Canada Shuts-Out US Under 18 Football Team 24-0 at International Bowl

[jerrym]

Congratulations to Canada's Under-18 football team.




Canada’s under-18 national team defeated the U.S. under-18 national team 24-0 on Wednesday February 3, propelling Canada to a two game to one lead over Team USA, at the 2016 International Bowl series at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
With the win, Canada’s under-18 national team also extended their undefeated streak to four games, after defeating the U18 national team for the third straight year at the International Bowl series. On Sunday January 31, Canada’s U18 national team defeated the U.S. U19 Selects 31-13.
“When you put an all-star team together, this is the outcome,” Canada’s head coach, BRAD COLLINSON said. “I think our country plays some high-level football and this age group does a great job. It’s a matter of time before it takes off with the older [U19] kids. Down here [in the U.S.], they play a good style of football but you know what, I think we’re getting there slowly but surely.”
Canada’s lone loss thus far in the series was at the hands of the USA Football’s U19 national team which defeated their Football Canada counterparts to open the event on January 31.



http://footballcanada.com/canada-blanks-u-s-in-u18-game-taking-2016-international-bowl-series-lead/

[gilthethrill]

Would love to watch those tournaments. Wonder why there is no tv coverage in Canada?

[jerrym]

Would love to watch those tournaments. Wonder why there is no tv coverage in Canada?

I agree. You would think that TSN would be especially interested in this as a means to build recognition of young players, some of whom will go on to play in the CFL.

[rdavies]

Would love to watch those tournaments. Wonder why there is no tv coverage in Canada?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cig4Ak6n-iA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5or2YW47no

[doubleblue]

Love to see the Can-Am Bowl brought back. We were out gunned before, but the Canadian talent has improved greatly since then. However, BC Place might be the only venue available for a January game now as the RC is going baseball only it appears.

This year Canada could potentially field a team with players like Josiah St. John, Jason Lauzon-Sequin, Sean McEwen, Dillon Guy, Charles Vaillancourt and Philp Gagnon on the OLine. Receivers: Teyaun Smith, Trent Blaszko, Juwan Brescacin, Lievi Noel, Trent Corby, George Johnson, Brian Jones. Running Backs: Mercer Timmis, Dillon Campbell, Lukas Gavac and Thomas Troop. Quarterbacks: Will Finch and Andrew Buckley

Defensive Line: David Onyemata, Mendi Abdeshad, Mitchell Winters, Trent Corney, Tarique Anderson. Line Backers: Frank Renaud, Joey Dwyer, Shane Gauthier, Arto Khatchikian and Curtis Newton. DB's, Arjen Colquhoun, Elie Bouka, Anthony Thompson, Michael Langlois, Dylan Kemp and Paolo Edwards.

Don't know enough about the kickers, but there would be somebody capable. I'm sure there could well be some additions and subtractions, but it would be a pretty good squad. With a little hype and coverage from TSN it could be a successful game IMO.

[jerrym]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cig4Ak6n-iA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5or2YW47no

Thanks for the videos, rdavies.

[rdavies]

Love to see the Can-Am Bowl brought back. We were out gunned before, but the Canadian talent has improved greatly since then.There is probably only one decent account of this on the web, it has become so obscure. The Can-Am Bowl was played at a time when American college programs could hardly get bigger and Canadian programs were nowhere near what they are now. I would hasten to say it would be very interesting to see this replayed with the vast improvement and professionalizing of Canadian university football programs.

The game was played with Canadian rules as the Americans had home field advantage plus the fact that everybody thought Canada would get killed otherwise.

I recall watching this and was amazed how competitive the Canadian team was when everyone thought they would get smoked. The Americans didn't score an offensive touchdown, our defense was very good. IIRC LB John Priestner (Western) was drafted by the Colts (Baltimore) and went to camp on the strength of his performance at this game. With that I give you...

