Week 2 had a whopping 12 games with the last ones concluding Tuesday evening. There’s a lot to talk about. Many teams played twice during the weekend, a total of 6 teams went 1-1 overall. One of those teams, a team I know very well, is Crown Boyz. I spoke with my friend Deion Thompson about his team’s recent performance and how he views his team compared to the rest of the division. Before we get into that, let’s quickly get into some headlines.

Week 2 Headlines

Several teams go 1-1 in a packed Week 2

As mentioned before, many teams played twice over the past weekend. Texas Whales went 2-0, leading the division at 3-0. The other remaining undefeated team, Bandits, made quick work of PSTM in a 20 point win. With all these teams playing this week, let’s quickly highlight the teams who went 1-1 during that span. 

Viscious & Delicious

They would open the weekend with a solid win over Super Saiyans. Anthony Robichaud would throw 5 TDs and the defence would get 3 INTs, including a pick-6 from Antoine Coté. They would face Texas Whales the next day and a last minute TD by Chazz Pisanelli would crawl Texas Whales to a win. Anthony would throw 5 TDs once again but this time, the defence has no answer for their opponents. Considering they faced the number 1 team at this point and were a defensive stop away from a potential win, they should be able to bounce back in the following weeks.

PSTM

As I mentioned earlier, PSTM was given a beatdown by Bandits. A jump to Division D2 instead of E is mainly due to Ryan McNally’s high rating but the group is willing to climb towards new competition. With that, there will be some growing pains with Jesse Kotlarczyk, who in the loss had 6 completions. The following night, Jesse would have arguably his best game ever in FPF so far with only three incompletions, 5 TDs in a blowout win over NEW KIDS 2.0. Ryan led the offence, however, getting two sacks from the veteran Julian Salvatore was huge and getting two defensive INTs was a great way to end their week. I actually don’t think PSTM have a bad schedule given their roster so if they can get some quick wins, I can see them making playoffs

NEW KIDS 2.0

For Joe Morgese and company, it was all said but done in their first game over Stealzz. With only minutes remaining, Lenny Jean would pick off Jeremy Martinet for a pick-6, giving his team a 25-24 lead. The defence would hold on in a game where Joe wouldn’t have the best game but score three times. A huge defensive game from Jerry Beauboeuf who had an insane 5 sacks in this one. They would face PSTM as mentioned above and the game did not go well. A 31pt beat down where Joe didn’t even finish the game as QB because of how bad it was going. Seems like the lone brightspot is whoever is rushing as Weskley Alce would have 4 sacks in the game. Joe is a smart player and has talented weapons around him but if the QB struggles continue for the new playcaller, it can be a tough next three games. Their next  games are against Richter BFO, Bandits and Texas Whales

Brewers

The veteran Brewers team took on Crown Boyz and it was not the most entertaining game to say the least. I do know that Paolo “Peeze” Della Rocca doesn’t mind any game as long as he’s having fun and his team gets the win. That’s exactly what happened as I can only imagine Peeze managing the close and only needing two scores while his defence would not allow their opponents to score one. They would play Richter BFO and in a game where the Brewers offence would score 4 times under Peeze, Richter would build a big lead in the first half and seemingly run around the veteran group for a 46-26 victory. I would expect Brewers to be in the middle of the pack as their IQ and slow playstyle can definitely catch teams off-guard, which can find them more games than people think.

Richter BFO

I was shocked to see Texas Whales give Richter the beat down that they gave. A very odd game from Adam Malinoff who needed 14 completions to reach 108yds and threw 4 INTs with two being pick-6s.. Nicholas Di Maulo wasn’t able to find the endzone and Tyler Cousins was dissecting the Richter defence with only three incompletions. The huge bounceback for Adam and company as they flipped the switch to beat Brewers by 20. Nicholas Di Maulo would score 4 times, bringing his TD total to 8 in three games, even with 0 in the Texas Whales loss. Looking at RIchter’s schedule, they should be fine as I can see them winning most of their games as they end their regular season against Viscious & Delicious which should be a great game overall.

