Canada Champions Again
Team USA and Canada squared off for the seventh straight year for the tournament’s gold metal and the success continued for Canada as they physically dominated Team USA in a 23-13 victory. By Jeff Garza
The United States triumphed in the first four meetings between the rivals, while Canada took home the trophy the last two occasions.
Two of Florida’s biggest stars came out to Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fl to help celebrate the 2007 Global Junior Championship Game. Escambia High (Pensacola) and University of Florida product Emmitt Smith joined Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor for the coin toss.
Canada caught the United States on its heels with a reverse pass by Dalin Tollestrup to Frank Bruno for 29 yards on the first play from scrimmage. However, the drive quickly ended as Team USA forced Canada to punt three plays later.
The first drive of the game seemed to illustrate the pattern as both teams punted the ball twice in the first quarter. A total of four first downs by both teams left the quarter with no score.
The second quarter mimicked the first as Canadian running back Anthony Woodson ran off right tackle for 28 yards on the second play of the quarter. USA’s defense buckled down, as they did in the first quarter after the long gain, and forced Canada to punt.
Starting on their own 20, Team USA started to click. Frederick Bruno sparked the team with a 24-yard yard run around the left side. The United States continued to move the ball down the field to the Canada 20. The United States lined up with four receivers and Derek Rifenbury connected with Jason Frierson in the back of the end zone for six points. That play capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive, eating up 4:33.
Canada bounced back quickly with a 48-yard kickoff return by Duncan Hankinson. Starting in their opponents’ territory, the Canadians had great field position to put points on the board. Five runs and one pass moved Canada to the USA 7. On third-and-goal, Bruno Prud’homme (pictured above) missed a wide open Frank Bruno in the corner of the end zone, forcing Canada to settle for a field goal. That score cut the USA lead to 7-3 at the half.
The Canadians made a statement by running the football on their first drive of the second half after they forced Team USA to punt. Beating the Americans at the line of scrimmage, they were able to pull off runs of 17 and 38 yards to move the ball to the USA 14. On third down, Prud’homme took the snap out of the shotgun formation and raced into the end zone to give the Canadians the lead, 10-7.
After a 16-yard punt that was nearly blocked, the Canadians had another strong opportunity to keep the United States on their backs. A 21-yard completion on third-and-17 to Anthony Parker kept the drive and momentum rolling. Canada continued to attack through the air on the next play as Prud’homme hooked up with Ismael Bamba for a 30-yard touchdown reception. 17-unanswered points by Canada gave them a 17-7 lead with 02:10 remaining in the third quarter.
The Canadians kept complete control of the game by getting the football back once again. The United States third-down defense continued to struggle as they committed a personal foul on third-and-23, giving Canada a first down. The first down helped lead Canada to a field a 37-yard field goal.
The final dagger for USA occurred with 6:50 left in the fourth period when Canada’s Frederick Plesius intercepted Derek Rifenbury. Canada controlled the ball on the ground, taking the clock down to 03:08 before kicking another 37-yard field goal by Dan Village.
With the game well out of reach, Team USA finished the tournament with an 11-play, 65 yard touchdown drive. The touchdown reception by Michael Hellman finished the scoring for the game as Canada won the 2007 NFL Global Junior Championship, 23-13.
Team Canada has won three consecutive gold medals, outscoring Team USA 71-48 over that span. The MVP Awards were given to Canada defensive end Ameet Pall and Team USA defensive tackle Jason Paul-Pierre.
All photos by Paul Martinez
Mexico defeated Japan 25-17 in a thrilling Bronze Medal game.
By Derick Thornton
Mexico gained revenge for last year’s 8-7 Bronze Medal game lost despite Japan scoring two touchdowns in 43 seconds in the first quarter. Mexico ran off 18 unanswered points in the second half to earn third place.
Japan’s spread offense drove the ball down the Mexican defense quickly on their first possession. They capped off their six-play, 60-yard drive when quarterback Hiroshi Matsuda dumped the ball off to his mobile running back Satoshi Kawahara and he dashed 18 yards to his way to the end zone to score the first points of the game.
Leading 7-0, Japan’s defense took advantage of their great start. On Mexico’s second play from scrimmage, quarterback Ariosto Cruz was intercepted by Japan’s multi position player Shinnosuke Kamo and he returned it for a 32-yard touchdown to increase the score to 14-0.
Mexico settled their nerves on their second possession when backup quarterback Gabriel Meneses found Fabian Gonzalez down the middle for a 33 yard gain to place them in Japan territory. The drive was stopped three plays later when Meneses was stripped of the ball by Japan’s Hiroyuki Kozawa and was recovered by Ikuo Kitamura.
Japan’s first mistake of the game came with 00:52 left in the first quarter. Matsuda, who was 4-4 so far in the game, threw a jump ball for a receiver and the ball found the hands of Mexico’s defensive back Juan Carlos Hernandez at the Mexico 5-yard line.