Can-Am Bowl I, 1/8/78 (http://tampasportshistory.blogspot.ca/2008/01/can-am-bowl-i-1879.html)
Tampa Sports History, January 14, 2008

On Jan. 8, 1978, Tampa Stadium played host to an event unprecedented in the history of football. The Can-Am Bowl, an All-Star game pitting collegians from the United States and Canada against each other, was especially unique since the game was played by Canadian football rules. For one afternoon, top seniors from major American universities would play football against the top seniors and underclassmen from Canada. The city of Tampa, of all places, served as the battleground to finally settle the age-old debate of football superiority between these two border nations.

Actually, the disparity in football talent between Canada and the United States could not have been greater at the time. Team Canada just hoped to field a competitive team, while the American athletes hoped to avoid the humiliation of an upset loss to the Canadians. Jack Zilly, coach of Team USA, cautioned against underestimating the team from Canada, but added, “It would be embarrassing to go back to Tennessee, Alabama, Stanford, or where the players are from, if you have been beaten."

Increasing the angst of the Americans were the quirky Canadian rules. For example, teams would have only three downs to gain 10 yards, meaning "every offensive play in Canada is designed to go 10," according to Sam Bailey, the Can-Am Bowl’s executive director and former University of Tampa head coach.

Additionally, the field would be lengthened from 100 to 110 yards and widened from 53 to 60 feet. Larger fields meant larger teams as well, with the addition of one offensive and defensive player to each side of the line of scrimmage. It wasn't uncommon for a Canadian offense to feature four -- yes, four -- running backs on a given play. Throw in unlimited motion in the backfield, and one can imagine the headaches experienced by American coaches readying a game plan for their team of collegians, -- who had played football their entire lives by completely different rules.

"With the rules as we have them set up," Bailey said, "it should make for a good, competitive game, the kind fans like to see. After all, football is football."

In a surprise to no one, the United States prevailed over the Canadians by a score of 22-7. Rather than being a wide-open shootout, however, the game was a defensive struggle. In fact, Team Canada, not the U.S., was be responsible for the only offensive touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to avoid a shutout and cap the game's scoring.

The U.S. put up the majority of its points on a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns. In the second quarter, Vanderbilt cornerback Bernard Wilson picked off a pass by Acadia University’s Bob Cameron and returned it 44 yards for the game's first touchdown. Wilson’s score followed a U.S. field goal and two "rouges," one-point bonuses awarded to the kicking team for tackling a returner in his own end zone on a kickoff or punt. Colorado State punter Mike Deutsch recorded two rouges in a span of two minutes and two seconds for the Americans.

"On the first rouge, I didn't know at first I had scored a point," he said. "I knew something had happened and then they flashed the point on the scoreboard. All I could say was wow.”

Georgia linebacker Ben Zambiasi added to the Americans’ lead with a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. The extra point put the U.S. ahead 22-0. Coincidentally, Zambiasi went on to have a successful 11-year career in the professional Canadian Football League. An eight-time CFL All-Star who played in four Grey Cup championship games and won one, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004. And Cameron, Canada’s beleaguered quarterback that day, eventually won three Grey Cups and still holds the CFL record for most career punting yards.

Another interesting tidbit about the game was not apparent at the time, but the American squad featured two athletes who became well-known to Tampa football fans: Missouri’s Jim Leavitt and Bruce Allen from the University of Richmond. Leavitt, now head coach at the University of South Florida, made his mark in college as a linebacker. Allen, son of Hall of Fame Redskins and Rams coach George Allen, shared punting duties for the U.S. squad and connected on field goals of 23 and 25 yards.

Twenty-five years later, however, the game is more likely to be remembered for the steady downpour of rain than for any on-field performance. An 11,000-strong crowd attended the game, but by the end the rain had driven away all but a few thousand -- mostly Canadian -- diehards.

"What do I remember most about the game? The rain was the biggest problem," Sam Bailey recently recalled. "It wasn't totally unsuccessful, but it didn't do as well as we thought we could."

The game continued in various incarnations for three years after the first Can-Am Bowl, eventually turning into an exhibition between two Canadian squads.

