MEXICO SHUTS OUT SWEDEN TO REACH FINAL FOUR

Mexico produced a confident and effective offensive display to fire their way into the final four of the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship with a 41-0 defeat of Sweden.

Things went Sweden's way initially when Mexican quarterback Roberto Isaias Vega was intercepted by Swedish defensive back Ville Olsson, but Sweden was unable to capitalize as an unnecessary roughness call brought then back 15 yards abd then Mexico struck.

The Swedes proved to be no match for Mexico, who led through a 15-yard Roberto Isaias Vega touchdown pass to Diego Viamontes and had amassed 20 points by halftime. Swedish defensive lineman Bjorn Elmlund had sacked Vega on a second down play at the 15-yard mark, but the Mexican offense proved too powerful on third down.

Vega ran a score in himself from two yards out after Sweden had turned the ball over on the edge of the end zone then hit wide receiver Viamontes who was wide open in the middle for the first down, leading to a 22-yard David Antonio Aceves field goal. Aceves added a 19-yard field goal to the two extra points he had tagged on earlier.

After a Sweden field goal attempt was blocked, Mexico scored through the air again in the third quarter to underline their dominance with a 29-yard pass from Vega to Sergio Gonzalez. Vega pitched his third touchdown pass of the afternoon in the third quarter when he hit Sergio Gonzalez from 29 yards.

Linebacker Pontus Westman started off the fourth quarter with a sack on the 35-yard line forcing Mexico into a fourth down situation but quarterback Erick Sedano passed to wide receiver Edmundo Ramos for a first down, then running back Davis Alexis Paz took a hand-off and rushed 10 yards to bring Mexico to first and goal.

Mexico then opened an unassailable 34-point lead when Jose Carlos Lozano scored on a four-yard dash.

When Octavio Fernandez came in at quarterback for Mexico, he pitched a 33-yard touchdown pass to Juan Carlos Maya to complete an emphatic victory.


"We were happy with this game and I feel we beat a very good team," said Mexico head coach Ernesto Alfaro del Villar. "This is our first step in this world championship and we hope for more performances like this. "

Wide receiver Maya added: "It was amazing to see the support in the stadium from all the Mexican fans. It is great to see all those people and to win for them."

Sweden head coach Jan Jenmert said: "We built everything on a plan with a camp here and had a great opportunity to play here at this level, but obviously our plan did not work out. "We knew they would score on us and planned for that, but we did not generate anything on offense to overcome that as we had planned to. We need to learn why we were nervous and overcome by the occasion."

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mexico - Sweden 41:0
(7:0/13:0/7:0/14:0)

JAPAN COMES FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT GERMANY

Japan came from behind in the fourth quarter to take a 10-7 lead and then produce a game-ending interception to defeat Germany in the second game of the 2009 IFAF Junior Championship at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

A perfectly disguised double reverse caught Germany by surprise as Japan trained 7-3 and led to the decisive touchdown, a quarterback keeper from eight yards out by MVP Kazuma Endo.

"It was a secret play that in this very tight situation we were waiting for the right opportunity to use. When my high school team made it to a championship game, we used that same play to win with 30 seconds to play."

Germany punted away their next possession with only two minutes remaining, but got the ball back and threatened to steal victory but an option pass by Eric Husgen fell narrowly short of his intended receiver, who would have had a clear run to the end zone. With the clock ticking down, quarterback Robert Demers was intercepted by Keizaburo Isagawa to end the game.

Germany's scoring drive in the first quarter came following a hand off to half back Randall Payne, who ran the ball down the sideline to the Japan 40-yard line. Quarterback Jens Kriete produced a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Lars Samjeske in the end zone and the extra point was good for a 7-0 advantage.

Japan was held in check for most of the first half, managing only 31 rushing yards.
Ando completed a 15-yard pass to wide receiver Naoki Shigematsu for a first down, then after an incompletion found Shigematsu wide open for a 20-yard connection and the first down. Just when a Japan drive was looking promising, Ando was intercepted at the 5-yard line by defensive back Mark Nzecho, but Germany was unable to capitalize.

After Jumepi Yoshimoto and running back Shun Kitagawa earned first downs, Shoma Endo split the uprights in the third quarter from 32 yards out to reduce the deficit to four points.

On the game-winning drive, Ando found Shigematsu open for an 18-yard completion, ran nine yards himself yards and Shu Inoue gained a rushing first down before the double reverse picked up 22 yards and put Japan within striking distance of the end zone. On a keeper, Ando burst through the middle to secure victory.


