Österreichs American Football Junioren Nationalteam gelang im WM-Auftaktspiel gegen Panama mit 40:0 ein deutlicher Sieg zum Auftakt und wird in Austin/Texas um eine Medaille spielen.
Ob um Gold, Silber oder Bronze wird sich im zweiten Spiel am kommenden Mittwoch in der Nacht auf Donnerstag (03:00 MEZ) entscheiden, in dem die AFBÖ Equipe vermutlich auf die USA treffen wird, die heute Nacht gegen Amerika Samoa spielt.
Die Österreicher machten bereits in der ersten Halbzeit mit Touchdowns von Maximilian Dietl, Philipp Sommer, Matthias Kiegerl und Felix Stadler alles klar. Bereits im zweiten Quarter setzte Headcoach Horst Obermayer vermehrt Backups ein. Trotzdem blieben die Panamaer mit ihren Angriffsbemühungen weiter erfolglos.
In Hälfte zwei legte Österreich noch im dritten Viertel über Dominik Szecsi und im vierten über Florian Bundschuh nach Pässen des zweiten Quarterbacks Adrian Platzgummer zum 40:0-Endstand nach.
Zum Game MVP wurde Christoph Gubisch gewählt.
U-19 IFAF Weltmeisterschaft
Panama vs. Österreich 0:40
(0:12/0:14/0:7/0:7)
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Spielstatistiken«
30. Juni 2012 16:00, Burger Stadium Austin,TX
Scorer Österreich:
Touchdowns: Maximilian Dietl, Philipp Sommer, Matthias Kiegerl, Felix Stadler, Dominik Szecsi, Florian Bundschuh
Extrapunkte: Clemens Erlsbacher (2), Anton Wegan (2)
IFAF Press Release:
AUSTRIA WINS FIRST GAME OF THE 2012 IFAF UNDER-19 WORLD CHAMPIONHIP WITH 40-POINT WIN OVER PANAMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 – AUSTIN, TX – AUSTIN, TEXAS – Austria’s Christoph Gubisch threw two first-half touchdown passes and the Austrian defense limited Panama to two first downs in the opening half as Austria raced to a 26-0 halftime lead en route to a 40-0 victory in the opening game of the 2012 IFAF U19 World Championship at Burger Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Austria will now face the winner of tonight’s USA-American Samoa game in the semifinals on July 4. Panama will face the loser of that game in the consolation round on July 3.
In a game that featured full use of the rosters by both teams, MVP Gubisch finished the day with four completions from five attempts for 101 yards and two scores in a little over a quarter of action to earn Player of the Game honors for Austria.
"Panama is a very good team but we thought we could beat them if we played our game as we prepared," said Gubisch. "We don’t know which opponent we are going to play yet but either one will be tough. We will prepare for it and see what happens."
After holding Panama without a first down on its opening series, Austria marched 72 yards in three plays to score on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Gubisch to Maximilian Dietl. Following a failed PAT attempt, Austria led 6-0.
Following another three-and-out by Panama, Gubisch led the Austrians on a short 45-yard drive that he capped with a 33-yard scoring strike to Philipp Sommer who was wide open down the left sideline. Running back Andreas Hofbauer was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion but the Austrians led 12-0.
Austria turned to its ground game on its third series, throwing two passes as they moved 56 yards in nine plays. Hofbauer and Philipp Kern accounted for 30 yards rushing on the drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Matthias Kiegerl that pushed Austria’s lead to 19-0.
"We had no information about Panama so we didn’t know how strong they would be," said Austria Offensive Coordinator Jakob Dieplinger. "We didn’t know how long our starters would have to play. We were able to rest some key players, which is key for our next game because it will be a really tough one."
Panama again failed to pick up a first down and following a mishandled snap on a punt attempt, Austria took over at Panama’s 30-yard line. Alexander Thury spelled Gubisch at quarterback and hooked up with Florian Bundschuh on a 29-yard pass play down to the Panama 1 to open the drive. Felix Stadler rumbled into the end zone two plays later to extend the Austria lead to 26-0 and end the first half scoring midway through the second quarter.
The score remained unchanged until the 2:01 mark of the third quarter when Austria’s third quarterback of the day, Adrian Platzgummer connected on a 57-yard scoring strike to Dominik Szecsi who slipped behind the defense and scampered down the right sideline untouched for the score to push Austria’s lead to 33-0.
Austria added a fourth quarter score on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Platzgummer to Florian Bundschuh with 5:54 to go to cap the scoring.
Linebacker Xavier Ramos earned Player of the Game honors for Panama with two sacks, a forced fumble and six tackles
"We played a great team," said Panama Head Coach Raul Arosemena. "They played hard and kind of caught us off guard. We lost our quarterback on the first play and missed some assignments on defense. The second half, instead of going spread we ran the ball and kept with it because it worked."
2012 IFAF U-19 Weltmeisterschaft Spielplan:
Alle Spiele im Burger Stadium (Austin/TX, USA)
Samstag, 30. Juni
9:00 a.m. (16:00 MEZ) No. 4 Panama vs. No. 5 Austria 0:40
11:30 a.m. No. 3 Japan vs. No. 6 France 27:6
5:00 p.m. No. 2 Canada vs. No. 7 Sweden
8:00 p.m. No. 1 United States vs. No. 8 American Samoa
Dienstag, 3. Juli
5:00 p.m. JAP/FRA losing team vs. CAN/SWE losing team
8:00 p.m. PAN/AUT losing team vs. USA/AMS losing team
Mittwoch, 4. Juli
5:30 p.m. JAP/FRA winner vs. CAN/SWE winner
8:00 p.m. AUT winner vs. USA/AMS winner
Freitag, 6. Juli
5:00 p.m. 7th place game
8:00 p.m. 5th place game
Samstag, 7. Juli
5:00 p.m. Bronze Medal Game
8:00 p.m. Gold Medal Game
