Div E’s March Madness Playoff Bracket; Exciting as it Gets

Okkkkkkk the regular season has come and gone and many teams feel like its their year to win it all in Div E.

Can someone give Western a challenge for the title? Can Freshmen XL be that team? Can they overcome their injury to Vaughn Vanslet? In his place is Kyle Folkerson, put in legally through FPF’s IR rule, can he lead them to a Division E title? Will the other 10-0 team in Les Petites Carottes JR make it to another final, their 3rd in their franchise’s history? They are 0-2 in their finals history, so they are hoping the 3rd times the charm. Can TuneSquad make a run? What about a new team like Swiffer WetJets? Unfortunately, with the construction holidays, many teams will be forfeiting their spot. It is ultimately on the teams and their captains to check their emails from the league and the playoff schedule, which is shared at the beginning of the season and specific dates shares back in June, to make sure they have enough players available for playoffs. It sucks for sure, but it ultimately falls on the captain to be on top of their roster and playoff dates.

This is just a visual representation of the bracket, but will be updated on the website, but for now, it’s better than nothing!

Ok, so for this week, a quick preview for every playoff game, can’t be more simple than that. So let’s get started

Western vs. CTE Goons

There ain’t no contest here. CTE Goons are in because Texas Whales can’t suit up a team and notified the league in advance. This bumped up CTE Goons, but Western are just way too strong. Better QB, better WR’s, better DB’s, better rusher, just better overall.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Western

Trailer Park Boys vs. Practice Squad

If Practice Squad can limit the running ability of Antoine Meunier, they limit 65% of the Trailer Park Boys offense. If Meunier can’t run it in for a touchdown before reaching the redzone, I don’t see him having much success in the redzone, whereas for Sam Saumure, he’s a bit more efficient in the RZ and will need to utilize his 2 offensive threats to the limit for them to win in Vincent Demers and Alex Papineau. Papineau defensively can create 1-2 turnovers on his own, which should give Practice the win in a still, close game between the 2 squads.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Practice Squad

Les Petites Carottes JR vs. Head Tops Only

Nahhhhhh, LPC Jr have this in the bag. With potential QBOY Alex Manes at the helm leading the offense and the ferocious defense of LPC Jr, Head Tops Only don’t stand much of a chance in this one. Athleticism goes the way of the carrots and so does experience. LPC Jr win this easy and extend their championship hopes.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: LPC Jr

Baby Sharks vs. BackYardigans

With the BackYardigans roster in jeopardy, I like what Baby Sharks present as a consistently threatening team. Whether its offense or defense, Baby Sharks have the athletes and the FPF knowledge to close out just about any team in Div E, BackYardigans included. BackYardigans could have made it difficult for the Baby Sharks offense, as they possess a solid defense, but with a rookie QB for the playoffs, I’m not sure how well they fare against a solid Baby Sharks defense.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Baby Sharks

Freshmen XL vs. Longhorns

If this matchup was last season or 2 years ago, I would have gone Longhorns, but after having seen Longhorns seem to struggle playing 6 against 5 (vs. Bloodline), I’m not sure they have the speed and stamina to keep up with the young and high-flying boys of Freshmen XL. As mentioned in the opening section of the article, Freshmen XL will be without QB Vaughn Vanslet for the rest of the season, but have replaced him with a savvy replacement in Kyle Folkerson. With Folkerson taking reps in Div D with SNP, the early rounds of the Div E playoffs shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for the veteran QB. While Longhorns are still on Facebook, Freshmen XL started their own IG page, posting the highs of their season. Expect another winning post for the boys that go XL or go home.

https://www.instagram.com/freshmen_xl_?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Freshmen XL

Chomedey Chodes vs. The Stables

Okkkkk this should be a fantastic rematch, as these 2 teams did battle a little less than a month ago, and Chomedy Chodes came away with a 28-26 tight victory, though it wasn’t without its own controversy. There was a questionable interception that was brought back to the house by The Stables’ Jakob Daniels that may have hit the ground and should have never counted as a pick at all. Instead, he brought it back for 6 and made the game tighter than perhaps it should have been. Both teams can score and whichever QB makes the bigger mistake in the critical moment will likely be the difference in this game. Which defense will come with the bigger play?

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Chomedy Chodes (Overtime win**)

Airs vs. QUEENS

The question here is whether Airs have a better complete squad than Queens. Queens have the best player on the field in Félix Déry-Bernard, particularly on defense, where he can create turnovers and take it back to the house with relative ease. His Quarterbacking isn’t elite, but it is good for Div E, but he may be missing the key pieces around him to make the Queens offense roll with ease. There are solid players on Queens, but Airs I believe have the better, more complete roster. This one is actually an incredibly tight matchup that is truly hard to decide who wins. If Duncan Cook stays away from safety Déry-Bernard. I’m going with Queens with a 1 point victory.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Queens

Locked & Loaded vs. Les Vidanges FC

I won’t waste my time after learning Locked & Loaded, after injuries and vacations will be forfeiting their game.

