Nova Scotia Senior Men to represent Canada at Flag Worlds
Photo credit: Scott Kirkpatrick, stkphoto.com
In a series of three games on April 26 and 27th at the East Hantz Sportsplex just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia defeated Saskatchewan 2 games to 1 earning the right to represent Canada on the senior men’s side of the draw at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championship in Jerusalem, Israel August 13-15.
The 2014 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Israel marks the 3rd time that Nova Scotia will represent their nation internationally. The team placed fourth in Ottawa at the 2010 flag worlds after losing a heartbreaker to Italy while they placed 6th in a field of 16 at the 2012 tournament in Sweden.
The team will feed off the experience provided by Shanon Noel, Jason Warren and Grant Miles who have been with the team throughout their world championship run.
“I’m happy to be able to represent Canada at the world championships for a third time,” said Shanon Noel.
“Our goal is to bring home the gold, hopefully the third time will be the charm,” added Grant Miles.
Saskatchewan won the opening game of the three game series by a final score of 27-12 however the defending champions battled back in game two. Nova Scotia began the second half of their second game with a 14-6 lead adding two scores to extend their lead 26-6. Saskatchewan rallied back to force overtime, scoring three majors and 2 extra-points to tie the game at 26. After Saskatchewan was unable to score on the opening possession of OT, Nova Scotia claimed a hard-fought victory after scoring on their first attempt.
Nova Scotia
|
Shane Gushue
|
1 touchdown and 1 extra point (7 points)
|
Andrew Hebb
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1 touchdown and 1 extra point (7 points)
|
|
Grant Myles
|
1 touchdown (6 points)
|
|
Ryan Henneberry
|
1 touchdown (6 points)
|
|
Saskatchewan
|
Dave Stevens
|
2 touchdowns (12 points)
|
Karl Phillips
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2 touchdowns (12 points)
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Mitch Stevens
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2 extra points (2 points)
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With the series tied at 1 and having seized the momentum from their overtime victory in game two, Nova Scotia came out of the gates with two first half scores in game three to make the score 12-0 at the half. Nova Scotia extended their lead 19-0 with a touchdown and extra-point 7 minutes into the second half. Saskatchewan replied at the 15:40 mark to cut the NS lead 19-6, which would end up in the final score for the game.
Nova Scotia
|
Shane Gushue
|
2 touchdown and 1 extra point (13 points)
|
Ryan Henneberry
|
1 touchdown (6 points)
|
|
Saskatchewan
|
Dave Stevens
|
1 touchdown (6 points)
|
Nova Scotia defeated Saskatchewan 2 games to 1 with their game two and three victories to earn a position at the world championships in Israel.