2nd-and-Short (Div 4) – Week 1

We’re only four games into the season, but already some interesting storylines are beginning to emerge.

For example, did The Replacements make a convincing case that they should be considered among the top teams in the division after smothering a Quack Attack team that was competitive in D3 last year?

Is Lockdown’s defence truly that good, or did Gotham Knights just have a bad day?

Or what about Channel 4 News Team, whose first win comes in Week 1 this year after going 0-5 to start the 2013 winter season—are they for real, or was their victory simply a matter of beating a lower-tier team?

You could ask these kinds of questions about all 52 teams at Week 1’s end, and the beauty is you wouldn’t be able to answer any of them. Come Week 3, 4 and 5, however, and the picture will start to clear up. But let’s not look too far ahead just yet.

 

Recap

Duck Season

This game had all the makings of a tight battle, with Quack Attack coming off a respectable 5-5 season in Division 3 in winter 2013, while The Replacements were a few games away from playing for the Division 4 championship last year.

Instead, what we got was a good ol’ fashioned butt-whooping.

After both teams started their respective opening drives with interceptions, it didn’t take long for quarterback Matt Bishara to find his groove, leading The Replacements to three first-half touchdowns including a jump-ball touchdown pass to receiver Eddy Martinez on fourth down to end the first half 19-6. Solid defence by The Replacements led to an easy 32-6 win in the end, with the team intercepting Quack quarterback Hugo Lachaine more times (5) than he completed passes (4).

 

Locking it Down

With Lockdown’s usual starting quarterback Gianfranco Ranaudo on vacation and back-up Geoff Brown absent for the game’s opening whistle, you would expect an explosive offense like Gotham Knights’ to take advantage for a blow-out win.

Unfortunately for them, Lockdown had other plans. After Jean-Christophe Binette intercepted a deep pass by Gotham on the game’s opening drive, third-string Lockdown quarterback Vincent Barrière was calm, cool and collected as he drove the offence down the field on his opening drive, capping it off with a short touchdown pass to Binette.

By the time Lockdown had stopped Gotham on fourth down on the ensuing drive, Brown had finally arrived, and it was right back to work for the Lockdown offence, marching the length of the field once more to go up 14-0. 

A 40-yard bomb from Gotham quarterback Bruce Candussi to Chris Rivest made it a one-score game at halftime. But solid tackling from Lockdown coupled with off-the-mark passing from Candussi kept the Knights out of the endzone in the second half, as they ultimately fell 21-6. 

 

Bro Force

In yet another battle of FPF experience vs. real-football talent, this round went to experience.

Stepping onto an FPF field for their first time Monday night, Les Prédateurs, whose roster features numerous players entering their second year as part of the collegiate Division 1 Spartiates du Vieux-Montréal football team, faced off against Broccasion, who have been playing together since 2009 and even reached the 2012 Division 4 championship game.

Suffice to say, it was a début to forget for Les Prédateurs.

Both teams looked rather evenly matched to start, with each quarterback finding the endzone twice to start the first half. But that’s when momentum switched over to Broccasion’s side for good as the team found the endzone just before halftime to go up 19-13, and then once again on the second half’s opening drive to make it a two-score game.

It proved to be a gap Les Prédateurs couldn’t come back from, with Broccasion’s Justin Cerantola picking off quarterback Frédéric Paquette-Perrault twice in the game’s final frame to secure a 45-27 win. 

 

Scoping Saturday

Ball Busters vs. Playground 

Ball Busters made the Division 4 playoffs last winter on a roster that saw Mike Zenone lead the team in tackles with 32 and Dujon Bailey lead the team in pass deflections with seven. Those players are absent from this year’s roster, and that doesn’t bode well for a team set to face a fast and physical Playground offence that can put up points virtually at will.

This one has shootout written all over it. I’m just not sure the Busters will be able to keep up.

 

ZOO vs. Jaggerbomb

Few things in football are more exciting than rematches. In Division D this past spring, ZOO—as Le Zoo—beat Jaggerbomb 26-6 in a game that was much more lopsided than the score suggests, with Jaggerbomb quarterback Jérémie Gauthier throwing six interceptions and being sacked six times.

In Week 1 of Division 5 last Winter, it was Jaggerbomb who defeated ZOO—then playing as C Difficile—25-16. Simon Duchesne quarterbacked that game for Jaggerbomb, and with Gauthier off the team’s roster this season, Duchesne looks poised to step in as quarterback once again on Saturday.

That being said, the team Duchesne beat last year didn’t have Frank Kaye leading the offence and was without Patrick St-Amand, Division D’s two-way player of the season this past spring. So long as Kaye’s offence runs without the many dropped passes which plagued the team the last time they played Jaggerbomb, I see ZOO taking this one.

 

Random Thoughts

• I’d like to take this time to correct mistake I made last week. Looking at Pickle Fiasco’s stats under Toute Garnie from last season and seeing that Edward Shoshan was quarterback, I incorrectly assumed that he would quarterback the team again this season. It came to my attention afterwards, however, that Avi Yayon will be taking over the position this season. My apologies, guys. Unfortunately, assumptions are all I can go on in preseason, and chances are that wasn’t the only incorrect one I made.
  

• I still have yet to come to terms with the fact I’m going to have to a midseason breakdown of 52 teams. The Zs will be far and few between in Week 5.

• Seriously, there are so many teams in this division that League President Robert Campana might want to consider having one writer per subdivision next year.
  

• Is it me, or are there a lot of animals playing in Division 4 this year? Coyotes, Angry Beavers, Quack Attack, Mustangs, Longhorns, Dragons and a Lynx. Some of these are Predators (or Prédateurs in French), and some you might find in a ZOO. Yeah, I had way too much time on my hands today.  

• I told myself I’d do a better job keeping my articles closer to the 700-word mark this season. The fact this one passed the 1,100-mark reveals I have a long way to go.

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That concludes today’s edition of 2nd-and-Short. Don’t forget, you can reach me by email at [email protected] or send me a tweet @JBlanch6. Good luck to all on Saturday!