In 1986, however, Tampa Stadium became a big-time bowl destination as host of the Hall of Fame Bowl, the first major college bowl game to be played in Tampa.

[rdavies]

This year Canada could potentially field a team with players like Quarterbacks: Will Finch and Andrew BuckleyWestern Mustangs star QB Will Finch calling it quits (http://www.lfpress.com/2016/01/21/western-mustangs-star-qb-will-finch-calling-it-quits)
Morris Dalla Costa, The London Free Press January 21, 2016

From the minors to the big leagues, smart people in sports now know better than to simply shake off concussions.

Even Hollywood has caught the growing public awareness wave about the devastating fallout of such traumatic brain injuries, as evidenced by Will Smith’s hit 2015 film, Concussion.

No one needs to tell that to Western University star quarterback Will Finch.

The record-setting, fourth-year pivot had the option of returning for a fifth season at the helm of what will be a strong Mustangs squad.

Instead, one of London’s best known athletes, one whose concussions have sidelined him before, is retiring to avoid risking further injury.

“I’m done now,” Finch said. “It was a really tough decision to make. I had a bunch of talks with my family and friends — and obviously the medical staff and coach (Greg) Marshall and everyone, but it’s the best thing for my health. I also graduate, so it kind of makes sense, I guess.”

Finch’s last three seasons were interrupted by injury, and he missed the ends of the 2014 and 2015 OUA seasons with *concussions.

The injuries that derailed his career also derailed the *Mustangs’ hopes for a Vanier Cup, the national university football *championship.

Awareness of the impact of brain injuries on athletes at all levels has grown dramatically in recent years, underscored by last year’s Hollywood film about Dr. Bennet Omalu, a pathologist who uncovered the truth about brain injuries among players in the National Football League.

Caused by blows to the head or violent hits to the upper body, common in contact sports, the effects of concussions are usually temporary, but can range from headaches and problems concentrating, to memory and balance problems.

Giving the brain time to heal properly is key.

In London, medical professionals have been on the cutting edge of concussion research and treatment. The Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic, founded in 1974, has had more than 2,000 visits by hockey, soccer, basketball and football players with sports concussions.

Finch said he’s come to a tipping point.

“I know last year that I said that if I got another concussion, I would call it quits,” he said.

“For me, when you get injured you learn a lot about yourself. You know how important your health is. I don’t want to have to go through sitting on a hospital bed again at two in the morning, sitting in a dark room with no visual stimulation. It just makes sense. There’s much more to life.”

Dr. Henry Svec, a psychologist who operates the Dr. Svec Institute and Rehabilitation Clinics in several cities in Southwestern Ontario, and a former Mustang football player who deals with traumatic brain injuries, called Finch’s decision, speaking as a fan and alumni, a “courageous one.”

He wouldn’t speak specifically about Finch, because he hasn’t had any interaction with him.

But Svec said too often not enough is done to diagnose the severity of a concussion and not enough recovery time is allocated for the brain to heal and rehabilitate after an injury.

“I’m getting to the point where if we don’t want to spend the time to look at what’s really happened from a physiological standpoint, then you have to just accept that after so many (concussions) — just like a knee — you can’t let that get injured again,” Svec said.

Mustang head coach Marshall had several discussions with Finch after the season and was waiting for him to decide what he’d do.

He wasn’t surprised by Finch’s decision.

“We’ve talking about this for a year now. I love the kid, but health should be his first concern,” Marshall said. “He was pretty close to making a decision. I told him to go home, spend time with your family, make this decision when you try to take away the emotion, the immediacy of the disappointment of the season and the injury out of it.”

While Finch says this is the end of his football-playing days, it isn’t the end of his ties to the game.

“I’m going to get into coaching and training and football will never not be a big part of my life,” he said.

In his four years at Western, Finch played 30 regular-season games — completing 533 of 790 passes for 8,243 yards, 57 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. He also had more than 1,200 yards rushing. In six playoff games, he had 1,372 yards passing.

