Daisuke Nakazawa threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mutsumi Takahashi to break a 17-17 tie with 11:06 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Fujitsu Frontiers defeated the Nissan Skyliners 24-17 Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome in the regular-season finale of the X League.
The Frontiers finished in second place in the East Division with a 4-1 record and earned the final playoff berth. With a 10-9 halftime lead, the Frontiers made the score 17-9 as running back Hiroyuki Morimoto rushed 1 yard for a touchdown with 6:57 left in the third quarter. But the Skyliners responded with a strong offensive attack that featured powerful running back Hideki Mochizuki and mobile quarterback Katsuyuki Okamoto. The 'Liners tied the game when they scored on an eight-play, 64-yard TD drive, which was capped by Okamoto's 9-yard run, and succeeded on a two-point conversion with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter. But four minutes later, Nakazawa found left wideout Takahashi open on the outside and hit him with a beautiful loft pass at the 'Liners' 2-yard line. Soon after the catch, Takahashi was tackled by a Nissan defender, but he spun his body and reached out with his right arm to put the ball in the end zone before touching the ground for the winning score. The playoffs start Nov. 18 when the Frontiers play the Central Division champion Recruit Seagulls at Yokohama Stadium and the Asahi Beer Silver Star visit the Asahi Beverage Challengers at Osaka's Nagai Stadium.