After a strong senior season for the Harvard-Westlake football program, including a second-team Angelus League selection, linebacker/defensive end Alec Dominick ’15 was selected by American Football Worldwide to join their U19 team to compete against Italy. The teams played one game in Milan, Italy on April 1st, with the Americans emerging victorious by a comfortable 73-7 score.
“I decided to play in this game because I wanted to represent my country and play a football game overseas,” Dominick said before the game. “I don’t think I will ever have the opportunity to do something like this again.”
The American squad — entirely composed of high school seniors from around the nation — took control early in the goodwill matchup, overwhelming the Italian squad with a dominant offensive output. Italy did not join the International Federation of American Football until 2002, so the nation’s lack of experience hurt them against the powerhouse American squad.
“It was a privilege to show them how American football was really played,” said Dominick, who had a key block on a pick-six by Waupaca (Wisconsin) High School’s Andrew Schuler-Jones ’15, which made the score 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. “The Italians weren’t bitter at all afterwards, they were very appreciative of simply playing us and learning the game better.”
The American players had never met until flying to Rome during the week of the game, and only had four total practices together to learn the new play-calling system and prepare for the matchup. However, this didn’t prevent the USA team from dominating, as the squad took a 42-0 halftime lead on the way to a blowout victory. Dominick had two sacks in the win, in addition to his highlight-reel block.
“It was interesting to play football in a different country, and to know that we were international ambassadors for the game was very cool,” Dominick said. “It was a very fun experience, and I know it’s something I won’t be able to do again.”
Dominick, who had 58 tackles in his senior season at Harvard-Westlake while helping the team to its 7-3 regular season record and CIF-SS Southeast Division playoff appearance, will continue his career at the University of Washington (St. Louis) in the fall.
A more detailed recap of the game can be seen here: http://americanfootballworldwide.com/featured/afw-elite-victorious-defeats-italian-national-u19-team-73-7/
