Panasonic Impulse face new-look Fujifilm Ebina offense in X League fall opener

The Panasonic Impulse (2-2) return from the summer break Saturday against the Fujifilm Ebina Minerva AFC (2-1) at MK Taxi Field Expo, with the defending champions carrying momentum into the X League Premier fall series while Fujifilm Ebina turns its offense over to newly arrived quarterback Jameson Wang.

Panasonic looks to keep rolling

The Impulse stumbled out of the gate with two straight losses in the spring before turning their season around with back-to-back wins.

Who runs the offense Saturday remains one of the questions. Yuya Araki, Hiromitsu Kobayashi and Keita Suda all shared quarterback duties during the spring, with Kobayashi completing 25 of 47 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown in two games.

Panasonic can take some of that pressure off its quarterbacks with a deep backfield. Victor Mitchell leads the way after carrying 41 times for 207 yards and four touchdowns, while Makoto Koizumi and Genmei Tachikawa give the Impulse additional options on the ground.

Wang takes over Fujifilm offense

Fujifilm Ebina will have a new quarterback running the show after Chevan Cordeiro was left off the fall roster.

Cordeiro threw for 727 yards and five touchdowns in three spring games while adding 95 yards and three scores on the ground.

His replacement arrives in Japan after putting together a huge season in Europe. Jameson Wang threw for 3,038 yards and 41 touchdowns in 12 games with the Wroclaw Panthers in the American Football League Europe.

Wang won’t be starting from scratch when it comes to weapons. Jason-Matthew Sharsh caught 25 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns during the spring.

That makes Wang’s debut one of the biggest storylines of the weekend as Fujifilm Ebina tests its new-look passing attack against the defending champions.