IFAF ANNOUNCES U-19 ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

IFAF / Michael Preston on 07/08/2012


Sweden running back Oscar Nevermann

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has selected the All-Tournament team for the 2012 IFAF Under-19 World Championship played at Burger Stadium in Austin from June 30 to July 7.

American Samoa head coach Taase 'Pooch' Suaese was named Coach of the Tournament having taken his team from their eighth seed ranking to a final fifth placing. The first-time entrants on the international stage became the first team to score a touchdown in four U-19 tournament games against the United States in a first round 27-6 loss, then bounced back to defeat Panama 51-0 and France 27-14 to finish fifth overall.

"I am kind of surprised," admitted Suaese. "I assumed Canada's coach would win. I thank our assistants and all of our players. Their effort made this happen. It's also special with our governor being here tonight.

"Our experience here means a lot because the community back home went through a lot of effort to finance the trip to make it possible for us to be here. The players had to work through a lot to be here. They had to work hard.

"We're getting ready for 2014 and we're already getting emails from people interested in playing for us. American Samoa players are scattered everywhere and they want to participate in 2014 so it's going to get better."

Canada Defensive Back Kevin McGee was named Tournament MVP on a night when his two interceptions helped to shut down the United States as Canada won the Gold Medal.

"I didn't think I'd even be a game MVP let alone the tournament MVP," said McGee. "It's unexpected. They'll be really happy and really proud of me back home (at Champlain College in Sherbrooke, Quebec). I'm pretty happy.

"Everybody expected the Americans to win and we shocked the world. Hopefully everybody realizes we're not just a hockey nation, we're a football nation."

McGee led the tournament with 4 passes defended and had 2 interceptions and recorded 12 tackles.

The all-tournament team featured 24 players in total with 9 from the United States, 8 from Canada, 2 from American Samoa and Japan and one each from Austria, France and Sweden.

Canadian quarterback Will Finch, who completed 19 of 29 pass attempts for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns, was joined by his favorite receiver Doug Corby, who had 12 receptions for a tournament-high 290 yards and 2 touchdowns.

American running back Tarean Folston who had 26 carries for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns and a third score receiving, was joined by USA teammate Demarcus Ayres, who had 12 receptions for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. Durham Smythe from USA, who caught 7 passes for 55 yards won the vote at the tight end position.

American Samoa running back Ietiaia Manu completed the all-tournament backfield in recognition of his tournament-best 27 carries for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns.

USA had Hunter Bivin and Logan Tuley-Tillman selected for offensive line honors alongside Louis-Gabriel Beaudet from Canada, Daniel Feichter of Austria and Japan's Kenzo Shimano.

On the defensive side of the ball, Canadian defensive linemen Edward Godin-Gosselin and Charles Remi-Sarrazin were joined by Dakota Jackson of the USA and DL/LB Justus Faaiu from American Samoa. Faaiu led the tournament with 3 sacks and was second with 4.5 tackles for a loss

Eric Beisel and Reggie Chevis from USA were joined by Canada's John Rush as the linebackers honored. Rush was the tournament's third-leading tackler with 14.5 and was Canada's MVP in the semi final win over Japan, while Beisel posted 3.5 tackles for a loss and Chevis 3 among their stats.

Four different nations were represented in the defensive backfield. Tournament MVP Kevin McGee from Canada had 4 pass break ups, closely followed by Cameron Walker from USA with 3 and Yuta Shimozuru from Japan and Carl Tembo from France who each recorded 2.

Two players were honored as specialists. Canada kicker Louis-Phillipe Simoneau made 4 of 5 field goals with a long of 37 yards, 8 of 10 extra points and punted 8 times for 309 yards and a 38.6-yard average.

Swedish running back Oscar Nevermann scored a tournament-record five touchdowns in his team's seventh-place win over Panama and led the tournament in points scored with 30. He also led the all-purpose yardage with 445 total yards.

All-tournament selections:

Offense
Country
No.
Pos.
Name

CAN
12
QB
Will Finch

USA
10
RB
Tarean Folston

AMS
12
RB
Ietiaia Manu

USA
16
WR
Demarcus Ayres

CAN
23
WR
Doug Corby

USA
88
TE
Durham Smythe

USA
70
OL
Hunter Bivin

USA
72
OL
Logan Tuley-Tillman

AUT
62
OL
Daniel Feichter

JAP
75
OL
Kenzo Shimano

CAN
69
OL
Louis-Gabriel Beaudet


Defense
Country
No.
Pos.
Name

CAN
55
DL
Edward Godin-Gosselin

CAN
97
DL
Charles Remy-Sarrazin

USA
44
DL
Dakota Jackson

AMS
42
DL/LB
Justus Faaiu

CAN
25
LB
John Rush

USA
28
LB
Eric Beisel

USA
13
LB
Reggie Chevis

USA
3
DB
Cameron Walker

JAP
11
DB
Yuta Shimozuru

CAN
21
DB
Kevin McGee

FRA
3
DB
Carl Tembo


Specialists
Country
No.
Pos.
Name

CAN
14
K
Louis-Phillipe Simoneau

SWE
4
All-Purpose
Oscar Nevermann