2018 INTERNATIONAL BOWL: USA stuns Canada 47-7 in under-19 game

From the moment that the Under-19 game kicked off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Canada struggled and it made for a long night against the United States.

The end result was a stunning 47-7 defeat at the hands of the Americans.

In a span of 56 seconds, the United States scored two touchdowns to put them up 13-0.  Christian Turner opened the scoring with a 56-yard rushing major only 39 seconds into the game. Soon after, Rashod Bateman sprinted into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.

Canada’s closest scoring chance of the first half was when kicker David Solie attempted a 44-yard field goal, only to have it blocked by the United States.

At halftime, Canada trailed the United States by a margin of 40-0.

In the second half, Canada was not able to climb out of the hole they created.  However, there was a bright spot in the game as quarterback Andreas Dueck tallied the sole major for Canada on a four-yard run. Solie’s PAT was good and Canada got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter.

On defence, Arthur Hamlin led the way with 11 tackles (eight solo, three assisted).  Both Josiah Schakel (five solo, three assisted) and Ben Hladik (four solo, four assisted) each registered eight tackles in the loss.

“We didn’t start until the second half” assessed Head Coach Steve Sumarah after the loss.  “We came out and seem really timid and unsure of ourselves.”

“Unfortunately, when you are playing a very good team, they’re going to make plays on you and they ended up making plays.  We kept retreating. Kudos to these guys, they regrouped in the second half and I thought we battled much better.”

With this game serving as a measuring stick for the upcoming IFAF World Junior Championships, Sumarah, the coaching staff and players are unfazed by Friday’s result and plan to work hard with the goal of defending their gold medal at the tournament.

“I think the biggest thing is making sure we keep our bodies intact,” he commented.  “We do have pieces here that are good pieces.”

“I’m confident in the players that we have and now it’s just a matter of everybody having a good offseason per say and getting ready and getting ready for July.”

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