Forty-four high school and college football players spanning 19 states have been selected for the U.S. Under-19 National Team that will compete in the 2018 International Federation of American Football World Championship, USA Football announced today.
Following its training camp July 3-12 at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff), the National Team will travel to Mexico City for the first of its three games July 14 against Australia. The event – held every two years – culminates with the Gold Medal Game on July 22.
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The head coach of the U.S. Under-19 National Team is Matt Hennesy of Pawhuska (Oklahoma) High School. A high school coaching veteran of 26 years, Hennesy enters his first season at Pawhuska. In 2012, he took over a Locust Grove (Oklahoma) program that had won just two games in its previous three seasons, and went 52-18 (.742) during his tenure. Hennesy was defensive coordinator for the 2016 U-19 National Team that competed in the IFAF World Championship in Harbin, China, and was head coach of the 2017 U-18 squad that defeated Canada in the North American Championship.
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The United States is one of six nations that will compete for the championship, along with Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Sweden. The U.S. earned a silver medal at the 2016 IFAF U-19 World Championship, as it lost to Canada 24-6. The U.S. has won two of the four World Championships to date (2009, ’14), while Canada claimed the other two (’12, ’16).
2018 U.S. Under-19 National Team roster:
NAME (No.) |
POS |
HT |
WT |
HIGH SCHOOL / COLLEGE (FALL 2018) |
Alek Jacobs (2) |
QB |
6-0 |
190 |
Augustana College (Illinois) |
Jake O’Donnell (12) |
QB |
6-4 |
185 |
James Madison University (Virginia) |
Alec Meza (4) |
RB |
5-10 |
195 |
Scottsdale College (Arizona) |
Treshaun Ward (6) |
RB |
5-9 |
185 |
Tampa Bay Tech (Florida) H.S. |
Chaise Ellis (22) |
RB |
5-11 |
210 |
Midwestern State University (Texas) |
Casey Clanton (86) |
TE |
6-4 |
240 |
Central H.S. (Phoenix) |
Emerson Freeman (42) |
TE |
6-2 |
230 |
Western State University (Colorado) |
Ben Roots (64) |
OL |
6-4 |
280 |
Desert Mountain H.S. (Scottsdale, Arizona) |
Julian Bradley (65) |
OL |
6-3 |
285 |
Henderson (Nevada) H.S. |
Dugan Kelly (68) |
OL |
6-4 |
300 |
Quincy (Illinois) University |
Eli Save (79) |
OL |
6-4 |
320 |
Southern Oregon University |
Kobe Rios (76) |
OL |
6-6 |
300 |
Rock Island (Illinois) H.S. |
Donovan Robinson (75) |
OL |
6-6 |
310 |
Avalon (Maryland) H.S. |
Isaiah Butler (74) |
OL |
6-4 |
310 |
Kennedale (Texas) H.S. |
Kaiden Baxter (60) |
OL |
6-2 |
275 |
Phoenix College |
Ezekiel Ennis (5) |
WR |
6-0 |
185 |
Sacred Heart University (Connecticut) |
Caleb Easley (20) |
WR |
6-0 |
175 |
San Tan Charter School (Gilbert, Arizona)* |
Harrington Greer (14) |
WR |
6-5 |
190 |
South Bend (Indiana) Riley H.S.* |
Randy Rivera (3) |
WR |
5-10 |
175 |
Eleanor Roosevelt (California) H.S. |
Dax Hodges (80) |
WR |
6-4 |
185 |
Mesa (Arizona) College |
Ali Jennings (13) |
WR |
6-3 |
185 |
Highland Springs (Virginia) H.S. |
Immanuel Hickman (8) |
DE |
6-3 |
235 |
Matoaca (Virginia) H.S. |
De’Andre Clifton (23) |
DE |
6-3 |
230 |
Avalon (Maryland) H.S. |
|
||||
Rick D’Abreu (44) |
DE |
6-3 |
235 |
Thomas Dale (Virginia) H.S. |
Cooper Beebe (98) |
DT |
6-3 |
310 |
Piper (Kansas) H.S.** |
Colin Christman-Gourley (91) |
DT |
6-3 |
300 |
Texas A&M - Commerce |
Scott Jones (69) |
DT |
6-1 |
285 |
Phoenix College |
Hasani Adams (66) |
DT |
6-3 |
300 |
West Memphis (Arkansas) H.S. |
Nathan Amico (9) |
LB |
6-1 |
225 |
University of Arizona |
Vinny LoSauro (15) |
LB |
6-1 |
210 |
Ohio Wesleyan University |
|
||||
Spencer Shaver (33) |
LB |
6-0 |
210 |
Prior Lake (Minnesota) H.S. |
Andrew Onyepunuka (41) |
LB |
6-1 |
210 |
Brophy Prep (Phoenix) H.S. |
Stone Snyder (17) |
LB |
6-3 |
225 |
Monacan (Virginia) H.S. |
Alex Austin (21) |
CB |
6-1 |
175 |
Long Beach Poly (California) H.S. |
Matthew Horne (11) |
CB |
6-2 |
190 |
Elk Grove (California) H.S. |
Shyheim Battle (1) |
CB |
6-2 |
185 |
Rocky Mount (North Carolina) H.S. |
Dorian Davis (28) |
CB |
6-0 |
185 |
Shelby (North Carolina) H.S. |
Cameron Browning (32) |
CB |
5-10 |
180 |
Butler (Indiana) University |
Darius Waddell (10) |
S |
6-1 |
175 |
Eastern Illinois University |
Isaac Gilliam (18) |
S |
6-1 |
200 |
Phoenix College |
|
||||
Grant Becker (43) |
K/P |
5-11 |
175 |
Oklahoma State University |
* Graduated from high school in 2018
** Committed to play at Kansas State in 2019
*** Committed to play at Oklahoma in 2019
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