Inside the Red Zone (Div 3) – Week 3

Congratulations to all of the inductees to the FlagPlus Football Hall Of Fame. The 2013 class had some great but tough choices. It was a great week off for these FPF celebrities as they enjoyed the spotlight and after a weekend that had a memorable Super Bowl, FPF returns to action. As a matter of fact, Division 3 had four games on Super Bowl Saturday as part of our ongoing efforts to overcome the issues at Stade Hebert. As always, all efforts and cooperation are much appreciated on the part of those who are affected. Hence, division 3 didn’t have a proper bye week, however if you speak to the FPF players, they will tell you that they love the idea of playing every week.

 

So moving on to the fourth week, the halfway point of season is near. A handful of teams are undefeated but for how long will that remain? Similarly, there are a few winless teams but will they taste the sweetness of just one victory? There is one certainty: the longer the teams at the bottom take to start winning, the more their chances to miss postseason increase. In other words, if you keep on losing that means someone else is winning. Eventually, you are on the outside looking in at the teams who will be in the playoffs. My bottom line message is, DO NOT GO 0-4 because you’ll be putting yourself in a big hole.

 

My Twitter handle has been modified, make sure to follow: @RehanFPF (no more underscore). You can also follow me on the new Twitter Feed section on the main homepage of our website!

Here this week’s headlines:

 

First One!

G-Men and Raw Dawgs finally entered the win column in week three. G-Men (1-2) pounded the Jonesers and Raw Dawgs (1-2) squeaked past Le Loft.  They are both tied with four other squads in their division, all at 1-2. There is a lot of football left to be played for these teams and here is to hoping that the first win can lead to a few others. Philippe Podtetenev, who has put up solid numbers last two Winter seasons as a pivot in FPF, had a shaky start for the Raw Dawgs in the first two weeks, but redeemed himself nicely in the third by putting up 6 TDs and only 1 INT. Kris Bastien and Jonathan Mack are leading the way in receiving TDs for Raw Dawgs after three weeks.

 

G-Men’s Tony Tabet threw for 8 TDs and 1 INT. Newly minted Hall of Famer Nareg Yessayan dominated the Jonesers’ defense and tallied 122 yards and 4 TDs; he also had an INT. The G-Men showed their potential and capabilities by putting up 52 points. However they face a tough match up this week against the D-Boys.

 

Slowly Climbing

VPC wins for a second straight game. Their latest victory came against the Fighting Irish (more on them in Meet The Competition), against whom VPC scored 30 points. Why do I mention that? It is because in their first two weeks, the Fighting Irish only allowed 24 points. So the VPC offense did a great job solving the defensive scheme of the Irish. Robbie Robinson spread the ball and four difference receivers caught one TD pass each. The Irish were flat on offense and turned the ball over twice. Last year’s finalist, VPC are now 2-1 and will be heavily tested in their week four match up against DK.

The best 0-3 team?

It’s tough to use the word “best” for a team whose record is 0-3, however from the few teams that still haven’t won a game, the winner is Prestige World Wide. They lost a close one against One Night Stands in week one and since then, it’s been all downhill. They have allowed a combined 107 points in their last two losses. What is going on with this team? The obvious answer is nothing is working for them. Newly minted Hall of Famer Alex Lever is just as puzzled as the rest of Division 3. The sad part is there might not be any light at the end of the tunnel because they face Dirty Dawgers and Pap N’ Co in the next two weeks. PWW’s next two opponents are very capable of putting up points quickly. Best of luck to you Alex Lever!

 

Power Rankings

1. DK – Another thrashing of a division 3 opponent keeps them on top of the rankings.

2. D-Boys – It was business as usual for Marco and the boys.

3. Trojans – Won against KGP Champs but should have scored more than 35 points.

3. Dirty Birds – A source close to the team has informed me that Dirty Birds are not happy with their spot in the rankings. After defeating the Eagles comfortably, they tie the Trojans for the third spot.

5. Sandlot Saints – After making the cover of the Division 3 article last week, they scored 57 points to remain undefeated and move up three spots in rankings.

6. B.D. Bandits –.They haven’t defeated any top dogs so far, however they are winning their match ups convincingly and that’s all that is in their power.

7. Les Eudistes – An expected win against Lazy But Talented has them at 3-0 and move up two spots in the rankings.

8. VPC – The VPC players couldn’t care less about the rankings, they are focused on returning to the finals. At 2-1, they have some work ahead of them and if they can beat DK this week, they will be well on their way and will jump up in the rankings.