His big year was 2013-14. He played in all eight regular-season games and three playoff games. In the regular season, he completed 191 of 274 passes for 3,047 yards and 21 touchdowns, with six interceptions.

In the playoffs he completed 48 of 78 passes for 576 yards and three touchdowns. He set an Ontario University Athletics record with 3,047 passing yards, and a 69.7 completion percentage. He was the 2013 OUA most valuable player and Hec Crighton Trophy nominee.

That success made the ending he faced this year all the more difficult. The Mustangs were a dominant team until Finch got hurt. They lost the Yates Cup, presented for the OUA championship, at home to the Guelph Gryphons.

[argolio]

Is this just a Canada-US deal, or do any other countries participate?

[jerrym]

Is this just a Canada-US deal, or do any other countries participate?

Only Canada and the US are involved.



The 2016 International Bowl took place Sunday, Jan. 31; Wednesday, Feb. 3; and Friday, Feb. 5, at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Four U.S. National Teams joined U.S. Select Teams in a series of games against Canadian National Teams and Canadian Provincial Teams, with the United States winning four of the six contests. More than 500 top U.S. high school and junior high athletes represented their country on the football field.



http://internationalbowl.com

[doubleblue]

There is probably only one decent account of this on the web, it has become so obscure. The Can-Am Bowl was played at a time when American college programs could hardly get bigger and Canadian programs were nowhere near what they are now. I would hasten to say it would be very interesting to see this replayed with the vast improvement and professionalizing of Canadian university football programs.

The game was played with Canadian rules as the Americans had home field advantage plus the fact that everybody thought Canada would get killed otherwise.

I recall watching this and was amazed how competitive the Canadian team was when everyone thought they would get smoked. The Americans didn't score an offensive touchdown, our defense was very good. IIRC LB John Priestner (Western) was drafted by the Colts (Baltimore) and went to camp on the strength of his performance at this game. With that I give you...

Can-Am Bowl I, 1/8/78 (http://tampasportshistory.blogspot.ca/2008/01/can-am-bowl-i-1879.html)

My recall they had the game twice. This one was the first year and the second year the score was more one sided in favour of the US. I was sure that Canadian rules were used for one half and American rules for the second half. It was televised. Another couple of players who participated in one or other of those games and went on to successful careers in the CFL were. Big Canadian RB Jim Reid (6'3 230) who had a good career with the Ottawa Rough Riders and American RB Larry Key who played several years with the BC Lions.

[gilthethrill]

My recall they had the game twice. This one was the first year and the second year the score was more one sided in favour of the US. I was sure that Canadian rules were used for one half and American rules for the second half. It was televised. Another couple of players who participated in one or other of those games and went on to successful careers in the CFL were. Big Canadian RB Jim Reid (6'3 230) who had a good career with the Ottawa Rough Riders and American RB Larry Key who played several years with the BC Lions.

I never actually saw a game, but I think Joe PoaPoa and former Ticat John Preistner participated as well.

[doubleblue]

I never actually saw a game, but I think Joe PoaPoa and former Ticat John Preistner participated as well.

I don't remember Joe playing in one of those games but MLB Preistner did.

[rdavies]

My recall they had the game twice. This one was the first year and the second year the score was more one sided in favour of the US. I was sure that Canadian rules were used for one half and American rules for the second half. It was televised. Another couple of players who participated in one or other of those games and went on to successful careers in the CFL were. Big Canadian RB Jim Reid (6'3 230) who had a good career with the Ottawa Rough Riders and American RB Larry Key who played several years with the BC Lions.I don't think the second game was a humiliation or anything like that, I believe Jim Reid (Laurier) did play, did he have the touchdown in the first game, and I definately remember Larry Key playing (Florida State)

[ArgoRavi]

I never actually saw a game, but I think Joe PoaPoa and former Ticat John Preistner participated as well.

Priestner played for Canada but Paopao was already in B.C. when these games were being played.