France won the bronze medal took home third place at the 2008 European Junior Championship in Sevilla, Spain, with a 28-14 win over Denmark.
"I think this tournament is more competitive than before, said France head coach Olivier Moret. "The gap between the best teams and the others is smaller now.
"We were close to beating Sweden (in group play) for a place in the final, so it was difficult to focus on this. But we took this as our final and played a good game."
France fumbled away its opening possession, but after Denmark instantly turned the ball over on an interception at the French 10-yard mark, mistakes were eliminated. France scored on three of the next four drives.
The French rushing game gained 244 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry, including running back Maxime Sprauel's 1-yard dash for the first touchdown. Steven Joacin added to the lead from 29 yards out and team MVP Thomas Ruiz made the score 21-0 with a 47-yard touchdown at the start of the second quarter.
US-bound Danish receiver Shujaa Benson, who will play at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois this fall, scored on a spectacular 36-yard catch from Jesper Johnsen, but the French responded with a 3-yard Joacin scoring run. Denmark's comeback attempts were hampered by four interceptions, though Benson pulled in his second touchdown of the game with 1:06 remaining on a 16-yard pass from Johnsen.
"It is disappointing to lose, but we also have to be pleased with Denmark's highest-ever finish in fourth place," said wide receiver and team MVP Kevin Gangelhoff.
In the fifth place playoff game, Austria held off a late comeback attempt to defeat Russia 20-13. With two minutes remaining, the Russians marched to within 20 yards of the end zone but could not convert on fourth down and 11. Then with 26 seconds left on the clock, Austria produced an interception to seal the victory.
Austria raced to a 12-0 lead with touchdowns by quarterback and MVP Stefan Holzinger and running back Florian Hoerhan. Russia replied with a rushing touchdown from Alwksey Medvedev, but that was followed by another Holzinger touchdown with 15 seconds left in the second quarter.
Austria fumbled away possession at the start of the second half and Vladislav Grigoriev threw a touchdown pass to Denis Batzkalovich after a lateral, but the Russian comeback failed to materialize.
A strong running game helped Finland to a 39-21 win over Spain to claim seventh place overall. The Finns gained 303 yards on the ground, with 6.3 yards per rush, and leading the way was running back Timi Karjalainen, who rushed for 165 yards.
Despite Spain opening with two encouraging drives, Finland scored on two big plays. A Ville Lindsten run and Miro Kadmiry's 84-yard breakout from a short pass inspired them to a 20-0 halftime lead.
Sergi Gonzalo entered the game as the Spanish quarterback in the third quarter, and he orchestrated the Spaniards' first scoring drive with his accurate passing. Roger Navas was the first to benefit with a 30-yard touchdown reception, but Lauri Pehu Lehtonen caught two touchdowns from Janne Lehtinen for Finland to lead 34-7. Spain scored two consolation fourth quarter touchdowns as Daniel Belso and Oriol Serrano caught end zone passes from Mats Jonsson.
Finnish head coach Sakari Pusenius said: "We started the game well, but then Spain got us in some of our weak points. We need more speed and stamina to compete better at this level."
Spanish coach Jesús Fernández, whose team was physically the smallest in the tournament and also the least experienced, said: "Our conditioning and play went down as the tournament went on. We played a good game against France, but after that, it was hard for the players."