2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 7

Two of the last three articles posted on the website started off with apologies by the author for submitting it so late. I’m now making it three of the last four: most of my last few articles (like this one) have been posted a day later than I originally said they would in my preseason post. For that, I apologize. But, on the bright side, at least none of them have been (or ever will be) posted Simon-late (or GM-late for that matter). 

Recap

From Dream to Nightmare to Dream again

Tomahawk Nightmare increased the gap between themselves and Los Banditos on Thursday, defeating Trapstars 35-24. It’s not like Tomahawk coasted to victory, however.

After Tomahawk won the first half 21-12, receiver Said Eshan made a monster catch in double coverage to put Trapstars in prime position to narrow the deficit seconds into the second half. But two plays later, QB Vincent Richard was intercepted.

Trapstars then caught a huge break when Tomahawk QB JF Marquis’ pass wasn’t long enough to move the chains on fourth down. But Trapstars wound up doing nothing with it.

Eventually Tomahawk would extend their lead to 28-12 when Marquis hit Louis-Philippe Gagnon for a 15-yard touchdown pass. One more touchdown on their end, one more touchdown by Trapstars on the last play of the game, and that was it.

All in all, it was a solid performance by Tomahawk, who move to 5-2. As for Trapstars, now at 1-6, their season looks all but over.

 

Demons Come to Life  

Speed Demons were without top athletes Bryan Nguyen and William Phan in their 46-19 loss to Grip n Rip last week, but both were present for last Wednesday’s matchup versus Les Rois Lions.

And they showed just how much of a difference they can make in a game as they helped lead the Demons to their second win of the season, ruining Nicolas Gendron-Vallée’s QB debut of the year in the process.  

A blowout looked in the books when the Demons jumped out to an early 20-6 lead, but that lead quickly evaporated when Les Rois Lions scored, intercepted QB Sam Holden, then scored again to end the half at 20-20. The two teams went on to continue their tennis match in the second half, with Les Rois Lions answering Speed Demons’ every touchdown.  

With the Demons up 32-26, cornerback Bryan Nguyen was able to break the pattern with Gendron-Vallée’s second interception of the game, and a few plays later Holden was able to run it in to give his side a two-score lead before LRL would find the endzone on the game’s last drive.  

As important as Phan (four catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns) and Nguyen (one sack, one pick, two pass deflections) were in this game, something has to be said about Holden’s performance. 204 yards and five touchdowns through the air, with another score on the ground, had to have made for a career day for Holden. The only question now is whether it was a fluke or the start of a new beginning for Speed Demons.

 

Oh, Brother

After coming up short in their last three games against elite teams, it looks like all BrotherHood needed to play up to their potential was for me to pick against them.

Taking on Les Affreux on Thursday night, Jamal Gittens and company jumped out to a 21-6 lead before a pick six by defender Martin Jackson on the last play of the half made it 21-12.

Affreux QB Mat Domon was able to cut the deficit to 21-18 with a touchown drive to open the second half, but a clutch 4^th down conversion in the redzone by BrotherHood down the other end put the game out of reach at 27-18, finally ending by a final score of 33-24.

BrotherHood shuffled some players around on defence this week and it seemed to do the trick, with the team intercepting Domon three times in the game while equally shutting down speedster Simon Bosquet Beaudoin, holding him to 12 yards on three touches.

As for Les Affreux, the loss adds to an interesting pattern: I picked them to win against Tune Squad, they lost. I picked them to win against Longhorns, they lost. I picked them to win against the BrotherHood, they lost.

Either Mat Domon is purposely throwing away games to stay ahead in our predictions competition, or Les Affreux aren’t quite the elite team I thought they were.

 

Sunday Forecast

The hottest matchup on paper this week, T.C.O. have a chance to show what they can do against the division’s best when they take on Show Me Your TDs tonight.

I picked SMYTDs in this one, but it’s nothing against T.C.O. despite QB Doug McKernan’s ankle injury, T.C.O. have still managed to make the plays needed to keep the ball moving on offence while making game-saving tackles on defence.

However, I think Mike Addona is the best QB T.C.O. will have faced this season, while the same can be said about the SMYTDs receiving corps. If Addona plays anything like he did last week, I simply don’t think the T.C.O. D will be able to keep up in what could easily become a shoot-out.

 

 

Random Thoughts

-Quote of the Week: « c’est tu sifflé ? » – Patrick St-Amand to a ref, as he’s returning an interception in his ZOO game.

-Joe Stock, who played for The Minge last season, showed up to his game versus Pardon My Swag with bright yellow dishwashing gloves. He caught two balls with them and didn’t drop a single pass. Who said you needed $70 Cutters gloves to make plays on the field?  

-To JF Marquis: Attempting three straight 40-yard bombs on the last three plays of a game in which you’re up by two scores? Not cool, bro.

-One of my top 10 biggest pet peeves: when I’m on the mobile version of the FPF website and it shifts up and down while loading, so when I click a link on the home page it sends me to a completely different part of the site.

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That’s it for me this week. Don’t forget, you can always reach me by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. Be sure to check out the Division D podcast tomorrow night at www.theunclehood.com. Good luck to all those playing tonight!