Day 2 - Graz (Group B)

Japan 24 Austria 6
Canada 45 France 10

more later

Day 1 - Innsbruck

And they call soccer "The Beautiful Game"? Really, they ain't got nothing on football, gridiron style.

Beneath the exquisite Nordkette Alps in the Tyrolian capital, Mexico and Germany slugged it out in a terrific game that showed a little bit of everything.

The 1st quarter started fast, with Mexico going quickly down the field from their own 34, they picked up 12 on a screen to Jonathan Barrera and 8 more on a run by Jose Reyes. On 1st down from the Germany 44, QB Rodrigo Perez rolled out and hit Oscar Ruiz down the right sideline for a quick 7-0 with just 41 seconds gone.

The Germans said they were initially stunned by the quickness of the Mexican team the first couple of possessions, so they knew they were in for a real fight.

Not just being metaphorical there. Things got rather "chippy" in the first half, with a lot of pushing and shoving after the play, some hits that appeared late or out of bounds, and several rather vicious tackles. On Mexico's second possession, there were three alternating 15 yard penalties within four plays. Mexican head coach Raul Rivera attributed much of it to the difference in officiating in Europe and Mexico. He says they bring NCAA officials down to officiate in Mexico, and they tend to let the play develop longer. Rivera said he had to tell his players to pull it back at halftime. But German head coach Marshall Happer suggested that he had warned certain his players of a certain proclivity of the Mexican team toward such play, especially when taking on European teams. He did not elaborate as to whether that had anything to do with past history and resentment towards former colonial powers- or just an intimidation tactic. At any rate, the 100 yards in penalties by Mexico in the first half nearly matched the 105 yards total offense the Germans amassed in total offense, and helped to keep the score close at 10-7.

Julian Dohrendorf gathered in a tipped pass from Joachim Ulrich to get Germany on the board with 2:34 remaining in the half.

While the speed of the Mexican front 7 dominated early, the Germans seemed the more physical team in the 2nd half. After the game, Rivera said he respected the "mentality of the Germans", and warned his team to expect as much. Germany slightly out-gained Mexico for the game 243-235, but the majority (166 yards) of that was on the arm of Ulrich (15-26-2).

Special teams played a deciding role in the game. Poor fielding of one Mexican punt in particular gave Germany the ball on their own 1 yard line was followed by RB Jerome Morris being tackled by LB Manuel Padilla in the end zone. The safety gave Mexico a 12-7 lead, and a long run-back of the ensuing kick by Jose Barrera to the German 10.

But Mexico failed to capitalize, and when the FG attempt was blocked and returned to the 30, momentum swung back toward Germany. From there, Germany marched down the field, and Morris scored from 3 yards out. A substitution infraction moved them back to the 8,but Germany made the successful 2-point conversion on a nice catch by Dominic Hansellman beneath the goal posts to take a surprising 15-12 lead with 11:05 remaining in the game.

Another long kickoff return, this time by Jose Miguel Luna to the Mexico 46 brought them back, and a 42 yard field goal by Jose Carlos Maltos made it a tie game with 8:22 left. Penalties, an interception and dropped passes halted the next three respective drives, until Barrera returned the next punt 60 yards to the German 25. From there, Mexico marched in, with Reyes scoring from 3 yards away to make it 22-15 with 2:22 left.

Once again a poor kick return gave the Germans the ball on their own 15, but Ulrich was unable to take them the distance, as he was intercepted on 4th down and run back to the 16, and Mexico ran out the clock.


Players and coaches for all four teams praised the setting, and talked about respect for their opponents and the unique pride in being able to represent their countries.


As head coach John Leitjen said, the Australian team played hard every snap, but were simply out -anned, 61-0 by a faster, more talented US team. Considerable excitement was generated later in the 3rd Quarter, when a Greg Berkshire extra point attempt was blocked, and run back, but was tackled just outside the end zone to preserve the shutout.