Trinity

The final team to go 1-1 would be Trinity. Raphael Bernier would have a tough first game of the week as he would throw 3 INTs in the loss to Trinity. A five point lead would vanish within minutes during the latter part of the second half. Probably the best case scenario for Trinity was a matchup with the winless Team Ethnik group and Raphael needed only 9 completions to score 4 times in a game that was not as close as the score says. Hugo Quintin would have a strong weekend with 4 receiving TDs. Trinity also has a decent schedule but has tough matchups such as Richter, Viscous & Delicious and even Super Saiyans.

Massimo D’Ipolito stuffing the statsheet against Stealzz

The individual performance of Massimo D’Ipolito was not ignored by me given the many games played. Massimo would score three offensive TDs in their win over Stealzz. Massimo would score the first two offensive touchdowns for 4th Down Freaks before not only scoring his 3rd in the second half but also made his impact known with 2 INTs later in the game. The best overall player for his group based on his talent and experience, Massimo can be the glue for this team to be better than what others may expect. The Bottazzi twins haven’t played yet which at this point, will they actually play with this group. Regardless of whether they play or not, Massimo has a chance to put up huge numbers where normally he is playing a complementary role on higher division teams.

Is Crown Boyz the real deal?

One team I didn't mention among the 1-1 squads this past week was Crown Boyz. I know a lot about this team, not only from seeing and playing against them on the field, but also through friendships with several of the players off the field. This roster is loaded with tackle football experience and athleticism, but they're now enjoying the game of flag football and learning the differences that come with it.

After seeing their Week 2 results, I spoke with Deion about how the season is going so far and what we can expect from this group moving forward. A big storyline for Crown Boyz is quarterback Erik Santini, who is new to the FPF world. Through two games, he has thrown 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions while completing 50% of his passes. Those numbers won't jump off the page yet, but Deion isn't worried. "Erik is a quarterback with a great arm and outstanding athleticism," he said. "Since this is his first season playing flag football, there's still an adjustment period as he learns the game. Once he gets fully comfortable, I believe he has the potential to be the best quarterback in the division."

Looking at their weekend, I had two thoughts heading into the Brewers matchup. If the Brewers won, I felt their tactical and disciplined style under Peeze would find a way to frustrate Crown Boyz. If Crown Boyz won, I expected their athleticism to be the deciding factor. The former ended up being the case as Crown Boyz were shut out 12-0. It wasn't the start they were hoping for, but Deion admitted there were growing pains. "We didn't get off to the start we wanted, and with a few players being new to flag football, we're still going through an adjustment period."

To their credit, they bounced back less than 24 hours later with a win over Trinity. Santini nearly eclipsed 200 passing yards while three different receivers found the end zone. Malik Weekes had a huge impact as well, grabbing two interceptions after coming out of football retirement and immediately becoming a difference-maker. According to Deion, the team looked much more like itself in the second game. "Against Trinity, we looked much more organized and disciplined," he explained. "A big reason for that was the impact of our athletes on the outside. Chrisley and Emmanuel stepped up and made big plays when we needed them most, and Malik came through with two big interceptions that helped seal the win."

What makes Crown Boyz intriguing is that their ceiling remains difficult to measure. The roster is full of athletes and experienced football players, but several are still learning the nuances of flag football. That combination can be dangerous once things begin to click. Deion believes the potential is there to compete with anyone in the division. "I believe that when we're playing at our best, we can compete with any team in the league and potentially make a deep playoff run," he said. "We have the athleticism and talent to be successful."

For now, the biggest thing working in Crown Boyz's favour is their willingness to improve. Rather than getting discouraged by mistakes, they seem focused on learning from them. As Deion put it, "After every game, we've made adjustments and improved on areas where we fell short. That willingness to learn and grow is exactly what a team needs to be successful over the course of a season."

If Crown Boyz can find their groove and Santini becomes more comfortable in the flag game, I can see this team winning a lot more games as the season progresses. The athleticism is already there. Once the experience catches up, they could become a serious threat in the division.

Closing Remarks

That’s all I have for Division D2 this week. Thanks to Deion for answering some questions this week. If you don’t agree with my take, I’m always open to hearing what you have to say so don’t be shy and approach me! As always, if you didn’t get a chance to respond or want to be included in future pieces, you can reach me on Facebook or Instagram @keyoncyrus.