Deuxième et Court (Div D) – Semaine 7 (English)

Instead of starting with some weird, long-winded intro that compares football to receiving mail or something as Peeze would’ve done, I’d rather actually, you know, talk football. Let’s get to it. 

 

Race to the Playoffs 

 

Because I forgot to do it Tuesday, here’s a conference-by-conference look at the current standings. Remember: division leaders automatically get the top seeds and ‘points against’ replaces ‘point differential’ in the tie-breaker criteria. Also, don’t forget that some of these teams have already played eight games. The playoff picture will be a bit clearer when I update these on Tuesday. 

 

Conference A

 

	Points	Wins	PA	Divisional
1. Les Affreux	16	8	147	2-0-0
2. Centurions	14	7	59	2-0-0
3. Mongoose	10	5	188	2-0-0
4. Blue Mountain State	14	7	134	2-1-0
5. Limetime	10	5	207	3-0-0
6. Wheel of Fish	10	5	194	0-2-0
7. Lockdown	9	3	233	1-1-0
8. Shamrocks	6	3	189	1-0-0
9. Playground	6	3	212	1-0-0
10. Bearskins	6	3	232	0-2-0
11. Black Ice	5	2	251	0-2-0
12. Underdogs	4	2	215	1-1-0
13. Pardon My Swag	4	2	216	0-1-0
14. Warriors	1	0	202	0-2-0
15. Big Blue Wrecking Crew	1	0	264	0-3-0

 

 

Conference B

 

	Points	Wins	PA	Divisional
1. Longhorns	12	6	107	1-1-0
2. Le Zoo	12	5	187	1-0-1
3. X-Men	9	4	177	2-0-0
4. Checkmate	10	5	243	1-1-0
5. Hostile Territory	10	5	161	1-0-0
6. Jaggerbomb	9	4	179	1-0-0
7. Gotham Knights	8	4	168	2-0-0
8. Project Mayhem	7	3	246	1-0-0
9. Ballz Deep	7	3	208	1-1-1
10. Vikings	6	3	142	0-2-0
11. Ghosts	4	2	227	1-1-0
12. Tyrants	4	2	193	0-2-0
13. Park-X Streets	3	1	203	1-1-0
14. Black Mambas	2	1	265	0-3-0
15. Speed Demons	1	0	199	0-1-0

 

 

Recap

Limetime Squeeze out a Win 

Perhaps no one but Limetime themselves thought they would win against Lockdown this week after being blown out by Checkmate and losing to the lowly Vikings in the two weeks prior. But after being surprised last week, Limetime were the ones doing the surprising, defeating Lockdown 33-32 in a thrilling comeback.

 

Quarterback Pat Manning put last week’s dismal two-touchdown, three-interception performance behind him with a much-improved five-touchdown, two-interception game on Wednesday. It proved to be just enough, as he led Limetime to overcome a 12-7 halftime for a 33-32 win when a bad snap kept Lockdown from converting a two-point conversion on the last play of the game.

 

The good thing for Lockdown is at least it wasn’t another tie and at least they were a play away from winning. The bad thing is they now drop to 1-2-3 in their last five games. It’s hard to pinpoint the cause of their troubles considering their talent: quarterback Gianfranco Ranaudo has played solidly nearly all season long, the defense has proven to be one of the most complete ones in the division in terms of getting sacks, batting down balls and intercepting passes, and as a whole the team makes plays game after game.

 

They’re just not making enough, it seems.

 

 

Keeping Ballz in check 

 

11 passes. That’s all it took Checkmate quarterback Fred Morisette to reach the 200-yard mark en route to a 31-26 win over Ballz Deep this past Wednesday, and that’s despite the absence of injured receiver Yann Drouin. I’m not even sure Morissette remembers how to throw the ball less than 10 yards deep. Still, Morisette wasn’t flawless as he was unable to find the endzone from the one-yard line late in the game, allowing Ballz Deep a chance to march downfield for the potential game-winning score before defender Max Lachapelle intercepted the ball to ice the game for Checkmate.

 

As for Ballz Deep, yes, it’s a game that goes in the L column. No, that isn’t entirely a bad thing. Aside the fact it was a one-score loss against one of the best teams in the division, the most comforting thing about this game was the improvement of quarterback Anthony Pitoscia. This week’s Pitoscia looked nothing like the one that went 3-of-15 for barely 50 yards and an interception against Wheel of Fish two weeks ago, instead completing 19 of his 28 attempts for over 170 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception against Checkmate.

 

Most impressive is the fact he did so while throwing just one pass to star receiver Vinny Gualano on the night. Still, it leaves one wondering if the final score of 31-26 would’ve read in Ballz Deep’s favour had Pitoscia looked Gualano’s way more often.

 

Les Affreux Paint the Mountain Red 

There was a lot of talk leading up to this game about how big a loss the absence of rusher Daniel Bellefeuille would be for Les Affreux.

 

As it turns out, not much. 

While BMS were able to move the ball up and down the field with relative ease with quarterbacks Kevin Gauthier and Nicolas Lafond combining for 162 yards passing, 56 yards rushing and five touchdowns, inaccurate passes also led to a combined four interceptions from them. 

 

Those four picks would prove to be the difference, giving Les Affreux quarterback Jonathan Lemieux short fields to work with as he would finish 12 of 20 for 108 yards and four touchdowns, with the team’s fifth coming off an interception return from Mathieu Dubois to secure the 33-31 victory. 

 

It’s one which draws Les Affreux closer to a 10-0 record, and one which might not have happened had Lafond played the entire game at quarterback. But he didn’t, BMS lost, and once again we’re left to wonder who they’ll start at quarterback next week.
 

Sunday In-Depth 

 

Project Mayhem vs. X-Men 

 

Few matchups are as interesting as this one this weekend. Both teams are coming off sluggish performances in recent weeks and desperately need a win not only to get back on track, but to secure the top spot in Conference B’s central subdivision. I think the team to do that is Project Mayhem. While the fact the Mayhem defense has struggled mightily this season bodes well for the X-Men, what doesn’t is the fact the Mayhem offense is still very much explosive. 

 

The only other quarterback on Alex Holowach’s level that the X-Men faced this season was Philippe Giguere of the Centurions three weeks ago, and he lit them up for over 180 passing yards and five touchdowns. Given Holowach’s ability, coupled with the fact he’ll be throwing to two of the division’s most dangerous receivers in James and Steve Nowakowski, I think the X-Men simply won’t be able to keep up. 

 

 

Random Thoughts 

 

-I really can’t believe G.M. is tied for most sacks this season with 14. He’s gotta be paying off the scorekeepers to give him a few every game or something. 

 

-In the last three weeks, Big Blue Wrecking Crew have lost by three points to Le Zoo, tied the X-Men and lost by one to Mongoose. They’re simply playing too well right now to not win at least one of their last two games. 

 

-Put me down among those who want padding put in place behind the endzones. There’s nothing more frustrating than running full speed trying to catch a pass only to have to slow down to keep from running into a wall, a net or the stands. 

 

-I’m making my podcast debut next week. I have a feeling it’ll either be a huge success or a failure of epic proportions. Here’s to hoping it isn’t the latter.  

 

-A friendly reminder: referees are human and sometimes miss calls. A second friendly reminder: if you lost a game because of one missed call, you probably didn’t deserve to win anyway. 

 

*** 

That’s it for me today. As always, you can reach me by email at [email protected] and on Twitter @JBlanch6. Be sure to check out this week’s edition of the Division D “Calling the Audible” podcast at http://fpf.podomatic.com if you haven’t done so already. Good luck to everyone but the Longhorns on Sunday!