The U.S. Under-17 National Team defeated Team Canada in decisive fashion Saturday night, winning 24-10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Lindell Stone (Dallas, Texas) secured the MVP trophy for the U.S., completing 17-of-22 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 17 yards and another rushing touchdown.

Stone appreciated the MVP nod but was more excited about how his team did in the International Bowl contest, capping a week of practices and meetings where 50 players from across the nation came together as a unit.

“We’re from all different places across the country, but we really came together today and made a good team,” Stone said. “The MVP trophy was just a consolation prize and wasn’t that important to me. The important thing was that we got the win.”

Click here to see photos from the Under-17 team’s week in Arlington, Texas.

Click here to see a box score from the game. 

The quarterback also was thankful for the coaching he received saying, “Coach (Gary) Swenson and his staff helped me improve a lot with my decision making and timing.”

Swenson, a two-time state champion at West Des Moines (Iowa) High School, talked about how much of a pleasure it was to coach the Under-17 roster.

“They listened, they paid attention, they were coachable, and they were just fun,” he said.

Swenson also was grateful for the opportunity to work with USA Football in the International Bowl again. He was offensive coordinator for the 2009 Under-19 team that won a gold medal in the IFAF World Championship in Canton, Ohio.

“I agreed to do this because every project I’ve done with USA Football has been awesome,” he said. “They run a first class operation. To get to play in this facility (AT&T Cowboys Stadium), this is a once in a lifetime shot for all of us. There was no downside to the whole week.”

As far as the game plan, Swenson kept things simple and got the ball into his playmakers’ hands.

“I thought we exploited some of our better athletes tonight,” he said. “We had some matchups we knew we could win and they made plays.”

On the opening drive, U.S. receiver Eddie Lewis (New York, N.Y.) converted a first down on a jet sweep and a quick flat route. Later on the same drive, receiver Trevor Russell (Elroy, Ariz.) reeled in an impressive one-handed reception to put the U.S. inside the 10-yard line. Lewis then took a reverse pitch five yards for the opening touchdown of the game.

Implementing a variety of quick screens, jet sweeps and short throws, the U.S. offense marched down the field on their first two possessions. Facing a third-and-long inside the red zone, the U.S. went back to the reverse that resulted in a touchdown earlier and this time led to Lewis converting the first down yardage.

The U.S. wound up settling for a field goal to expand its lead to 10-0.

Running back Tavian Shand broke off a 43-yard rush to put Team Canada in scoring range, and running back Malcolm Miller cashed in for six points at the end of the first quarter to bring the score to a 10-7 U.S. lead.

A U.S. fumble near midfield gave Canada one last opportunity to score before the end of the first half. On fourth-and-one, however, linebacker Anthony Hines III (Plano, Texas) recorded a tackle for loss to secure a 10-7 U.S. halftime lead.

Midway through the third quarter, running back Dominic Williams (McKinney, Texas) broke six tackles on a 24-yard run that setup a two-yard rushing score by Stone. The score gave the U.S. a 17-7 lead with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

Williams finished as USA’s leading rusher with 56 yards on just six carries.

Later in the fourth quarter, Stone connected with a diving Lewis for a 32-yard touchdown pass. The scoring play gave Lewis his second touchdown of the night.

Lewis finished with six catches and led all receivers in the game with 82 yards receiving.

Canada kicked one last field goal to cut the deficit to two scores, but a late interception in the end zone by U.S. cornerback Joseph Zuccari (Great Falls, Va.) ended any hopes of a Canadian comeback.

Linebacker Santino Marchiol (Centennial, Colo.) led the defense with six tackles, while fellow linebacker Loren Mondy (Grand Prairie, Texas) recorded a team-high 2 sacks on the evening.