SACKVILLE, N.B. - Mount Allison University's Jacob LeBlanc has once again been selected to the World Team for the International Federation of American Football International Bowl, which will be played in Austin, Tex., on Feb. 5.
Each year, the IFAF World Team program includes more than 200 of the best athletes and 25 coaches from between 20 to 25 countries, and competes against the top 19-and-under football players from the United States.
“Jacob continues to be a dominant player for us. His selection to the World Team again is great for our program as we continue to build with the best players from Canada,” coach Kelly Jeffrey said. “Jacob has a great work ethic and an incredible motor. He is relentless for four quarters every single week and will be a strong addition to the World Team. He is a great representative of Mountie Football.”
Last July, LeBlanc as a member of Canada's Junior National team, won the world championships, also in Texas. And while he was scheduled to play with the World Team in the 2012 International Bowl earlier in February, unfortunately injuries kept him from attending. So this year LeBlanc gets another chance at it, and joins 25 other Canadians who will compete in the fourth edition of the prestigious IFAF International Bowl.
Named the Atlantic University Sport top football rookie and a conference all-star in his first season in 2011, LeBlanc started for the Mounties, recording 30.5 tackles, nine of which were for a loss, and finished fourth in the Atlantic University Sport conference with five sacks.
This past season, the second-year arts student was again chosen as an AUS all-star and was recognized as a second-team All-Canadian defensive tackle in the country's Canadian Interuniversity Sport football conference.
Since his arrival on campus two seasons ago from Halifax, LeBlanc has made an impact across the country as a talented football player.
Currently only in his second year, the six-foot-three, 320-pounder had another great season in 2012, leading the Mounties back to the playoffs and finishing third in tackles for AUS defensive linemen.
Winning AUS Defensive Player of the Week honours in mid-October, he tallied up some notable stats over the past season with 35.5 tackles (12th in AUS), one sack for four yards, seven tackles for loss (ninth in AUS), four forced fumbles (tied second in CIS, second in AUS), one field goal block, and one pass break up.
Prior to joining the Mounties, LeBlanc was selected as an all-star at the 2010 Canada Cup and is a product of J.L. Ilsley High School in Spryfield, where he was a high school defensive all-star and was named male athlete of the year in his senior year.
