Categories: Division D

2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 10

Five games. That’s all that stands between us and the first round of the Division D playoffs. If you’re not excited, I don’t care, because I sure as hell am.

 

Recap

Recipe 4 a Lobster Dinner Win

My teammates have been begging me for some recognition in my articles all season long. I said it would come when it was deserved.

That time has come.

Facing off against the 7-1-1 Recipe 4 Disaster on Wednesday night in a battle to win Conference A’s west subdivision title, Lobster Dinner found itself in a dogfight at first, with both sides trading scoring drives and two-point conversions to start the game.

LD headed into halftime up 16-14, but it was a lead that quickly disappeared when Recipe QB Jake Applebaum hit Ryan Aridi on a deep strike just minutes into the second half to make it 20-16.

But LD kept its cool (for once), answering right back with a long scoring drive capped off by a clutch 3rd-down catch in the endzone by snapper Roberto Linteau. It put LD up 22-20, a lead that would eventually extend to 36-20 thanks to key sacks by Joe Neudorfer (and a ton of offside penalties by the Recipe receivers) resulting in stalled Recipe drives and short fields for QB Jon Brown to work with.

It all made for LD’s first complete game of the season, with on-the-fly adjustments leading to big points and communication on defence holding a high-scoring offence to just three scores—just the kind of win we needed heading into the playoffs.

 

Feeling the Blues

Last Thursday, taking on Backyard Bullies, Les Blues Branleurs were given the opportunity to prove to me they’re truly as good as their 5-4 record showed, and more importantly had the opportunity to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

They failed at both—miserably.

Going back with Minh Ton-That at QB after having started Gabriel Samné at the position the last three games, LBB couldn’t get anything going offensively against the hard-nosed BYB defence, finding the endzone just once in the first half.

Meanwhile, there was little BYB QB Rich Humes couldn’t do, buying himself extra time with his legs in the pocket to hit his receivers downfield when he didn’t use his speed to burst downfield for a first down.

It saw BYB go up 19-6 at the half, and a blowout looked in the works. But LBB got it back to 19-12 before finally getting a turnover on downs—in BYB territory no less—when a 4th down pass by Rich Humes fell short of its target. But LBB themselves would be stopped on 4th down on the ensuing drive, as their fates would be all but sealed when BYB used the possession to go up two scores en route to a 39-20 win.

It officially elminates LBB from playoff contention, while on the other side BYB are looking prime for a deep playoff run as they finish the regular season on a 5-0 run.

 

Left in a Purple Haze

Les Affreux’s collapse is complete. Five weeks ago, they were as much of a shoe-in for the playoffs as you can be with a 4-1 record and coming off a 60-0 drubbing of preseason favourites Les Rois Lions. Five weeks later, they’ve ended their season on a 1-4 run, their only win the result of a forfeit, and coming off a 50-31 beatdown by Monstars.

Heading into last Thursday’s game against Monstars with the chance to clinch a trip to the postseason, Affreux made the curious decision to start offseason pick-up Simon Bosquet-Beaudoin at QB in place of usual starter Mat Domon. It worked out well, however, with Bosquet-Beaudoin making solid reads and putting his blazing speed to good use.

But the main problem wasn’t the Affreux offence in this game—it was their defence. Monstars QB Rod Mashtoub rendered top rusher Daniel Bellefeuille virtually useless, constantly sidestepping him and making throws on the move, mostly to receivers Isiah Allard and Raoul Baroudi.

The game was over by halftime, and it was just the bounce-back performance Monstars needed coming off a big loss against Grip n Rip the week prior. On the other side, the only silver lining is that Les Blues Branleurs’ loss clinches Affreux a spot in the playoffs. But it’s certainly not the way they expected to get in.

 

Playoff Picture + Scenarios

No Sunday Forecast this week, only because I’m on vacation and time is short. Instead, I updated the playoff picture along with some key clinching scenarios.

Remember that an asterisk indicates a team has clinched a playoff berth; teams in bold are currently holding a playoff spot; teams in italics are eliminated from playoff contention.

Also, a reminder that the top three seeds in each conference go to the subdivision winners and that the tie-breaker criteria are wins, head-to-head, divisional record and points against.

