Canada knocks off Japan, will face U.S. in IFAF World Cup final

Team Canada's run at the International Federation of American Football World Cup in Austria continued Wednesday, but it wasn't easy. The Canadians fell behind 27-24 with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter against two-time tournament winner Japan, but rallied with a great four-play 73-yard drive capped off by a rushing touchdown from Calgary Stampeders' draft pick Matt Walter (pictured above after the Austria game). That touchdown gave the Canadians, a squad comprised of current CIS players, former CIS types and former CFL players like Adriano Belli and Sherko Haji-Rasouli, a 31-27 lead with 3:31 left. Their defence would hang on to make that the final score, with Montreal Carabins' defensive back Julien Hamel recording an interception after Japan's fourth-down pass bounced off the hands of Michihiro Ogawa. The win meant Canada improved to 3-0 in pool play and won the pool, setting up a gold-medal clash Saturday with the heavily-favoured U.S. squad. That's a pretty impressive showing for a country competing by unfamiliar American rules in its first IFAF World Cup ever.

It was a notable win for Canada against a very good Japanese team, which had also gone 2-0 to this point. Japan claimed the first IFAF World Cup titles in 1999 and 2003, and only fell to the U.S. in double overtime in 2007. Their dominant rushing attack led them to victories over Austria and France, and it caused problems for Canada; Japan picked up 125 rushing yards on 23 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry (much better in the four-down football played at this tournament than it would be in the three-down systems in the CFL and CIS).

However, the Canadian ground game was great as well, collecting 131 yards (or 141 yards if you subtract sacks) and three touchdowns on 34 attempts. That's a less-stellar, but still impressive, average of 4.1 yards per running play. Walter (a CIS star with the Calgary Dinos, pictured at right doing the highly-recommended air guitar celebration with current Edmonton Eskimos' receiver Nathan Coehoorn after a 2009 Uteck Bowl touchdown)�picked up 62 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while Canadian game MVP and former Saskatchewan Huskies' running back David Stevens collected 63 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries.

The Canadian aerial assault wasn't as strong as it had been in previous clashes, but it still got the job done. Former Western star and current York offensive coordinator Michael Faulds completed 14 of his 21 passes (66.7 per cent) for 204 yards and a touchdown with an interception, including a 72-yard catch and run play to Stevens. Laurier receiver Shawmad Chambers, former Queen's receiver Scott Valberg and former Laval fullback Michel-Pierre Pontbriand also contributed in the receiving game, with Pontbriand making a stunning diving end-zone touchdown catch. Meanwhile, the Canadian passing defence held Japanese quarterback Tetsuo Takata to 16 completions on 29 attempts (55.2 per cent) for 196 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

The U.S. isn't going to be an easy opponent for Canada. Granted, their roster doesn't have a ton of huge names from the top tiers of the NCAA (former Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins may be the most recognizable, even if he doesn't have his own dance), but as the CFL continually proves, there's plenty of talent at smaller Division I schools and at the Division II and Division III levels. Funnily enough, one of the Americans' key players thus far has been running back Da'shawn Thomas, who plays his college football north of the border in CIS with Western. It's going to be interesting to see how he and his American comrades stack up against Canada Sunday. The gold-medal game will be Sunday at 7 p.m. local (1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific). Check out the tournament website and Twitter feed for more information.

Teri Hatcher Lauren Bush Natalie Zea Brody Dalle Taryn Manning