2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 3

Remember how I said last week that looks can be deceiving, that we won’t be able to truly separate the true contenders from the pretenders for a while? Well, it only took a week for the FPF gods to prove my point.

With the likes of Primetime walloping the previously high-flying Backyard Bullies, the 0-2 Longhorns taking it to Big Blue Wrecking Crew, and a then-winless Pardon My Swag team taming Les Rois Lions, we learned that not all 2-0 teams are equal, there’s still a place in FPF for experience to beat athleticism, and even the consensus no. 1 team isn’t invincible.

But this past week was, more than anything, a reminder that nothing is guaranteed in FPF. Despite what I may think or what’s on paper, the reality is there’s still a lot of football left to play before a champion is crowned.

 

Recap

Domon’s Day

I predicted Les Affreux vs. Ball Busters’ Sunday matchup would be Mat Domon’s time to shine, but not his time to shine brightest of all. But he did just that this past week, going 13 for 20 for 142 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in a 37-25 win over the Busters.

The game got off to a bad start for the Busters from the start, with QB Hai Minh Luong throwing an interception mere seconds after the opening whistle. It led to a quick score by Les Affreux, and from there the shootout was on, with Les Affreux staying ahead 24-19 at the half.

Both defences tightened up in the second half, with Les Affreux leading 31-25 towards the end before Domon found the endzone one last time to secure the win with just a handful of plays left in the game.

The hard-earned victory didn’t come without a price, however, with all-star rusher Daniel Bellefeuille aggravating a hip injury early in the game, leaving him likely questionable for Les Affreux’s game this week.

As for Ball Busters, though this was their first loss of the season, it was nonetheless one that saw their defence torched both in the air by Domon and on the ground by Simon Bosquet-Beaudoin, who ran twice for 40 yards on the night. The question is: were they exposed, or was it just a bad night? It’s still too early to tell.

 

Longhorns Wreck Big Blue’s Crew

My first though about Longhorns’ big win over Big Blue Wrecking Crew is: where was this Longhorns firepower in the first two weeks?!

Nonetheless, they picked a good day to be rolling on all cylinders, taking the lead early and never letting go all the way through to a 41-30 win behind a six-touchdown performance by QB Jon Moodie.

Though the game was back and forth to start, BBWC simply had no answer for Moodie’s top two targets, Karim Yasmine and Dave Allen, allowing Longhorns to score on almost every drive of the game while Big Blue couldn’t keep up despite a big game from Mike Franzese.

It helped that Longhorns were facing a BBWC team that was missing its starting QB, Angelo Garofalo. BBWC called up Zoo signal-caller Frank Kaye to replace him, but unfortunately the methodical Kaye never really found his stride in the game, misfiring on 11 of his passes, two of which were intercepted by Chris Rosen.

But Garofalo’s absence was perhaps equally felt defensively. Without the speedy Garofalo rushing Moodie on defence, the latter was able to roam free, running eight times on the night including once for a score.

It leaves you wondering what would’ve happened had Garofalo been there on Sunday, but there’s no time for shoudla, coulda, woulda in FPF. Longhorns win, Big Blue lose.  

 

David Defeats Goliath

After Nicolas Gendron-Vallée scored five times in Week 1 and found the endzone another four times in Week 2 against the illegal roster of Scared Hitless, the answer to the question “How can Les Rois Lions be stopped?” became an obvious one—shut down Gendron-Vallée, you shut down Les Rois Lions.

The next question became, “Can Gendron-Vallée be shut down?” One week later, we have our answer to that, too: yes. I point you to Exhibit A: Pardon My Swag versus Les Rois Lions.

PMS knew exactly what to expect when they took the field against LRL on Sunday, and adjusted accordingly, rolling coverage in Gendron-Vallée’s direction to force QB Philippe Kotrbaty to look to other receivers. Though Gendron-Vallée was still able to catch five passes, none of them went for a score.

With the touchdown leader kept out of the endzone, the game was the defensive battle you’d expect. Both offences traded 4^th down turnovers for most of an 8-7 first half before PMS QB Gianfranco Ranaudo decided it was time to go for the kill with three second-half touchdown passes to finish it 26-8 in a game that saw him throw zero picks and make smart reads and tightrope throws all night long—the kind of performance PMS need from him week in and week out if they hope to make the playoffs.

 

Power Rankings

1. Les Affreux (3-0): A perfect game from Mat Domon coupled with a Les Rois Lions loss makes this a no-brainer.

2. The BrotherHood (3-0): The athleticism isn’t going anywhere, and the FPF knowledge is only improving for this team.

3. Primetime (3-0): Dismantling Backyard Bullies is a good way to shoot up my power rankings.

4. Monstars (3-0): It may have been against a struggling team, but you can’t overlook five touchdowns and zero turnovers by QB Rod Mashtoub.

5. Lobster Dinner (3-0): 3-0 is fine and dandy, but it should be noted the combined record of those three teams is 0-8-1.

6. Les Rois Lions (2-1): Perhaps it was a bad day. Maybe Kotrbaty woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. But a loss is a loss, and boy was it an ugly one.

7. Show Me Your TDs (2-0-1): Keep showing me them, I’ll keep putting you in my power rankings.

8. Grip n Rip (2-1): Vinny Gualano is only two years removed from throwing 35 TDs in Div C. It’s safe to say he didn’t throw those by chance.

9. Fun Boys (2-1): One less drop in the endzone, and that “1” in the loss column is a tie or even a win.

10. Backyard Bullies (2-1): They may have beaten Grip n Rip in Week 1, but that was then. This is now.

 

Quick Picks

I went against my gut on a few games last week and paid the price in the form of an 8-6 record. Fortunately, Mat finished with the same record. Unfortunately, he remains ahead by one game with a 27-15 record. No more playing games though. This week it’s all gut feeling picks. Let’s see how they turn out.

 

Grip n Rip vs. Fools of the Country

Trapstars vs. Pardon My Swag

Les Affreux vs. Tune Squad

Angry Birds vs. Lobster Dinner (N/A)

Monstars vs. Loose Cannons

Les Rois Lions vs. Fun Boys

Recipe 4 Disaster vs. Scared Hitless

Speed Demons vs. Tomahawk Nightmare

Backyard Bullies vs. Longhorns

Primetime vs. Tyrants

Big Blue Wrecking Crew vs. Warriors

T.C.O. vs. Jagerbomb

Los Banditos vs. Les Blues Branleurs

The BrotherHood vs. Ball Busters

Show Me Your TDs vs. The Dirty South

 

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Aaaaand that concludes today’s article. As always, you can email me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. If you haven’t checked out this week’s Calling the Audible podcast, be sure to do so at http://www.theunclehood.com/flag-plus-football/. I had the privilege of replacing an absent Peeze as host on Monday, so this week’s podcast with Brent and me actually features, you know, football talk, as opposed to Peeze’s nonsensical ramblings. If you’re a fan of the latter though don’t worry, he’ll be back next week. See you at the fields!