No team would have been able to match the Fujitsu Frontiers on this day.
The Frontiers racked up a Japan X Bowl-record score in their 63-23 win over the IBM BigBlue in the X League title game before a crowd of 22,953 at Tokyo Dome on Monday night.
The Kawasaki-based club captured its third X League title, all of which came after it claimed its first championship in 2014.
The points record for the X Bowl previously belonged to the Matsushita Denko Impulse (now Panasonic Impulse), who scored 54 points against the Obic Seagulls in 1995.
Fujitsu¡¯s American quarterback Colby Cameron and wide receiver Teruaki Clark Nakamura guided their team to the title and a spot in the Rice Bowl against Koshien Bowl collegiate champion Nihon University on Jan. 3 at the Big Egg.
The BigBlue were competing in the Bowl for the first time since 2014, when they lost to the Frontiers 44-10. They came up short once again in their second attempt in the biggest game in the semi-pro Japanese top league.
The Frontiers amassed 506 offensive yards, which included 306 yards in the air.
¡°I¡¯m surprised myself, too,¡± Frontiers head coach Satoshi Fujita said about his team¡¯s offensive surge. ¡°I think luck played a part, but our players did a great job.¡±
Asked about the team¡¯s third title, Fujita said, ¡°We had a tough year this year and didn¡¯t expect to get here. So I don¡¯t feel like we¡¯ve really done it. (But) we have been given one more chance to play a football game. We want to raise our level going in (to the Rice Bowl).¡±
The Frontiers quickly grabbed the momentum with an opening kickoff return touchdown by Seiya Inokuma and added three more touchdowns to claim a 35-19 lead at halftime.
Fujitsu continued to control the game in the second half, steadily adding points to the scoreboard.
Nakamura also set a new record in receiving yards. The 29-year-old wideout had a monster game, accumulating 203 yards, and was selected as the game¡¯s Most Valuable Player.
¡°I didn¡¯t know about the record. I¡¯m surprised and pleased about it,¡± said Nakamura, who will face his alma mater Nihon University in the Rice Bowl. ¡°Throughout the season, our offense often struggled to be on the same page. But having been able to come through in such a big game like this, we are thrilled.¡±
Before its first Japan X Bowl title in 2014, Fujitsu had lost in all five attempts before that.
Cameron said that the Frontiers are now ¡°trying to build the winning culture,¡± which they had for the last four years.

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