USA In Gold Medal Game

In the 2009 IFAF Football Junior World Championships, Team USA won two pool games by a combined 133-0 and advanced to Sunday's gold medal game against Canada.

On Saturday, the American team beat France 78-0 in front of 10,145 fans thanks to huge games from Virginia Tech running back signee David Wilson, South Carolina safety signee Chris Payne, and quarterback Phillip Butterfield who is headed to Arkansas State.

The Americans racked up 610 yards of total offense, with Wilson rushing for 181 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 attempts. Butterfield threw for 149 yards and a touchdown on 12 of 16 passing while Bryce Petty, a Baylor signee, threw for another 56 yards and another touchdown while completing five of eight passes.

Defensively, Team USA held France to just seven yards of net offense including 31 yards of negative rushing yardage. Payne led the defense with eight tackles and a sack, linebacker Tariq Edwards (Virginia Tech) finished with six tackles and a sack, A.J. Ferguson (NC State) finished five tackles and a sack, and safety Corey Lillard (Virginia) added four tackles and two interceptions.

Against Team Mexico, left tackle Jack Mewhort led USA onto the field waving the American flag. Mewhort, an Ohio State recruit, was joined in the starting lineup along the offensive line by John Plasencia (Northwestern), Brian Winters (Kent State), Evan Swindall (Mississippi), Aaron Price (Indiana) and Oday Aboushi (Virginia).

The Americans won by a score of 55-0 with Wilson rushing for 150 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. Petty added another 136 yards and two touchdowns going 6-for-8 passing.

"I think when the whistle blew we played with good intensity," USA coach Chuck Kyle said. "I think we accomplished our mission."

Lillard again was a team leader defensively with four solo tackles, linebacker Prestin Brown (Texas State) also had four solo stops, Payne added three tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble which was picked up for a touchdown, and Tyler Dippel (Wisconsin) made two sacks in the game.

USA outgained Mexico in total yards by nearly four hundred yards at 433 to 35 and held a large edge in first downs with 17 to four for Mexico.

Robert Bell, a linebacker/fullback headed to the University of Toledo, scored a touchdown for USA on offense and defense, and also recorded a sack.

Over the course of the first two games, Wilson has rushed for 327 yards and seven touchdowns on 23 carries, including a fifty yard run for a touchdown on the very first offensive play for USA against Mexico.

"He's awesome," Mexico coach Ernesto Alfaro del Villar said. "I remember a touchdown where half our team touched him (and he didn't go down). He's a great player."

Baylor signee Tevin Reese leads the wide receivers after two games with six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.

The undefeated Team USA squad will play Team Canada (2-0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Gold Medal Game at Fawcett Stadium. Canada defeated New Zealand 55-0 and Japan 38-35.

Follow the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship at www.JWCFootball.com