Europe will crown a new champion of junior American football on Saturday when Austria and France meet in the European Junior Championship Gold Medal game at 6pm CET on Saturday, September 3 in Seville, Spain.

The 2006 champion France will now take on Austria for the European crown having triumphed 24-14 over 2008 silver medalist Sweden on Thursday. The Bronze Medal game will be a repeat of the 2008 championship game as dethroned champion Germany faces Sweden at 12.30pm. Denmark and host Spain will meet to contest fifth place at 9.30am.

The European Junior Championship features the top American football players aged 19 and under from six countries – Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden – battling for the right to call themselves European Champions August 28 to September 3. The final placing will determine which nations represent EFAF (European Federation of American Football) at the 2012 IFAF Junior World Championship.

The group clash between France and Sweden was arguably the most spectacular game of the 2011 European Junior Championship so far.

France was the first to put points on the board as the offense quickly moved downfield in first quarter as quarterback Frank Bozec connected with Sofiane Mahmoudi for 45 yards and from the two-yard line Bozec took the ball in himself for a touchdown. With a successful extra point by Remi Bertellini, France took a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the wet conditions seemed to affect the teams play as both committed turnovers but neither was able to capitalize and convert the opportunities into points as the first half ended with France holding a 7-0 lead.

Fireworks came after the break with forced fumbles and interceptions, the first coming as the Swedish defense forced a fumble early in the third quarter and running back Carl Nielsen took over the offense. Neislen finished with a game-high 73 yards and he capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run. Oscar Nevermann added two more points with a catch in the endzone to give Sweden a slim 8-7 lead. In the fourth quarter, Neilsen added to Sweden’s lead following his blockers for a 6-yard touchdown run. Joakim Knudsen was unable to convert the extra point.

France replied immediately with a great kickoff return by Yoan Boireau setting up Nicolas Khandar for a two-yard touchdown run. Florian Lefevre tied the game at 14 with an extra point.

If the game had ended in a tie, France would have advanced to the championship, so Sweden knew they needed at least a field goal to keep their gold medal dreams alive. Kevin Sundstöm was unable to find an open receiver as the French defense led by Guiterembi Vickos, Victor Ferrier and Geoffrey Malek proved too strong for the Swedish attack as they turned the ball over on downs at midfield. With less than two minutes to play, a 44-yard touchdown run by Nicholas Khandar decided the game as Sweden was unable to get to endzone on the final drive of the game.

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In the first game of the day, Germany was held scoreless by Denmark until the fourth quarter when the defending champions scored two back-to-back touchdowns to claim a 12-7 victory and a place in the Bronze Medal game against familiar foe Sweden.

Playing in heavy rain, both teams based their offenses on the ground as Denmark’s defense caused Germany problems throughout the game and in the first quarter backed the Germans up to their own five-yard line forcing the team to punt away. The punt was blocked and Timmi Rysgaard recovered the ball returning it for a touchdown. After a successful extra point by Martin Jepsen, Denmark held a 7-0 lead.

Both defenses continued to make big stops. At the start of the third quarter, Germany moved the ball quickly down the field with great runs by quarterback Manuel Engelman who was finally stopped at the two-yard line. Then Denmark’s defense stepped up, forcing a fumble, which was recovered by the Danes. Denmark entered the fourth quarter with a 7-0 lead, but the fourth quarter Germany’s offense finally came alive.

After two runs by Engelman, Benjamin Mentges took the handoff for a 29-yard touchdown run. Germany elected to go for two, but the pass was intercepted as Denmark held a slim 7-6 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Germany’s defense came up with a critical stop, and the offense came back on the field with four minutes left in the game. Germany, led by Engelmann who finished with 138 yards passing and 69 rushing yards, quickly found themselves in the red zone with a 70-yard pass caught by Erich Heinz and capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Nicolai Alter. Germany elected to go for two but came up short, but would not matter in the end as Marvin Ehimare intercepted Denmark to end the game.

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Group Results and Standings:

Group A

Germany 7 Austria 14

Austria 21 Denmark 16

Denmark 7 Germany 12

Austria 2-0

Germany 1-1

Denmark 0-2

Group B

Sweden 28 Spain 10

Spain 6 France 55

France 21 Sweden 14

France 2-0

Sweden 1-1

Spain 0-2

September 3, 2011

Denmark vs. Spain – Fifth place game: 9:30

Germany vs. Sweden – Bronze Medal: 12:30

Austria vs. France – Gold Medal: 18:30