U.S. THUMPS CANADA IN SENIOR MEN'S FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The United States scored 30 second-quarter points and never looked back Saturday, thumping Canada 50-7 in the final of the world senior men's football championship.

The Americans, who also won the 2007 title in Japan, scored 21 points in the final 1:51 before halftime to stretch their lead to 37-7 at the break.

U.S. quarterback Cody Hawkins finished the day 13-for-21 for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for another touchdown as the Americans dominated in the trenches, scoring five TDs on the ground.

Henry Harris rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Nate Kmic ran in two other TDs for the U.S. Matt Bassuener had the other rushing touchdown.

Michael Faulds had a rough day at quarterback for Canada. He was picked off twice and finished 16-of-28 for 161 yards passing with one touchdown. David Stevens caught the Canadians' only TD.

"Full credit has to go to the Americans," said Canadian head coach Larry Haylor. "Team USA played well from the opening drive to the closing drive. Their offence is balanced and it just continued to keep us off balanced. ...

"Tonight they were an outstanding team, and we just didn't play as well as we wanted to."

Leading 7-0 after the first quarter, the Americans exploded in the second.

Bassuener broke free up the middle to race clear 23 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

After Canada conceded a safety, Ricardo Lenhart returned the free kick to Canada's 32 yard-line and a Harris run put the ball back into the red zone. Hawkins scrambled out to the left from seven yards for a commanding 23-0 lead with 1:51 to play

Canada then punted and the Americans scored again as Joe Sturdivant collected a pass from Hawkins for a 27-yard touchdown with 40 seconds on the clock.

Canada looked assured of going into the locker-room with a foothold as Stevens took a 19-yard pass from Faulds in for a touchdown, but the U.S. wasn't done yet.

A squib kick aimed at preventing the U.S. from gaining significant return yards hit the first player in its path and was recovered at the Canada 38. From there Hawkins found Lenhart in the end zone to make it 37-7.

U.S. safety Jordan Lake intercepted Faulds on the first drive of the second half to take possession at Canada's 13 and Kmic increased the lead to 43-7 on the very next play.

The teams traded punts before Lake came up with his second interception near midfield. Three plays later, Harris took the handoff for another touchdown to complete the scoring before the third quarter was out.

"It was a great experience, our time in Graz was great," said Canadian halfback Sammy Okpro. "The fans were just amazing even when we played against the home Austrian team. It was a great experience to be part of."

Canada's 45-man roster at the tournament played using American rules and consisted of current and former university stars as well as those from the national junior ranks. Former CFL players Adriano Belli and Sherko Haji-Rasouli are also on the team.

This was Canada's first appearance in the tournament, which began in 1999 and is held every four years.

The U.S. beat Japan in double overtime in 2007 in Tokyo. The Japanese won the first two competitions -- in 1999 in Palermo, Italy, and 2003 in Frankfurt.