Former XFL player Shinzo Yamada returned an interception 17 yards for the winning touchdown with 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Asahi Beverage Challengers beat the Matsushita Denko Impulse 14-7 in the Tokyo Super Bowl, the X League's championship game, on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome.
The Challengers captured their second straight X League title and will play the collegiate champion, Kwansei Gakuin University, for the national championship in the Rice Bowl at the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 3.
Before 25,000 fans, the two Kansai-area teams played a tight defensive game. The Challengers got first downs only twice in the first half, while the Impulse managed three.
Each team punted 13 times. The Impulse drew first blood. After picking off a pass by Asahi's Yujiro Katsura on the Challengers' opening drive, Shinsuke Kashino rushed 51 yards for a score in the Impulse's first possession with 13:57 left in the first quarter.
The game then turned defensive and neither team managed to score in the second and third quarters. In the fourth quarter, however, the Challengers finally found the end zone when running back Tamon Nakamura received a pitch and rushed 8 yards for a touchdown with 13:21 to play.
Ten minutes later, the Challengers opted to punt on fourth-and-1 rather than go for a first down on Impulse's 32-yard line. That moved the Impulse back to their own 14-yard line.
Two plays later, Yamada, who played with the Memphis Maniax earlier this year, intercepted Koichi Takahashi's pass and returned it for the winning score.
The Impulse marched to the Challengers' 14-yard line with 15 seconds remaining, but the Challengers defended two passes in the end zone to seal the victory.