Friday afternoon the men faced off against Denmark, a team that has been to the championship game in each of the last five IFAF World Championship tournaments, and has historically been a tough out for anyone, including the United States. Having cruised through its first three games, the U.S. knew this could be a preview of the 2018 championship game and could not be taken lightly, and the game proved to be a back and forth shootout that did not disappoint.

Game 4 Final Score: United States 35, Denmark 34

The United States opened up the scoring on their first drive, with Jorge hitting Reimel on a seam route down the middle to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Denmark responded right away with a touchdown of their own to tie it up 6-6.

Greg Meek, the star of the tournament so far for the men’s team, made another great catch in the back of the endzone, leaping over the defender to extend their lead to 14-6 after a successful 2 point conversion attempt.

Reimel followed that up with another touchdown grab to extend the lead to 16 points which would be the largest lead of the day.

Denmark would score just before half to cut the lead to 22-13, setting up a second half that would come down to the wire.

Reimel opened up the second half with another touchdown catch, giving him a hat trick on the day and the U.S. a 15-point lead. Denmark would not go away, scoring on two consecutive drives with a chance to tie it up before missing their extra point to come within two at 28-26 with time running down.

In clutch fashion, the United States would respond with a huge touchdown catch by Reimel, his fourth grab of the day for the 23-year-old receiver to put the U.S. up by nine, making it a two score game with less than a minute remaining. However, Denmark connected on the first play of their next drive on a solid stop and go route that would keep the game alive, before the U.S. eventually drained the clock with a first down run by Greg Meek to seal the game.

This was a much needed win by a young U.S. team seeing their first adversity and should give them some valuable experience to carry with them into the playoffs, where they are sure to see more close games and where the competition and stakes will ramp up quickly.

RELATED CONTENT: IFAF Flag Football World Championships Day 2 updates

Follow IFAF on @IFAFMedia on Twitter and Instagram