IFAF U19: Tournament all-stars – McGee MVP, 8 Canadians named

AUSTIN, TX – The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has selected the All-Tournament team for the 2012 IFAF Under-19 World Championship played at Burger Stadium in Austin from June 30 to July 7.

American Samoa head coach Taase ‘Pooch’ Suaese was named Coach of the Tournament having taken his team from their eighth seed ranking to a final fifth placing. The first-time entrants on the international stage became the first team to score a touchdown in four U-19 tournament games against the United States in a first round 27-6 loss, then bounced back to defeat Panama 51-0 and France 27-14 to finish fifth overall.

“I am kind of surprised,” admitted Suaese. “I assumed Canada’s coach would win. I thank our assistants and all of our players. Their effort made this happen. It’s also special with our governor being here tonight.

“Our experience here means a lot because the community back home went through a lot of effort to finance the trip to make it possible for us to be here. The players had to work through a lot to be here. They had to work hard.

“We’re getting ready for 2014 and we’re already getting emails from people interested in playing for us. American Samoa players are scattered everywhere and they want to participate in 2014 so it’s going to get better.”

Canada Defensive Back Kevin McGee was named Tournament MVP on a night when his two interceptions helped to shut down the United States as Canada won the Gold Medal.

“I didn’t think I’d even be a game MVP let alone the tournament MVP,” said McGee. “It’s unexpected. They’ll be really happy and really proud of me back home (at Champlain College in Sherbrooke, Quebec). I’m pretty happy.

“Everybody expected the Americans to win and we shocked the world. Hopefully everybody realizes we’re not just a hockey nation, we’re a football nation.”

McGee led the tournament with 4 passes defended and had 2 interceptions and recorded 12 tackles.

The all-tournament team featured 24 players in total with 9 from the United States, 8 from Canada, 2 from American Samoa and Japan and one each from Austria, France and Sweden.

Canadian quarterback Will Finch, who completed 19 of 29 pass attempts for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns, was joined by his favorite receiver Doug Corby, who had 12 receptions for a tournament-high 290 yards and 2 touchdowns.

American running back Tarean Folston who had 26 carries for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns and a third score receiving, was joined by USA teammate Demarcus Ayres, who had 12 receptions for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. Durham Smythe from USA, who caught 7 passes for 55 yards won the vote at the tight end position.

American Samoa running back Ietiaia Manu completed the all-tournament backfield in recognition of his tournament-best 27 carries for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns.

USA had Hunter Bivin and Logan Tuley-Tillman selected for offensive line honors alongside Louis-Gabriel Beaudet from Canada, Daniel Feichter of Austria and Japan’s Kenzo Shimano.

On the defensive side of the ball, Canadian defensive linemen Edward Godin-Gosselin and Charles Remi-Sarrazin were joined by Dakota Jackson of the USA and DL/LB Justus Faaiu from American Samoa. Faaiu led the tournament with 3 sacks and was second with 4.5 tackles for a loss

Eric Beisel and Reggie Chevis from USA were joined by Canada’s John Rush as the linebackers honored. Rush was the tournament’s third-leading tackler with 14.5 and was Canada’s MVP in the semi final win over Japan, while Beisel posted 3.5 tackles for a loss and Chevis 3 among their stats.

Four different nations were represented in the defensive backfield. Tournament MVP Kevin McGee from Canada had 4 pass break ups, closely followed by Cameron Walker from USA with 3 and Yuta Shimozuru from Japan and Carl Tembo from France who each recorded 2.

Two players were honored as specialists. Canada kicker Louis-Phillipe Simoneau made 4 of 5 field goals with a long of 37 yards, 8 of 10 extra points and punted 8 times for 309 yards and a 38.6-yard average.

Swedish running back Oscar Nevermann scored a tournament-record five touchdowns in his team’s seventh-place win over Panama and led the tournament in points scored with 30. He also led the all-purpose yardage with 445 total yards.

