2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 6

 

 

Seeing Stars

I’ll start this off by saying flat out: hats off to Monstars; you guys proved me wrong. I didn’t think Rod Mashtoub would be able to shut down Omar Jackson, and he did, holding him to just two catches for under 30 yards and no touchdowns (though Jackson did himself no favours with a few drops). I didn’t think Monstars would have a rusher capable of containing Jamal Gittens and they did, with Isiah Allard holding him to just 60 yards and a score on the ground while sacking him three times.

To make it short, I didn’t think Monstars could beat BrotherHood, and they did—though it wasn’t without some help from BrotherHood themselves.

After BrotherHood and Monstars traded scores on the opening two drives, perhaps the game-defining play came when, on the first play of BrotherHood’s second drive, Gittens decided to throw the ball back to receiver Quaysie Gordon-Maule, who then tossed it back to Omar Jackson, who was promply sacked in the endzone for a safety. The play was clearly designed; what I’m wondering is why they would ever think it would work. It gave Monstars a 9-7 lead and put them right back in possession of the ball, with which Mashtoub would hit receiver Raoul Baroudi on a bomb to make it 16-7 a few seconds later.

Monstars never gave up that lead en route to a 29-19 victory—one that proved to me they’re for real, and made me realize BrotherHood still have yet to evolve from a group of talented athletes to a true FPF team.

 

 

Orange is the New Red

I could say I saw Longhorns’ win over Les Affreux coming, but that would be a lie. The truth is, I thought this game would be a breeze for Mat Domon and the boys, and that’s despite knowing how tough Longhorns played against T.C.O. just the week before. Les Affreux had clear advantages in terms of youth and speed in this game, which obviously came in handy with Domon and Bosquet Beaudoin combining for nearly 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns, but what they didn’t have was the one guy they needed most: Daniel Bellefeuille. With their star rusher absent, Longhorns QB Jon Moodie was free to move around the pocket and buy just enough time to hit his receivers play after play.

With time winding down, Affreux DB Martin Jackson (who’s having himself one heck of a season on both sides of the ball) came down with the only interception of the game, and a much-needed one at that with Longhorns leading 26-25. But, much like their only other loss of the season, Domon couldn’t deliver on the would-be game-winning drive, this time coming up short on 4th down at midfield to effectively end the game.

With wins against Dirty South, Ball Busters and Les Rois Lions already this season, Les Affreux have already shown me they’re a top contender in this division. All they’re lacking is a little consistency.

As for Longhorns, this win has definitely changed my opinion of them. With three wins in their last four games, they’re certainly peaking at the right time. I still question whether it’ll be enough with three more huge challenges to face before the playoffs.

 

 

Tamed Birds

I gotta give it to Angry Birds; they may be winless, but they’re not going down without a fight. Bringing in a new QB this week, Andrei Brailovski, the Birds gave T.C.O. a run for their money on Sunday.

The game started off well for T.C.O., with back-up Chris Millar—replacing an absent Doug McKernan—leading his squad to a quick 7-0 lead. The game was back and forth from there, with Brailovski finding receiver Kiasky Pierre Romondt on a bomb downfield to make it 13-12 T.C.O. right before halftime.

Late in the second half, the unthinkable happened: Angry Birds went ahead, 19-13. But T.C.O. kept its composure, as Millar wound up hitting centre Tony Lalla for the touchdown and adding the extra point to make it 20-19 to win the game.

It was far from a cakewalk for T.C.O. But let it serve as a lesson learned to everyone else: records are thrown out the window when pride is on the line. 

 

 

1. Monstars (6-0): Maybe it’s all thanks to the presence of Rod Mashtoub’s little brother Sam on the sidelines at every game, but with a 6-0 record and back-to-back wins over teams I pegged as contenders, I can’t put them anywhere else on the list.

 

2. Grip n Rip (5-1): Yes, it came against a Speed Demons team without Bryan Nguyen, but going 20-for-20 is impressive. Damn impressive.

 

3. Lobster Dinner (6-0): Don’t think I’ve ever won via a shutout in FPF before, so that’s cool.

 

4. Primetime (5-1): Back-to-back games against Fun Boys and Tomahawk Nightmare will help determine whether their loss to Dirty South was a fluke.

 

5. T.C.O. (5-1): Fine, they were without Doug McKernan against Angry Birds. I still expect more than a one-point win over them. This week’s matchup against SMYTDs will help gauge whether T.C.O. are a true 5-1 team.

 

6. Show Me Your TDs (4-1-1): I must say, to beat Les Rois Lions with Nicolas Gendron-Vallée present is quite an achievement. As long as that Mike Addona shows up, as opposed to the one that lost to Monstars the week before, SMYTDs will be fine.

 

7. Tomahawk Nightmare (4-2): This was long overdue. The fact they needed a last-second pass deflection to beat a one-win Scared Hitless team isn’t something to be proud of, but the fact a former Division E team beat a team featuring numerous current Division C players certainly is.

 

8. Les Affreux (4-2): There’s no doubt in my mind they’ll continue to play up to the top competition, even if they may play poorly against everyone else.