Lastly, remember that I did these myself. So if you’re one of those teams on the bubble, make sure to double-check your playoff-clinching scenarios.

 

Conference A:

1. Lobster Dinner* (9-1, 18 pts, 3-1, 172)

2. T.C.O.* (8-2, 16 pts, 4-0, 231)

3. Tomahawk Nightmare* (7-3, 14 pts, 4-0, 248)

4.Backyard Bullies* (7-3, 14 pts, 3-1, 271)

5. Recipe 4 Disaster* (6-2-1, 13 pts, 3-1, 199)

6. Los Banditos* (5-4-1, 11 pts, 2-2, 244)

7. Les Affreux* (5-5, 10 pts, 2-2, 246)à clinch 7th seed with Longhorns loss or tie; clinch 8th Seed with Longhorns win  

8. Fun Boys (5-5, 10 pts, 2-2, 250)à clinch 8th seed with Longhorns loss or tie

 

9. Les Blues Branleurs (5-5, 10 pts, 1-3, 244)

10. Longhorns (4-5, 8 pts, 2-1, 274)à clinch 7th seed with win

 

11. Tune Squad (3-5-1, 7 pts, 1-2, 240)

12. Angry Birds (2-7, 4 pts, 1-2, 276)

13. Les Rois Lions (2-8 4 pts, 0-4, 334)

14. Scared Hitless (1-9, 2 pts, 0-4, 348)

15. Jagerbomb (0-9, 0 pts, 0-4, 315)

 

Conference B:

1. Primetime* (9-1, 18 pts, 3-1, 135)

2. Grip n Rip* (8-1, 16 pts, 3-0, 175)

3. Ball Busters* (6-2-2, 14 pts, 3-0-1, 225)

4. Monstars* (8-2, 16 pts, 3-1, 231)

5. Show Me Your TDs* (6-2-1, 13, 2-1, 190)

6. The BrotherHood* (6-3-1, 13 pts, 1-3, 217)

7. The Dirty South (5-4-1, 11 pts, 3-1, 223)à clinch 7th seed with FOTC loss + Loose Cannons loss, or with FOTC tie + Loose Cannons tie; clinch 8th seed with FOTC loss or Loose Cannons loss

8. FOTC (5-4, 10 pts, 3-1, 259)à clinch 7th seed with win, or with tie + Loose Cannons loss or tie; clinch 8th seed with Loose Cannons loss

 

9. Loose Cannons (5-4, 10 pts, 2-2, 174)à clinch 7th seed with win + FOTC loss; clinch 8th seed with win + FOTC win, or with tie + FOTC tie

 

10. Big Blue Wrecking Crew (3-5-1, 7 pts, 1-0-1, 239)

11. Pardon My Swag (3-7, 6 pts, 0-4, 243)

12. Trapstars (3-7, 6 pts, 2-2, 267)

13. Speed Demons (2-7-1, 5 pts, 0-4, 253)

14. Tyrants (1-8, 2 pts, 0-3, 309)

15. Warriors (0-10, 0 pts, 0-4, 383)

 

 

Random Thoughts

-Ties make playoff scenarios…complicated.

-Tim Hortons employees have terrible uniforms. Seriously, anything is better than that ugly-ass brown.

-I witnessed a 49.5-yard TD pass by Trapstars’ Vincent Richard this past week. It was as beautiful as I’d expect a 49.5-yard TD pass to be.

-Scared Hitless played with four guys and one girl against Fun Boys this past week and still managed to play to a 14-6 halftime deficit. Conclusion: FPF needs more girls.

-I vote Tony Vilhena for best offseason acquisition of an FPF rookie in Division D. The dude’s a straight up stud on both sides of the ball.

-I vote the T.C.O. guys for best FPF fans ever. You want to hear some loud “OOOOOO”s or “dammmmmn”s at your every juke or big catch? Call up Brent Callender and friends.

 

***

Done. Finally, I can get back to vacation mode. As always, you can email me at [email protected] or reach me on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. Be sure to check out the Division D podcast with Peeze and Brent tomorrow night at www.theunclehood.com. Good luck to all tonight!