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• New Orleans To Host 2007 FFWC

Three Teams Unbeaten After First Round

The United States, Mexico and Austria remain unbeaten after the first day of action at the NFL Flag Football World Championship at the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie.

Mexico beat Japan, China and Canada to lead Group A at 3-0, while the United States saw off a tough challenge from Thailand and swept past England to sit at 2-0 on top of Group B, closely followed by Austria, who also posted a 2-0 mark after defeating Spain and England.

Click here for results and group standings.

Canada is in second place in Group A, followed by China (1-1), Japan (1-2) and Korea (0-3). Reigning champion Thailand recorded a victory to remain in contention in Group B at 1-1 ahead of England and Spain (both (0-2).

The FFWC kicks resumes in Metairie on Friday, August 9 from 8am to 12pm. The top two teams emerging from group play and two semi finals will contest the championship game at 3.30pm on Friday before the Saints take on the Buffalo Bills in the Louisiana Super Dome.

Team by team summaries:

Austria - Wenzgasse Vikings from Vienna:

Initially disappointed to be drawn against two familiar European opponents, the Austrians left the Saints facility in good spirits and arguably emerged as the surprise package in Group B, trailing USA in the standings only by the points conceded tie-breaker.

The double receiving threat of six-footers Jakob Hackel and Sebastian Wolf helped defeat Spain 38-31 and then hold off the challenge of England 35-32. The English no huddle offense threatened and produced a touchdown early in the second half, but Austria countered and when protecting a fragile two-point lead as the clock ran down, Roman Toth produced a game-winning interception.

Coach Jürgen Gattenbauer said: “We are basically the European champions again. We knew Spain well having beaten them only a few weeks ago, but the game against England was tough and came down to two points in the end. We matched them by switching to a no huddle defense and calling in our plays to counter what they were doing.

“It is going to be really tough playing Thailand and the USA, but we just have to beat one of them to reach the semi finals. We intend to have four more games on Friday.”

Canada – Steeltown Steelers from Hamilton, ON

Canadian quarterback Alex Hill scored the first touchdown of the 2007 event to pave the way to a 34-6 victory over Korea. Tall receiver Lucas Mancini also emerged as an aerial threat as Japan was edged aside 32-25, but Canada faltered in a 21-19 loss to Mexico.

The Mexican defense held out with two minutes remaining on the clock and when Canada regained possession with only a second to play, quarterback Hill was unable to inspire what would have been a dramatic comeback.

Head coach Matt Hill, brother of quarterback Alex, said: “There were a couple of mental breakdowns and it was a tough loss. We could have won and we should have beaten the other teams by more points. Mentally we were awful and I though that showed when kids did not run some of their patterns, but at least we are still in contention for the semi finals.

“Our big guy scored a couple of touchdowns so the other teams started tacking him and that hurt us for a while. We had a great start and then had a couple of bad breaks.

“Knowing we have to beat China we have to go into the game thinking that we’ve played some pretty bad football but that hopefully we’ve got that out of our system. It is a must win game otherwise we’re going home disappointed.”

China – Shoushi Shiyan Middle School from Beijing

China found Mexico’s firepower too much to cope with as they were outscored 46-33 in the day’s highest-scoring game. They recovered to record a 1-1 mark and claim third place in Group A within striking distance of Friday’s opponent, second placed Canada. A 33-26 score line was good enough to see off the challenge of Korea in the team’s second game.

Coach Lingyan Hu said of Friday’s crunch game at 8am: “Canada are very strong and fast, but we are playing well and we hope we can beat them. We have a 1-1 record, so we can still qualify for the semi finals, but we face two difficult games.

“The game we lost and the game we won were both very close and I am sure the next two games will be similar. This whole tournament is also a learning experience for us, to see how other teams play and how they are coached.”

England – Woodham Warriors from County Durham

Facing the firepower of the USA in the opening game, England found themselves 14 points behind early on, conceding a touchdown and then an interception returned for a score early in the game. The US eventually triumphed 32-0.

Trailing 21-13 at halftime against Austria, England emerged after the break in an effective no huddle offense that immediately paid dividends. A fourth down conversion and touchdown pass to Jamie Turner, combined with an important defensive stop by Thea Walton meant they trailed Austria by 28-26 with almost five minutes remaining. But their European rivals scored again and despite Jake Johnson reducing the deficit, the clock ran out on the Warriors.

Head coach Jon Tait said: “We are disappointed, but we were excited to pit ourselves against the Americans and it was a great experience. I think we were a bit nervous facing them and the game was effectively over early on, though we kept on fighting.

“I thought we could come back and beat Austria, but we just came up short. We know what to expect from Spain, and Thailand are looking very strong, so they will be two more tough games on Friday, but we’re looking forward to them.”