German defensive coordinator Andreas Reichel said afterwards: "It was a tough fight against a well coached team and the team that had the most luck won. Sometimes your tricks win, sometimes they don't."

Japan head coach Takao Yamazaki said: "They were powerful not only in size but also their quarterback was big and strong and we have never experienced playing against a team like that. Their speed was outside my expectations."

Explaining his strategy of splitting paying time between two quarterbacks, Ando and Araki, he said: "I have got two very good quarterbacks today and maybe I will use three in the next game. I like to decide as the game progresses."

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Japan - Germany 10:7
(0:7/0:0/3:0/7:0)
Fotos: JWC Media (Courtesy of Shawn Hubbard Photography)

2009 IFAF JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES AND STATS TO BE STREAMED LIVE ON OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT WEBSITE

Free Real-Time Stats, Play-By-Play & Video Available At JWCFootball.com

CANTON, OHIO - American football fans around the world can watch and listen to every down of the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship and also follow real-time statistics and a play-by-play when the action kicks off at Fawcett Stadium on Saturday, June 27.

The two-camera feed and action replays that are shown on the in-stadium scoreboard will be streamed free of charge through JWCFootball.com.

The entire tournament experience will be shared with fans eager to follow the fortunes of the eight competing nations. Whether in Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden or one of the 33 US college markets represented on the United States' roster, football enthusiasts the world over can enjoy the spectacle of the inaugural tournament.

The real-time live stats and play-by-play package will track every down of every game in a professional format and will also provide the IFAF Junior World Championship coaches with comprehensive stats books.

Technology developed by webcasting specialist EZStream™, which provides a platform that makes streaming as easy as pushing a button, will host the broadcasts.

The games will be called by a combination of announcers from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Matt Farago, Dan Reed and Jeff Wink from the Champs Sports Network will share time with Keith Kokinda of Columbus and Adam Mendoza from Cleveland in the broadcast booth.

Kokinda and Mendoza will kick off the coverage at 10am on Saturday when number one seed Canada takes on New Zealand. The Champs Sports Network crew will begin their tenure on the second game day on Wednesday, July 1 and will return for the seventh and fifth place games on Saturday, July 4.

The Bronze Medal and Gold Medal games will be streamed on FoxCollegeSports.com as part of the Fox College Sports live TV broadcast of the games.

Bittere 21:22 Niederlage 4 Sekunden vor Schluss

Nach einer klaren 21:2 Führung der SWARCO Raiders gegen die Raiffeisen Vikings bis 7 Minuten vor Spielende wurde den Tirolern in einem nervenaufreibendem Finish noch der Sieg am Tivoli entführt. Die Vikings machten 3 Touchdowns in sieben Minuten und zogen mit einem 22:21 in die Austrian Bowl XXV ein.


Souveräne erste Hälfte
Im ersten Viertel war es SWARCO Raiders Receiver Matt Epperson, der in der zweiten Angriffsserie mit einem 17 Yard Screen-Pass die 7:0 Führung erzielte. Die großartig aufspielende Defense der Tiroler konnte dann durch Linebacker Michael Süß mit einem 58 Yard Interception-Return Touchdown sogar punkten und erhöhte auf 14:00. 50 Sekunden vor Halbzeit war es noch einmal Receiver Matt Epperson, der mit einem 15 Yard Touchdown-Fang auf 21:00 erhöhte.

Die Leistung der SWARCO Raiders war in der ersten Hälfte wirklich phänomenal, die Defense stoppte die Vikings ein ums andere Mal, fingen zwei Pässe der Vikings ab und ließen keine Punkte zu. Die Offense punktete abgeklärt zwei Mal souverän und alles lief nach Plan bis zur Halbzeit.

Flaues drittes Viertel
Im dritten Viertel konnte keine Mannschaft große Akzente setzen, die Vikings erzielten nach einer unglücklichen Angriffsserie durch einen Quarterback-Sack einen Safety und verkürzten auf 2:21. Auch zu Beginn der vierten Viertels dominierten beide Defenses das Geschehen und es schien alles auf einen klaren Sieg hinauszulaufen. Doch die SWARCO Raiders hatten die Rechnung ohne den Wirt gemacht. Und der Wirt, der den Tirolern eine bittere Lehre erteilte, waren die Vikings.

