Canada 33, Japan 24 at the 2012 U19 World Championship

Since the World Junior Hockey tournament starts today, I am motivated to add to the football version here. 

I have already included the recap of Canada's opening game in the tournament, a 43-00 against Sweden, as well as the gold medal victory over the USA, 23-17.   The recap below is of the only other game played by Canada at the tournament, and the one that put them in the gold medal game.

It is also a game that sacred the hell out of me. I just had a bad feeling about it; Japan looked fast and organized.  Sure enough, it was far more competitive than most other games, a late Canadian score making the victory appear more decisive than it actually was.  One of these days, Japan will break either Canadian or American hearts (or both?) in one of the tournaments.

In any event, Todd Bell's recap is abbreviated slightly and copied below.

Team Canada intercepted a tournament-record five passes and ran off 16 unanswered points to end the first half en route to a 33-24 win over Japan on Wednesday in the first semifinal of the International Federation of American Football Under-19 World Championship at Burger Stadium in Austin, Texas.

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Japan finished with a 330-264 advantage in total offense, but two critical interceptions late in the first half swung the game in Canada’s favor before the break and Japan could not recover.

After its first drive was thwarted by an interception, Japan opened the scoring on a 3-yard plunge by James Takada on its second possession. The score capped a three-play, 50-yard drive set up by a short Canada punt.

Canada answered immediately with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Keegan Arnyek to knot the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.

After forcing a Japan punt on its next series, Canada took over at its own 19, but Japan’s Yusuke Mine stepped in front of a Will Finch pass on first down and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown to give Japan a 14-7 lead with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

Canada wasted little time equalizing, moving 60 yards in four plays on the next drive and scoring on a 37-yard pass from Finch to Doug Corby with 1:32 left in the opening quarter.

Japan looked poised to retake the lead on its next drive as quarterback Kyogo Kishimura moved his offense to the Canada 7-yard line midway through the second quarter, but on third-and-7 a pass from running back Aruto Nishimura was intercepted in the end zone by Canada’s Rees Paterson to end the threat.

“That was without doubt one of the most amazing games I’ve ever played in,” said Canada MVP linebacker John Rush, who led the team with 11 tackles. “Japan was hard, and they were disciplined. They weren’t as physical as (us), but they were so good their assignments, and they ran everything perfectly.

“We stuck in there and made some big stops, and we had some big turnovers in key situations. Our defensive line was killing it, and they helped block for the linebackers to flow over the top, and our whole defense overall played extremely well.”

The game swung on two Japan possessions late in the second quarter. With 2:16 left in the half, Kishimura was intercepted by Canada’s Jean-Gabriel Poulin at the Japan 26. Team Japan kept Canada out of the end zone but Louis-Philippe Simoneau’s 35-yard field goal try was good to give Canada a 17-14 lead.

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Japan took over with 55 seconds remaining in the half and elected to throw on first down. The decision resulted in another interception, this time by Canada’s Pierre-Luc Caron, who returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. The extra-point snap was mishandled, but Canada led, 23-14, at the break.

Dressed in all red uniforms with black helmets bearing a red maple leaf, Canada elected to defend to start the second half and give Japan the wind in the third quarter. Japan took the opening kickoff and moved 46 yards on 11 plays to cut the lead to 23-17 on a 31-yard field goal by Nanami Ariwa.

Canada moved into Japan territory on its opening drive of the half, but Finch was intercepted for the second time on the day, this time by Ikuma Mitsuya to stymie the Canadian march.

Hugo Richard took over at quarterback on Canada’s next series and was promptly intercepted by Yuta Shimozuru at the Japan 36-yard line. Japan drove to the Canada 35 before Kishimura was intercepted at the Canada three-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Canada relied on the legs of Richard and Mercer Timmis on its next drive as the duo carried the ball on all seven plays, gaining 77 yards to set Simoneau up for his second field goal attempt of the day. The kick was good from 37 yards as Canada upped the lead to 26-17 with 8:51 left.

Japan quickly answered the field goal, moving 70 yards in seven plays and cutting the lead to 26-24 on a four-yard run by Kishimura with 6:24 left in the game.

Canada iced the victory on the next drive, moving 61 yards on seven plays with Richard diving in from a yard out for the nine-point margin of victory.

Linebacker John Rush, on the strength of the 10.5 tackles mentioned above, was named to the tournament's all-star team and the MVP for this game. At this time, he plays for Guelph in Ontario University Athletics football.  He was a second team all-conference selection in 2012 as a 2nd-year player but suffered a season-ending knee injury in September of this year. He was also a captain for the 2012 International Bowl World team.