On Sunday evening, May 24th, Juventude FA won the title of Brazil’s Gaúcho Championship by beating Porto Alegre Pumpkins in Gaúcho Bowl VII by a score of 28 to 6. The confrontation occurred at Sports Complex of PUCRS, in Porto Alegre.
The first quarter was quite balanced, both teams stuck to the ground game, and good performances by both defenses, kept the score nil-nil.
Early in the second quarter, the Pumpkins opened the scoring with a touchdown catch by WR #83 M. Dutra, who received pass from quarterback #3 Antonio Freire. The extra point failed.
The Papada (Juventude’s nickname) players were not intimidated as American QB #1 Tim Lukas led the offensive team to turn the tables and take control of the match. The QB completed a touchdown pass to WR #11 Diego Oliveira on the next drive. Kicker #19 Matheus Ely hit the extra point.
QB #1 Tim Lukas
After halftime, the Juventude offense did well against local defense. QB Lukas took the opportunity to expand the range of plays in the air and on the ground. As Juventude gained ground the Pumpkins began to lose focus, and their defense committed many fouls. Lukas took advantage as Juventude entered the red zone of Pumpkins and score his first touchdown of the confrontation. Ely again hit PAT. Juventude leads 14-6.
Down eight points, the offensive of Pumpkins stumbled as mishandled the quarterback/center exchanges and turnovers undermined their chances of closing the deficit.
In American football, whomever wins the battle of turnovers usually wins the game. Lukas, formerly of NCAA Division 1 Fighting Illini (University of Illinois) knows that very well, and the athlete found another hole in Porto Alegre defense and increased the visitors lead with his second TD. Ely stayed perfect on the point after. 21-6 Juventude.
With the game practically won, the head coach of Juventude, Wesley Mota, began to run out the clock. The winning touchdown came on a Lukas pass to his compatriot WR #80 Ricardo Miller – a former wide receiver of Michigan Wolverines (also NCAA Division 1).
With this conquest, Juventude enters the select group of state champion teams. The Pumpkins have won four championships and the Santa Maria Soldiers have two championships.
Now the Caxias do Sul team will concentrate its forces on it’s Torneio Touchdown (TTD) season, while the Pumpkins will focus on the Liga Nacional season – sort of access division of the Superliga Nacional organized by the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol Americano (CBFA).
