Rikiya Ishida and Kohei Satomi, two of the four Japanese players on the Hawaiian Islanders roster, made their professional debut in an Arena Football League (AFL) game Friday.
Ishida, formerly a captain at Kwansei Gakuin University, played on special teams and along the defensive line while former Recruit defensive standout Satomi was credited with 1.5 tackles and broke up a pass as the Islanders posted a 53-34 victory over the San Diego Riptide at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.
The Islanders are now 2-9 and at the bottom of the Western Division standings.
In the AFL, an indoor football league established in 1987, matches are played on surfaces half the size of a regular football field with eight players per team. A number of players in the AFL have gone on to play in the National Football League.