Some football coaches believe defense wins the games. Others say turnovers cost a game. Both turned out true as the Matsushita Denko Impulse defeated the Fujitsu Frontiers 33-13 on Monday in the Japan X Bowl.
With the victory, the Impulse clinched their first X League championship since 2004 and fifth overall. The Impulse take on Kwansei Gakuin University, the collegiate champion, for the overall national title in the Rice Bowl on Jan. 3, 2008, at Tokyo Dome.
Before the 17,629 crowd at Tokyo Dome, the Impulse scored 13 points off the Frontiers' five takeaways and their stingy defense held the opponents, who recorded 346.4 yards and 34.6 points per game during the regular season, to 243 yards and only one offensive touchdown.