Warriors vs. Vice City

Oh, interesting little matchup here. For the Warriors, I haven’t seen them play much since late May/early June, and strangely, Kevin Summers hasn’t thrown a single pass since June 11th. This has me worried.. who is the Warriors QB going forward? On the other side, Xavier Faubert Didier is a decent and solid QB for Vice City with a big arm, but may be lacking the entourage around him to be a true contender in Div E. Still, with a decent defense and a reliable QB, I have to go with Vice City here, but I will say they need to be careful with Daniel Devine, as he can take over games.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Vice City

TuneSquad vs. Bloodline

Ahhh… TuneSquad in my opinion here are the better overall team and the more organized team. Bloodline have some decent and good players, but they are all over the place, a bit reckless with their body positioning and may be missing players in their playoff matchup. One of FPF’s scorekeepers, Rachelle Valliere‘s favorite teams, TuneSquad are solid at QB with Charles Presser and he has a plethora of options at receiver. They are also led on defense by Jeremy Steinberg and his 25-sacks, which will limit many running QB’s in the division, including Bloodline.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: TuneSquad

Mamma Mia vs. Best Worst Zgust

Mamma Mia! What has gone on with this team late in the season. Losers of 2 of their last 3 games, they slid into the playoffs on the wrong foot. Still, I think with Mike Cap leading the D and the boys being more serious come playoff time, they will be able to take down Best Worst Zgust. Though, if Stanley Louis is there for BWZm he could be a difference maker for Best. If Adriano DiGiandomenico is playing his best ball, then Mamma Mia wins. If he struggles against Louis rushing, it’s possible BWZ comes away with the upset victory. Until then, I gotta go with the favorite and odds leaning in that direction.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Mamma Mia

Bullshigh vs. Sweet Bonanza

Sweet Bonanza has found a nice connection between QB Antoine Caron and Jean-Philippe Lamaute, causing problems for most Div E teams. Question will be whether they are still that problem duo against an athletic Bullshigh defense. The Bullshigh defense accumulated 23 INTs and 12 sacks on the season, so they proved they can turn the ball over and create long distances for offenses to convert, which would be a big problem for Sweet Bonanza. Conversely, Matis Sardinha has not turned the ball over often, with just 7 INTs on the season and 31 TDs. He and Joseph Ouellette found a chemistry and Antoine Caron as a DB will need to disrupt and force Sardinha to go elsewhere or pay with turnovers. Still, I have Bullshigh as the overall better team here.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Bullshigh

Swiffer WetJets vs. The Diddlers

While Swiffer had a great regular season, I’m not too sure how real they are. They lost back-to-back games against strong contenders Baby Sharks and Freshmen XL, but they only lost by 5 and 6 points, so they were definitely competitive in their losses. They seem to rely on their athleticism a lot, which is fine, but against teams that can scheme well (which is not many to be fair), they may experience some issues. Luckily, The Diddlers are not one of those teams. They do have an electric duo in Pranav Sharma and Natan Nettel. 850 yards and 24 TDs is just ridiculous, so if the Swiffer WetJets can neutralize that connection, it will be lights out for the Diddlers. While Nettel likely ends the game with 60-70 yards and 2 TDs, I don’t think it will be enough for the Diddlers to get the win.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: Swiffer WetJets

No Brain No Gain vs. The Creamsicles

While The Creamsicles have gotten much better as the season went along, No Brain no Gain is not a good matchup for them. No Brain had an impressive season from QB Raphaël Caron, throwing for over 40 TDs and under 10 INTs. Timoté Nehma-Lacasse is one of the better receivers and 2-way players in the division and I’m not sure The Creamsicles have an answer for him. Billy Bountounis with a 2:1 TD-to-INT ratio, isn’t exactly the numbers you are looking for to go score for score with a high scoring team like NBNG who average 36 points a game. While George Tsagarospiros had a great season with 449 yards and 9 TDs, I don’t think it will be enough to stop the various weapons of NBNG.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: No Brain No Gain

Team Timbo vs. Cavaliers du Rohan

I’m told Cavaliers du Rohan are forfeiting their game, so not much to write here.

STEPBROTHERS vs. La Mennaise

Okkkk, this one is an interesting matchup to finish the 16th game of the evening. Will Richard of STEPBROS had a great season, throwing for a 6:1 TD-to-INT ratio with Nic Jody and Darcy Jeannis as the 2-headed monster at receiver, combining for 850+ yards and 23 TDs. They were equally dominant as the team leaders in INTs with 4 and 3 respectively. As well as it went offensively though, the defense surrendered more points than they scored and finished with a -27 differential. On the other side, La Mennaise were slightly similar, with a +8 point differential and a worse record than STEPBROTHERS, finishing 4-6. La Mennaise started off hot offensively, but never cracked the 30-point mark offensively since June 18th, almost a month ago when they played Vice City. Given their skiddish play as of late, I have to go with the more solid play of STEPBROTHERS, who are coming into the playoffs on a 2-game winning streak that saw Will Richard throw for 311 yards and 6 TDs against Trailer Park Boys.

Iggy’s Prediction winner: STEPBROTHERS

Epilogue

Alright Div E, that does it for the Wild Card round preview! Good luck to all the playoff teams and play your hearts out because it could be until fall when you next play a game! If you liked the article, have any comments or suggestions for what to talk about, I’m all ears, so feel free to reach out. @IggyManz on IG or find me on Facebook too.

Remember to catch Div E talk on CTA, and if you are starting to become a flag junkie, start listening to other divisions too!