Team USA Participates in World Championship in Austin

2013 Fenton (MO) Rockwood Summit linebacker Eric Beisel committed to Missouri in an announcement at his high school prior to their annual alumni game on Thursday. The former Team USA member chose the Tigers over finalists Arkansas, Illinois and Nebraska.

A 6-4, 235-pounder known as a hard hitter and weight room warrior, Beisel is rated by the services as a consensus three-star prospect. Prior to his commitment, he held offers from five other schools that did not make his top four.

Back during the IFAF U-19 World Championship in Austin during the early part of July, the recently-committed Texas A&M pledge Tavares Garner indicated to SB Nation Recruiting that he and fellow Aggie pledge Reggie Chevis were working on Missouri commit Chase Abbington, who was also on the American team.

Garner and Chevis weren’t the only ones, either. Another future Aggie and current teammate of Garner, Alvin (TX) Manvel wide receiver Kyrion Parker, who was once an LSU commitment, was also hard at work trying to convince Abbington to switch his allegiance and wear maroon and white in college.

Back during the IFAF U-19 World Championship in Austin during the early part of July, recent (at the time) Texas A&M pledge Tavares Garner indicated to SB Nation Recruiting that he and fellow Aggie pledge Reggie Chevis were working on Missouri commit Chase Abbington, who was also on the team.

Garner and Chevis weren’t the only ones -- another future Aggie and a current teammate of Garner, Alvin (TX) Manvel wide receiver Kyrion Parker, a one-time LSU commitment, was also hard at work trying to convince Abbington to switch his allegiance and wear maroon and white in college.

Sicklerville (NJ) Timber Creek defensive end Dajaun Drennon is with Team USA in Austin just doing what he does -- pressuring the quarterback. It’s earned him a spot on the Texas recruiting radar.

After an effort against American Samoa that saw him spend a lot of face time with the Samoa quarterback, Drennon once again terrorized a Team USA opponent, putting a hurting on the Austria signal caller on two consecutive plays in the second quarter.

AUSTIN, TX -- After the first quarter, Austria was hanging with the United States, tied 7-7, outgaining the Americans in total yardage at Burger Stadium in the second round of the IFAF U-19 World Championship. But Team USA ran off 63 straight points over the following three quarters to prevail 70-7 and advance to the gold medal game on Saturday against Canada, victors over Japan in the early game.

Two short stretches opened up the game for Team USA, as the Americans dropped four touchdowns on the Austrians in the second quarter, including three in just over three minutes of gametime, aided by multiple turnovers.

It’s Independence Day, so perhaps it’s fitting that Team USA will take the field at Burger Stadium on Wednesday to go against Austria for a chance to play the winner of Canada-Japan in the gold medal game of the IFAF U-19 World Championship on Saturday.

The Americans defeated American Samoa on Saturday night to stay in the winners bracket and hope for a repeat performance this evening. The game will be available streaming live at 8 pm CST.

Let’s go, ‘Merica. It’s your day, football is your sport, and this is your national team.

One of the top performers for Team USA against American Samoa on Saturday night in the opening round of the IFAF U-19 World Championship was Sicklerville (NJ) Timber Creek defensive end Dajaun Drennon, a 6’3”, 235-pounder with long arms and an explosive burst off the ball who spent much of the evening harassing the Samoan quarterback.

The strong showing capped off a good week of practice for Drennon, who has a top five of Kentucky, Notre Dame, North Carolina, USC and West Virginia. Notable schools that didn’t make the cut? Alabama and Florida State, which both offered. SB Nation caught up with the athletic edge rusher on Sunday. Here’s what he said about his favorites.

Miami (FL) Columbus wide receiver Jesus Wilson is electric with the ball in his hands. Those in attendance at Burger Stadium in Austin on Saturday evening got a glimpse of that early in the opening round of the IFAF U-19 World Championship.

On the opening kickoff (viewable at the 34:00 mark of the linked video), the Florida State commit fielded a bouncing kick at the US 23 yardline, headed towards the middle of the field to allow his blockers to do their work, then exploded through an opening, breaking an arm tackle and outrunning the kicker to the endzone to give Team USA a 6-0 lead only 13 seconds into the game.

With only one true quarterback on the Team USA roster Saturday evening, depth at the position was a serious concern. That concern was addressed Sunday afternoon, with the news from USA Football that Danville (CA) San Ramon Valley’s Cameron Birse was added to the roster.

A 6-2, 205-pound pro-style passer in the 2013 class, Birse is still waiting for his first offer, but is ranked as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals. Birse will start for the first time as a senior after backing up 2012 Cal signee Zach Kline.

After Missouri commit Trent Hosick had to leave Austin, Team USA found itself using wide receiver Rashad Kinlaw as the back-up quarterback, but Kinlaw went down with an ankle injury against American Samoa.

