In a game that was close in just about every way, Team Canada beat Team Japan to win Group B championship and a birth in the finals against the USA on Saturday. This will be the first time since the Word Cup of American Football began in 1999 that Japan will not be in the final. They won the championship in 1999 and 2003.
Canada was on the board first, as they put together a 59-yard drive on their first possession, mixing runs and passes, before QB Michael Faulds hit Michel-Pierr Pontbriand from 2 yards out to go up 7-0.
Naoki Maeda returned the ensuing kickoff to the 40, and QB Tetsuo Takata drove them down the field on throws to Noriaki Kinoshita and Michihiro Ogawa and a big 17 yard run from Tomokazu Sueyoshi. yasuhiro Maruta carried it over from the 1 to tie the score with 2:14 to go in the quarter.
Japan next tried on on-side kick which failed, giving the Canadians great field position, but they were unable to capitalize. The teams kept exchanging possession until late in the 2nd quarter, when a Canadian drive that began at their own 22 was capped by a 4 yard TD run by David Stevens with 1:29 remaining. Stevens had 5 carries on the drive for 46 yards.
Maeda's return to the 37 gave Japan decent field position. Takata passed them down the field, including a 38 yarder to Ogawa, and a 15 yard TD pass to RB Takuya Furutani on a wheel route to tie it up at 14-all with 0:32 remaining in the half. But Faulds was able to put the Canadian in scoring position in 3 plays to the 16, and Lirim Hajrullahu kicked a FG to make it 17-14 at the half.
At that point Canada had the advantage in possession (33-22) and total yardage 186-169, the majority of it on the ground. Walters had 50 yards and Stevens had 48. Takata was 8-11 and 101 yards, and 1 TD for Japan. Ogawa had 4 catcehs fir 71 yards.
To open the 2nd half, Takata took Team Japan from the 24 to the Canada 6, where Daisuke Aoki kicked a FG to tie the game again at 17-all. Koki Kato intercepted Faulds on the next series, and had the ball at the Canada 32. They were able to pick up another first down, but had to settle for a 29-yard FG from Aoki to take a 3 point lead with 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter.
On the final play of the quarter, Faulds completed a 28 yard pass to Pontbriand. On 2nd and 11 from the 17, Faulds completed a pass to Shamwad Chambers. Atsushi Tsuji was able to strip the ball, but Johmeek Murray was ble to recover the ball to retain possession for Canada at the 3. Walters scored on the next play, and it was 24-20.
Both teams went 3 and out on their next couple of possessions, and Japan took over at their own 11 with 8:10 remaining. Japan to 7 plays to go 89 yards, helped by a roughing the passer penalty, and when Sueyoshi scored with 5:38 left, Japan had retaken the lead, 27-24.
Canada responded immediately- in what was acknowledged as the play of the game, when Faulds had to scramble, Stevens freed himself down the sideline for a 72-yard gain, stopped just short of the goal line. It took three attempts by Walters to score, which he finally did with 3:31 remaining, to make it 31-27.
Kato was only able to return the kickoff to the 5, which meant Takata had to work from his end zone. With 4th and 7 from his own 8, Takata was able to run for the 1st down. But they were able to get no further than their 16, and when Ogawa was unable to get a handle on the 4th down pass, Canada had the ball on downs with 1:34 left, kneeling down on 4 straight plays.
Japan did get the ball with 0:10 left at their own 25, but Takata was intercepted to seal the victory for Canada.
After receiving 230 penalties for 146 yards on Monday against Austria, Canada was able to reduce that to only 20 yards on 3 penalties. Japan also had 3 for 22 yards. Other statistics were also close- Japan outgained 349 to 328, mostly due to a 224 to 197 advantage in passing, going 20-34-1. Faulds was 14-21-1. Canada outgained Japan on the ground 131 to 125.
In the evening game, Austria seemed to dominate in the first half, outgaining France 131 to 54, but was only able to manage a field goal. France came back in the 3rd and scored 17 points in less than 3-1/2 minutes on passes to Anthony Dable and Jeremy Rbot and a FG from Bruno Nekili. A fumbled kickoff return by Armando Ponce De Leon was huge. France added another TD on a 22 yard pass from Max Sprauel to Rabot with ten minutes left in the game to go up 24-3. Sprauel was 10-20-1 and 3 TDs, and avoided being sacked.
Austria fought back with Thomas Haider releiving Cristoph Gross, as Haier fired a 28 yard TD to Jakob Dietlinger and a 22 yarder to Andreas Proeller with 3:31 left. Gross was only 8-22, and Haider finished 9-18 with 2 interceptions and 2 sacks.
Once again it was an enthusiastic Austrian crowd that made a lot of nosie, but was obviously disappointed by the home team's 3rd loss. They will Face Australia on Friday for 7th place. France will meet Germany on Saturday in a rematch of last year's European Championship, which was won by Germany 26-10.
