score rushing touchdowns. Ryosuke Nonogaki and Takayui Kato were the others. Shintaro Nishioka added 3 points in the fourth quarter with the game¡¯s only field goal.

Eastern Japan champion Waseda, which usually uses basic formations offensively, uncharacteristically used the wildcat, empty backfield or even trick plays to surprise Kwansei Gakuin.

Some were effective, such as a fake field goal pass that resulted in a touchdown in the third quarter, but were not enough to put the Big Bears at any point in the game.

With the Fighters up 14-7 late in the second quarter, Kwansei Gakuin linebacker Yuki Yamamoto intercepted Waseda quarterback Yuta Sasaki and returned it for a touchdown.

The pick 6 turned out to be a game changer when the Big Bears struggled offensively in the second half and failed to find the end zone in the final period, allowing the Western Japan representative clinch the championship for the 10th consecutive year.

Izu was named the game¡¯s MVP and Fighters linebacker and captain Akio Yamagishi earned the Chuck Mills Trophy, the Japanese version of the Heisman Trophy, for the collegiate player of the year.