Diezas Calbert opened the scoring for the US with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, followed by a couple more on the ground. With 329 yards passing in total, all 4 American QBs saw action, including Micah Brown who had 3 catches as a receiver for 30 yards and a TD, as did WR Alex Anderson . Nate Kmic had 7 catches for 106 yards and a TD. On the ground DeShawn Thomas and Henry Harris each had over 90 yards rushing and 2 TDs.

Co-MVP Cody Hawkins (who was 13-15 with 2 TDs), was in control from the beginning and took led the US to a 34-0 halftime lead. Hawkins, who face a lot of ups and downs playing for his father at Colorado, shined on the field, and later behind the microphone. He certainly has a bright future as a coach...or a politician. He was polished, yet lavish in his praise of IFAF World Cup officials and hosts, his teammates, respect for their opponents, the atmosphere, the stadium, the mountain backdrop, the town, the people.

At the end of the press conference after the game Cody grabbed the mic back and added a half-serious plea to the Innsbruck Raiders for the chance to come play for them.

The Games Begin

In the beautiful valley of the Nordkette Alps, the IFAF 2011 World Cup began in Innsbruck with a pair of games. If any of the rest of the games between now and the July 16th Gold Medal game are anything like the night cap, the fans are in for a wonderful treat.

Along the valley of the river Inn, in an exciting game that had ebbs and flows and just about everything else, Mexico defeated Germany 22-15.

In the first game, the US completely dominated Australia.

Action moves to Graz on Saturday, as Canada face France, and Japan takes on host Austria.

They're Ready

In their final press conference before leaving for the IFAF World Cup 2011, representatives of Team Japan appeared to be ready to face the challenge ahead of them.

Asked how this Team Japan team is different from previous ones, Head coach Kiyoyuki Mori said, "I think this team is avery good combination of experience players and younger players, Some players, for example (WR) Shoei Hasegawa, he has experience in NFL-Europe and the [2007] World Cup in Kawasaki. (DL) Yamanaka, (LB) Kosho they have good experience so we have a good combination" The youngest player on this year's squad is Waseda RB Tomokazu Sueyoshi; Panasonic Impulse DL Yasuo Wakisaka, at 42, is twice his age. Wakisaka has appeared in all 4 World Cup tournaments. Japan won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1999 and 2003, when the US did not send a team.

Mori also said after the loss in the Notre Dame-Japan Bowl in 2009, they emphasized being more physical, and have gained an average 10 pounds a man, without sacrificing speed.

The USA and Japanese Teams are considered favorites to win their respective Groups.

In the 2007 World Cup championship game held in Japan, the Americans defeated Japan 23-20 in double overtime on a blocked field goal.

The Americans will open the 2011 World Cup on July 8th playing Australia in Innsbruck.

The Japanese Team flies to Austria on Wednesday, and will face host Austria on Saturday the 9th in Group B action in Graz. Both games will be kicking off at 3PM CET (13:00 UTC; 9:00 ET; 22:00 JT).

Germany and Mexico and Canada-France will meet in the evening games starting at 7 PM local time.

Mori was quite impressed by the the Austrian team in their Charity Bowl XIII game against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre-Haute, IN) on June 5th, as they lost 35-34 when their 2-point conversion attempt fell short.

"They are very good team. Very physical. They have improved.

"Offensively, they run a lot of shotgun and pistol formations. Defensively they run a 3-4, many blitzes and combination blitzes."

Spring Ball 2011

While the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crises in Japan brought many things to halt, most football teams were soon back at it.

Most teams have several scrimmages already over Golden Week, and there is a full weekend coming up, with X-League games at Kawasaki on Saturday and Sunday,

Several college teams meeting in interdivisional and intersectional matchups on Sunday.
There will be a KCFF triple-header played at Japan Sports University. Meanwhile in the KCFA, Aoyama Gakuin will take on Keio, and Chuo meets Nihon at Aminovital, while Hosei hosts Nanzan at home.