Japan – Adachi Gauken Wild Bears from Tokyo

Japan could rightly claim to be the best 0-2 team in the tournament after close losses to Mexico and Canada then finished on a high with a 31-2 win over Korea.

Japan led Mexico in the opening game until a safety with 3:20 remaining shifted the balance of play and a late touchdown condemned Japan to a 22-21 defeat. A seven-point loss to Canada at first demoralized the Japanese team who rebounded against Korea.

Head coach Yo Hashimoto said: “The players were very disappointed to have lost the first two games when we could have won them and the scores were so close. We stuck with playing our own style of football and eventually it worked and we won our third game. They did not want to end the day with a defeat, so were very determined against Korea.

“They tried to remember what they had learned in practice and in school back in Japan and that worked. The mood is now good, so we will try to keep that momentum going against China.”

Korea – Sungseo Middle School from Daegu

Korea came up against a Canada team firing on all cylinders in the opening game and was 21 points down by halftime, eventually losing 34-6. The clash with China proved to be a close contest that ended in a spirited 33-26 defeat. Korea faced a fellow 0-2 team in Japan, but only managed to score a safety in a 31-2 defeat.

Head coach Park Jaesick said: “We are disappointed. The competition is very strong and we are in a tough group, but it is still frustrating to be 0-3. The players were nervous in the first game, but by the second game they had relaxed. It was a shame we could not overcome China in that game.

Mexico - Los Diablitos from Mexico City:

Traditionally a high-scoring team in previous tournaments, Mexico amassed an unrivaled 89 points from three games and posted the day’s best 3-0 record.

Mexico scored a safety to close the gap against Japan to five points in one of the day’s opening games and with 1:38 remaining on the clock Daniel Mier scored the game-winning touchdown in a narrow 22-21 win. Mexico came up with an interception to deny a Japanese comeback late in the game.

China were beaten 46-33 and then in a battle of two unbeaten teams, Mexico edged Canada 21-19. Daniel Mier put Mexico ahead with more than seven minutes remaining then the Mexican defense took over to deny Canada another scoring opportunity and produced a late game-winning interception

Head coach Raul Gomez said: “After the first half against Japan I told the team that they needed to find their focus because we were not playing well and I think they were nervous before that first game. They did that and we won.

“All the teams are very fast and the games we have played so far have been very hard. I am pleased that we are very disciplined and were able to recover from almost losing our first game. The team plays with a big heart and they are very focused. Our offense is very good at scoring points, but the games can become so close in this competition so it is important that we also play good defense. We love this game!”

Spain – Pere Vives Viches from Igualada

In a repeat of the European Schools Final, Spain lost to fellow Europeans Austria 38-31. Next opponent Thailand was keen to recover from a narrow defeat to the USA and stormed to a 28-0 victory over the young team from Igualada.

Thailand – Chaopraya Wittayakom Middle School from Bangkok

In the game everyone wanted to see once the group draws were made on Wednesday evening, Thailand led the USA until the final score of the game before going down 26-20. Chalongchai Phongsuphan and Jiraphong Kulprajuab scored touchdowns, only for the US to counter and tie the score at 13-13 then Kulprajuab earned Thailand a 20-13 halftime lead.

The defensive rushing of Emika Lek-On had unsettled the US passing game, but after the break the Americans scored two unanswered touchdowns and played stern defense to claim victory.

Thailand pulled to 1-1 overall with a 28-point shutout of Spain and takes on England and Austria on Friday with a semi final place at stake.

USA – Michael-Ann Russell JCC from North Miami Beach

Bryan Rub beat England’s secondary to score on the opening game’s first possession then before England could settle, Gavin Block returned an interception for a touchdown and an early 14-0 lead that proved decisive in a 32-0 victory.

The US was pushed hard by Thailand, but eventually emerged as 26-20 victors in the team’s second game. Gavin Block claimed a touchdown to cancel out Thailand’s opening score then defensive rusher Brett Silvers emerged as the key player of the second half. Down 20-13, the US refined its defensive tactics and Silvers disrupted the Thai passing game and the US kept its opponent scoreless in the second half.

Assistant coach Benny Bursztyn said: “I think at the beginning of the game we were nervous and on the first drive we had a missed snap and a dropped ball and we were rushing too fast and forgetting all about technique and the things that win games.

“In the second half our defense really stepped up, we didn’t let them score any points and we came out strong. We drove them back instead of letting them come forward. We learned how to defend the obvious speed that Thailand has.” 

Friday, August 10 at 3.30pm, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
NFL Flag Football World Championship game

Group A	Group B
Mexico   3-0	USA        2-0
Canada 2-1	Austria    2-0
China    1-1	Thailand 1-1
Japan    1-2	England      0-2
Korea    0-3	Spain 0-2

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