A Mexico punt pinned Japan within their own 15-yard line, but Japan suffered another turnover when Kawahara mishandled the option pitch from Matsuda and Mexico’s defensive linesman Romel Sanchez recovered the fumble at Japan’s 8-yard line. The in suing play, Alexis Magallanes pushed his way through the Japanese defenders to score Mexico’s first points of the game to make it 14-7, with 7:02 left in the second quarter.
After having back-to-back turnovers on their last two offensive possessions, Japan’s offense regained their rhythm. Their eight-play, 46-yard drive consumed 4:32 and ended with a 30-yard field goal by kicker Yoshitaka Imae.
Mexico’s attempt to counter ended in a turnover of their when Meneses fumbled the ball into the grasp of Kitamura for his second fumble recovery of the game. With eight seconds left in the half, Matsuda forced another pass and was picked off by Arturo Martinez in the end zone to finish an exciting first half.
Mexico started the second half with the ball and some fight left in them, using a mix of run and pass to set up a nine yard touchdown dash by Alfonso Espinoza to cut the Japanese lead to three.
Japan’s offense sputtered out of the gate to begin the second half. Matsuda was called for an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone, which resulted in a safety and the Japan lead was suddenly only one point, 17-16 with 5:43 left in the third quarter.
Mexico’s rushing game took over as three straight runs for 53 yards lead to Magallanes’ second touchdown of the game to give Mexico their first lead at 22-17. Mexico’s two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Adrian Incapie connected on a 34-yard field goal to give Mexico a 25-17 lead with 9:32 in the fourth quarter, then Japan’s Matsuda, who started the day off brilliantly, threw his third interception of the day to give Mexico a chance to seal the game with 7:06 remaining. Japan’s defense held on fourth and short to give their offense a chance to equalize, but that dream vanished when Matsuda tossed his fourth interception on the next play.
Japan did have one more chance to tie the game. The offense had the ball at their own 19-yard line with 2:09 on the clock. Matsuda stayed calm under pressure leading the team to Mexico’s 29-yard line with 00:55 left. Facing a fourth and 10 with 00:39 left, Matsuda was forced out of the pocket and scrambled for five yards, but came up five yards short of the first down marker.
Meneses finished the day 7-9 for 114 yards and Magallanes rushed for 96 yards on 18 attempts and two touchdowns. Mexico’s defensive linesman Daniel Canul was named the team’s MVP for the tournament, while defensive back Naosuke Kikkawa was named Japan’s MVP.
All photos by Paul Martinez
Four France turnovers, three missed field goals and a Panama defensive score helped the Panamanians clinch a 14-6 victory and fifth place at the 2007 NFL Global Junior Championship. By Jeff Garza
The victory was Panama’s first in five attempts having been winless and scoreless in their sole GJC appearance in 2000 and also in the first round games of the 2007 event on Wednesday.
The first game of the day kicked off early. Game time was set for 8:30 a.m. and France receiver Jeremy Rabot took the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. Rabot’s heroics and his midweek performances earned him the French MVP award for the tournament. It was the first score of the tournament for France who was shutout by Japan and Canada in the opening round. A missed extra point made the game 6-0.
It looked like France would keep the momentum going on their next possession. A 38-yard reception by Jeremie Bizet combined with a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer took the ball down to the Panama 14. However, a key defensive stand would cause the French to attempt a field goal, which was blocked by linebacker Luis Pabon.
The defense would come up big again for Panama as corner Cesar Tucker intercepted Paul Duran and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. The extra point gave the Panamanians a 7-6 lead.
France went on a 14-play, 44-yard drive that took the ball down to the Panama 26 before a delay of game penalty caused the French to move back five yards and go for it on fourth down. Durand, who was knocked out of the game for two plays earlier in the drive, threw a deep pass over the middle that was intercepted by Hernando Armella, who was later named Panama’s MVP.
France would get the ball once more before halftime with great field possession which helped set up a 49-yard field attempt by Maxime Guy that was wide left. Two missed field goals helped preserve the Panama 7-6 lead at the half.
The second half started with the third interception of the day. On the second play of the half, France’s Gauthier Mesnil picked off the pass and returned it 13 yards to the Panama 16. Backed up deep in their own territory, Panama once again buckled down and forced Guy to kick and miss his third field goal of the day.
After a Panama punt, France got the ball back and once again could not take care of business. Joseph Johnson sacked Durand and caused him to fumble allowing Tomas Wong to recover at the France 31. The turnover helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Kenrick Belgrave giving Panama a 14-6 lead with 07:54 remaining.
Panama’s defense did the rest, not allowing the French to get into Panamanian territory the rest of the game. The game ended with QB Peter Diaz taking a knee to give Panama a 14-6 victory.
All photos by Paul Martinez