All-tournament selections:

Offense  /   Country   /   No. / Pos.  /  Name

CAN  12  QB Will Finch

USA  10  RB Tarean Folston
AMS  12 RB  Ietiaia Manu

USA  16  WR Demarcus Ayres
CAN  23 WR  Doug Corby
USA  88  TE   Durham Smythe

USA 70 OL  Hunter Bivin
USA 72 OL  Logan Tuley-Tillman
AUT 62 OL Daniel Feichter
JAP  75 OL Kenzo Shimano
CAN 69 OL Louis-Gabriel Beaudet 

Defense

Country / No.  / Pos. / Name

CAN  55  DL   Edward Godin-Gosselin
CAN  97  DL   Charles Remy-Sarrazin
USA  44  DL  Dakota Jackson
AMS  42  DL/LB Justus Faaiu

CAN 25 LB   John Rush
USA 28 LB   Eric Beisel
USA 13 LB   Reggie Chevis

USA  3  DB   Cameron Walker
JAP  11 DB   Yuta Shimozuru
CAN 21 DB  Kevin McGee
FRA 3   DB  Carl Tembo

Specialists

Country / No.  / Pos.   / Name

CAN  14  K Louis-Phillipe Simoneau
SWE  4   All-Purpose  Oscar Neverman

Photo credit: Pat Kuprowski

Watch archived webcast on CanadaFootballChat.com at (http://www.canadafoo…/live_games.php).

Saturday, June 30

Panama 0 vs. Austria 40

Japan 27 vs. France 6

Canada 43 vs. Sweden 0

USA 27 vs. American Samoa 6

Tuesday, July 3

France 41 vs. Sweden 0

Panama 0 vs. American Samoa 51

Wednesday, July 4

Japan 24 vs. Canada 33

Austria 7 vs. USA 70

Friday, July 6

5 PM
Seventh-Place Game
Sweden 54 vs. Panama 20

8 PM
Fifth-Place Game
France 14 vs. America Samoa 27

Saturday, July 7

5 PM
Bronze Medal Game
Japan 7 vs. Austria 0

8 PM
Gold Medal Game
Canada 23 vs. USA 17

FINAL 2012 Junior National Team roster

Quarterbacks
Will Finch / Burlington, ON
Dallon Kuprowski / Kanata, ON
Hugo Richard / St-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC

Running Backs
Christopher Amoah / Lachine, QC
Andreas Robinson / Dartmouth, NS
Mercer Timmis / Burlington, ON

Receivers
Regis Cibasu / Montréal, QC
Doug Corby / Burlington, ON
A’dre Fraser / Lawrencetown, NS
Tylor Henry / Camrose, AB
Alexandre Huard / Laval, QC
Alexandre Savard / Lorraine, QC
Ryan Smith / Sherwood Park, AB

Offensive Line
Kadeem Adams / Halifax, NS
Louis-Gabriel Beaudet / Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, QC
Andrew Boisvert / Sherwood Park, AB
Lloyd Constant / Montréal, QC
Emilio Frometa / Sudbury, ON
Nathan Heide / Warman, SK
Erick Lessard / Sudbury, ON
David Knevel / Brantford, ON
Jean-Simon Roy / Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, QC

Defensive Line
Edward Godin Gosselin / Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, QC
Quinn Horton / Winnipeg, MB
Jacob Leblanc / Halifax, NS
Clement Lebreux / Candiac, QC
Glen Joorisity / Deer Valley, SK
Adam Melanson / Kentville, NS
Charles Rémy-Sarrazin / Montréal, QC
Brett Wade / Regina, SK

Linebackers
Pierre-Luc Caron / Laval, QC
Tanner Doll / St. Albert, AB
Maxime Drolet / Québec, QC
Nicholas Easterbrook / Laval, QC
Jean-Gabriel Poulin / St-Nicolas, QC
John Rush / Port Robinson, ON
Marc-Antoine Varin / St-Hippolyte, QC

Defensive Backs
Keldyn Ahlstedt / Whitby, ON
Keegan Arnyek / Moose Jaw, SK
Tomy Duperron / Sherbrooke, QC
Khadim Mbaye / Laval, QC
Kevin McGee / Sherbrooke, QC
Rees Paterson / Sherwood Park, AB
Michael Schmidt / Calgary, AB

Kicker, Punter
Louis-Philippe Simoneau / Saint-Hyachinthe, QC

Coaching and Support Staff

Noel Thorpe / Head Coach

Warren Craney / Defensive Coordinator – Linebackers
Pat Boies / Offensive Coordinator
Gilles Lezi / Special Teams Coordinator- Running Backs
Michael Faulds / Quarterbacks
Alain Mainguy / Offensive Line
Kamau Peterson / Receivers
Brian Guebert / Defensive Line
Devin Murphy / Defensive Backs

Patrick Gendron / Athletic Therapist
Jean-Baptiste Laporte / Athletic Therapist
Jeremy Clouthier / Video Coordinator
Jacques Guilbault / Equipment manager
Elliott Richardson / Strength and Conditioning Coach

Players by Province:
Quebec – 20
Ontario – 9
Alberta – 6
Nova Scotia – 5
Saskatchewan – 4
Manitoba – 1