Birse will provide some insurance in case of an injury to Scott, but he’ll have little opportunity to learn the Team USA offense with the finals only six days away and a contest looming on Wednesday against Austria.

Coming into the IFAF U-19 World Championship, 2013 Lancaster (TX) wide receiver Demarcus Ayers needed to take advantage of valuable reps at his future position at Washington State. The 5-10, 165-pounder played quarterback for his high school, so he has more game experience throwing the football than catching it.

The lack of experience didn’t hurt him on Saturday night, when he torched American Samoa to the tune of seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, earning the Team MVP award in the process. The first American score was a kickoff return by Florida State commit Jesus Wilson to start the contest, but Ayers was a major factor in each of the other three scores.

AUSTIN, TX -- When Florida State commit Jesus Wilson fielded the opening kickoff for Team USA and promptly took it 73 yards for a touchdown, it looked like the Americans might run American Samoa right off the Burger Stadium field on Saturday night in the opening game for both teams in the IFAF U-19 World Championship.

Six minutes later, when quarterback Brayden Scott, a Memphis commit, took a keeper one yard, those feelings were further substantiated. However, American Samoa held tough throughout the game to keep the score a respectable 27-6 when the final buzzer sounded and Team USA walked off the field with a victory.

A gamble by Team USA head coach Steve Specht early in the second quarter paid off, as quarterback Brayden Scott connected over the middle with slot receiver Demarcus Ayers for a seven-yard touchdown catch on fourth down. Scott had an efficient performance in the first half, going 8-10 for 117 yards and that touchdown to Ayers, who led the team with five catches for 82 yards.

A personal foul for a late hit on the quarterback by linebacker Reggie Spearman helped extend an American Samoan drive inside the US redzone and the Pacific Islanders converted with a one-yard touchdown plunge by Howard Tautu that narrowed the margin to 20-6. Spearman picked up two more personal foul penalties after a three-and-out by the Americans on offense mostly a result of a sack on a play-action pass attempt. As a whole, Team USA committed 10 total penalties in the first half.

Keyed by the explosive play of Florida State commit Jesus Wilson, the United States has surged out to a 13-0 lead over American Samoa going into the second quarter at Burger Stadium in Austin in the opening game of the IFAF U-19 World Championship for the defending champs.

It didn’t take long for Wilson to make his presence known, as the wide receiver took a short kick from American Samoa to open the game and promptly took it 73 yards to paydirt.

Another explosive run from Wilson that went for 12 yards on a jetsweep and featured a cut back against the grain helped jump start the first American drive, which was highlighted by a 43-yard pass from Memphis commit Brayden Scott to Washington State commit Demarcus Ayers, who showed off his explosiveness to separate from a defender before he was tackled at the one yardline.

Two plays later, Scott kept the ball himself to push the lead to 13-0 after the extra point.

The Samoans threatened on their second possession, using their ball-control triple option offense to steadily move the ball down the field, aided by some play-action passing, the drive ended with a fumble inside the American redzone.

Team USA opens first-round play in the IFAF U-19 World Championship against American Samoa Saturday at 8 p.m. CST at Burger Stadium in Austin, Texas. USA football will stream the contest live on YouTube.

The defending champs, the top-seeded American team will seek a better result in this tournament than the loss suffered at the hands of the World Team in the International Bowl back in February. In 2009, the national team kept the gold medal at home in the states by winning the tournament held in Canton, Ohio, outscoring their opponents 174-3.

It’s often said of the best defensive backs that a short-term memory is an absolute requirement of the position -- a mistake has to be left behind, not lingered upon.

For Texas A&M commit Tavares Garner of Alvin (TX) Manvel, such was the case with his recruitment.

It’s a rough year to be a three-star running back in the state of Florida. After all, six of the top 20 running backs in the entire country hail from the Sunshine State. As a result, 2013 Miami (FL) Columbus running back Lorenzo Woodley is a little bit on the outside looking as it regards the top school both in the state and the schools that heavily recruit Florida.

All that isn’t to say that Woodley is underrecruited. The 6-0, 210-pounder, who is a consensus three-star recruit, has invitations to play at 15 schools, including offers from Cincinnati, Florida State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Rutgers, South Florida, West Virginia, and Vanderbilt.

It wasn’t exactly that a secret that 2013 Sharpstown (TX) linebacker Reggie Chevis was heavily favoring the Texas A&M Aggies prior to committing on June 12th. In Austin for the upcoming World Championships, the big, athletic linebacker spoke with SB Nation about his decision.

Wearing a backwards A&M hat and Aggie sweatpants, Chevis’ attire made his college choice clear. It’s a decision that he knew he would make for some time before making it official.

The 5’11, 175-pound cornerback spoke with SB Nation on Sunday about his decision.

Like most prospects, a major part of his decision to commit to Illinois was based on his comfort level with the coaching staff in Champaign and the level of interest they showed in him.