9. Served With Ice– You wanted me to show you respect? Well beating PWW doesn’t seem that hard nowadays but regardless; a solid win lands SWI at ninth.

10. Dirty Doggers – A team that might go under the radar but should not be underestimated. Any team that has Paul Lapierre along with Chris and Dave Cesari, Mike Smith (formerly Big TDs) are dangerous.

 

 

Random Thoughts

-A great initiative from FPF to have a Twitter Feed section on our homepage.

-I am noticing that a lot of teams are putting up 45+ points on a weekly basis; defenses need to tighten up.

-The battle for the Quarterback Of The Year award is going to be interesting.

-One Night Stands are regressing as a franchise and need to get it together before they fall behind.

-Watch out for Afternoon Delight, they are starting to heat up.

-G-MEN vs D-Boys in week four will be a great game.

 

 —

 

Meet the Competition: Fighting Irish

by: Justin Blanchard

 

 

Division 3’s Fighting Irish may be a new team on paper, but they’re far from it on the field.

 

In fact, some of the team’s members share a bond that dates back to high school.

 

“We’re all old teammates that played together either at [Collège] Notre-Dame, [CÉGEP] Andre-Grasset or with the [Montreal] Carabins,” said team captain defensive back Pierre-Marc Lachaine, who most recently helped Division 4’s Monstars reach the divisional playoff round last season.

 

“My brother [Hugo] and I joined the Monstars last year when they were missing some guys, but we always wanted to start our own team that brought all of those guys together,” Lachaine said.

 

Upon the Monstars’ disbandment at the end of last season that’s exactly what they did, recruiting old friends to create this year’s Fighting Irish—a name that symbolizes not only a return to many of the team members’ Notre-Dame roots, but also represents their meticulous approach to football.

 

For proof of that approach, one need only point to fact the Irish were Division 3’s top-ranked defense through this season’s first two games, holding their first two opponents to a combined 24 points.

 

That, and Lachaine’s explanation for how the team accomplished the feat. “I think it’s all just adjustment,” he said. “We adjusted well at the halves, we came out with new schemes, changed our players’ positions around on defense and we have good athletes—a good mix of speedsters and ball hawks that make plays in the air.”

 

But while the team is one filled with skilled and knowledgeable players, what they’re still missing is experience—specifically, at the quarterback position.

 

“We’ve never really had a quarterback in the group,” he said. “This year we have [Carabins rookie quarterback] Pierre-Luc Varhegyi, but he doesn’t like playing quarterback in flag football,” he continued.

 

“So we put my brother in [at quarterback]—this year is a transitional year.”

 

The growing pains were felt from the start, as the Irish fielded a sputtering offense that managed a paltry 33 combined points in their first two games and scored just 18 in their 12-point loss to VPC last week when Varhegyi replaced an absent Hugo.

 

While their offensive woes and that 2-1 record have the Irish currently sitting in fourth place in Conference B’s central division, don’t think any of it it has kept the team from thinking playoffs this season.

 

“We’re just going to go with more basic schemes, not always looking for the long ball,” said Lachaine. “As long as we play smart and don’t underestimate our opponents we’ll have a shot [at the playoffs].”

 

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In last week’s predictions, I was 13-1. Therefore I am now 25-3. Here are this week’s predictions:

 

High Rollers vs. Fight Irish – Fighting Irish

GPK vs. Served With Ice – Served With Ice

Ball So Hard University vs. Rude Bwoys – Rude Bwoys

Prestige World Wide vs. Dirty Dawgers – Dirty Dawgers

Dirty Birds vs. Afternoon Delight – Dirty Birds

Sandlot Saints vs. One Night Stands – Sandlot Saints

Pap N’ Co vs. Raw Dawgs – Pap N’ Co

Eagles vs. Picksquad – Eagles

D-Boys vs. G-Men – D-Boys

DK vs. VPC – DK

B.D. Bandits vs. Trojans – Trojans

Le Loft vs. Mongoose – N/A

Lazy But Talented vs. CF – CF

Legends vs. Jonesers – Jonesers

KGP Champs vs. Les Eudistes – Les Eudistes

 

Well that’s it for this week’s round of Division 3. DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER OR CHECK OUT OUR NEW TWEETS SECTION ON THE HOMPAGE! If you liked what I wrote or completely hated it, please share your feedback by sending me your thoughts/comments/suggestions. You can contact me at [email protected] or on Facebook, twitter or in person. I wish everyone luck in their upcoming games. Till next time, stay classy Division 3!