Eine Unachtsamkeit sieben Minuten vor Spielende und der für Jobstmann eingewechselte Quarterback Christoph Gross sah Vikings Receiver Peter Tusch allein auf weiter Flur und dieser erzielte einen 43 Yard Touchdown Fang. Nach erfolglosem 2-Punkt Versuch der Vikings stand es noch 21:8 für die SWARCO Raiders. Die Tiroler marschieren danach über knapp das gesamte Feld und blieben 3:07 Minuten vor Spielende auf der 28 Yard Linie der Vikings im vierten Versuch stecken.

Das Comeback der Vikings
Die Wikinger ihrerseits marschieren mit ihrer Offense muntere 72 Yards und Running Back Josiah Cravalho erläuft 1:27 Minute vor Spielende einen 3 Yard Touchdown zum 21:15. Der Onside-Kick der Vikings gelingt und wird von den Wienern erobert. Vier Sekunden vor Spielende findet Vikings Quarterback Christoph Gross Receiver Pasha Asilabdab für einen 12 Yard Touchdown. Der Extrapunkt von Peter Kramberger ist gut und die Vikings gewinnen mit 22:21.

Der erst 3 Minuten vor Ende des dritten Viertel eingewechselte Quarterback Christoph Gross avanciert zum Vikings-Matchwinner und Spiel-MVP, bringt 7 von 15 Pässen für 150 Yards an und wird die entscheidenden 2 Touchdowns für die Wiener.

Aktuelle Quoten

Wetten auf die AFL-Halbfinali
Wenn die AFL-Saison auf den Saisonhöhepunkt zusteuert, dann finden sich die Spiele auch bei den großen Wettanbietern wieder. Aktuelle Quoten bei bwin und bet-at-home.

Die Quoten sind Momentaufnahmen und können sich jederzeit wieder ändern. Die Erfahrung hat gezeigt, dass Wetten auf AFL-Spiele oftmals auch vorzeitig aus dem Angebot genommen werden. Wenn man setzen will, sollte man das also möglichst früh tun.

»bet-at-home
Der maltesische Anbieter führt Football-Wetten aller Herren Länder im Programm. Neben der NFL, CFL und der BCS auch die AFL (Australian Football League), die man in dem Fall nicht mit der Austrian Football Legaue verwechseln darf. Die findet man im Menüpunkt Österreich.
Die aktuellen Quoten (Dienstag 18:00)
Swarco Raiders Tirol 1,25 - Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna 3,00
Turek Graz Giants 1,85 - Danube Dragons 1,65

Achtung: Es sind nur 3er-Kombi Wetten zugelassen! Allerdings erhöht sich hier im Zusammenspiel mit z.B. beiden AFL-Halbfinali plus einem GFL-Spiel nach Wahl enorm. Nachteil: alle drei Tipps müssen richtig sein.

Hier sind die Raiders deutlicher Favorit und die Dragons sieht bet-at-home hauchdünn vor den Giants.

»bwin
Der Anbieter aus Gibraltar hat u.a. das volle GFL (German Football League) in seiem Wettportfolio.

Die aktuellen Quoten (Dienstag 18:00)
Swarco Raiders Tirol 1,25 - Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna 3,55
Turek Graz Giants 2,00 - Danube Dragons 1,72

Eine Spitzenquote für einen Vikings-Sieg und immerhin auch eine Verdoppelung für einen Sieg der Giants, sind ein doch sehr verlockende Angebote von Bwin.

Responsible Gaming
Versuchen Sie nicht mit Wetten reich zu werden und denken Sie an die bisherigen Ergebnisse im heimischen Football. Sie können den Ausgang nicht zu 100 Prozent vorhersagen. Der Erfolg von Wettanbietern basiert auch darauf, dass diese am Ende des Tages der Gewinner sind und nicht Sie. Sehen Sie es als Unterhaltung und setzten Sie nur kleine Summen, um den Kitzel vor dem Spiel, vielleicht auch im Freundeskreis, zu erhöhen.

Eine oft angewandte Wettmethode für Fans ist gegen ihren Liebling zu setzen, denn so kommt man in eine win/win-Situation. Gewinnt das Lieblingsteam, dann verschmerzt man den finanziellen Verlust eher, verliert es, ist man traurig über den sportlichen Ausgang, hat sich aber vielleicht den Ausflug und noch ein Abendessen dazu finanziert.

In diesem Sinne wünscht Football-Austria viel Spaß, den nichts anderes sollte es sein.