2nd-and-Short – Finals Preview
17-04-2014 12:00 AM
The ship. The big game. La finale. Whatever you want to call it, it’s now just days away. 52 teams entered, and now only two remain: Predators and Sea Assassins. This isn’t the matchup I predicted for the final, but I expect it to be a great one nonetheless. Before taking a look at the last game of the season, here’s a quick look back at how we got here.
Recap
Sea Assassins 38, La Sauce 32
It really couldn’t have started off much better than it did for La Sauce: a pick six from Philippe Trudel and three touchdown passes from QB François Raymond all in the first half to make it 26-25 at halftime.
Unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to finish the job.
Receiving the ball first to start the second half, Sea Assassins QB Daniel Lazzara wasted no time putting his side back on top, throwing a dart to Anthony Lazzara down the right seam on just the second play of the half to make it 32-26.
From there it was almost all defence for the rest of the half, with both sides trading punts and fourth down stops until late in the game when Raymond was able to march his offence the length of the field with short hooks and ins, capping off the drive with a short touchdown pass to Hugo Ferland-Dionne to make it 32-32 after missing the conversion.
Sea Assassins answered with a touchdown of their own when Lazzara tossed a deep jump ball to Zack Jauniaux in the back of the endzone, who came down with it to make it 38-32.
A quick interception by Raymond on the ensuing drive gave the ball back to Sea Assassins, but they failed to convert on 4th and goal to give the ball right back to La Sauce with just three plays left. Raymond was able to bring his offence into Assassins territory with a deep pass on the first play, but was unable to connect with his receivers on either of the last two plays to ensure the win for Sea Assassins.
Predators 35, 57 26
The first half could really be summed up as follows: Predators slowly march down the field before QB James Floreani throws an unconventional-looking touchdown pass to one of his receivers (including one where he rolled to his left and threw a knuckle ball across his body to his receiver in the back of the endzone); 57 answers with a 40-yard bomb to Alex Pilon.
The result was a 20-12 Predators lead. 57 had a chance to tie it up with the ball in their hands deep in Predators territory with just two plays left before halftime. But Jeremie Mongeon-Duby’s pass was tipped in the endzone and intercepted by Kenton Lowe to keep it an eight-point game.
Predators stayed with their short-and-steady playcalling in the second half, capping off a long drive with a short touchdown pass to Darnell Lovelace to make it 27-12. And again, 57 answered with a long touchdown pass to Pilon, this time adding a two-point conversion to make it 27-20.
57 then were able to keep Floreani from reaching the 1st down on a 4th down-run, and it seemed momentum was back in the Pilon family’s favour. But inexplicably, Serge Pilon Jr. snapped the ball over Mongeon-Duby’s head on back-to-back plays to force 57 to punt on the ensuing drive.
Predators went on to score yet another touchdown on the next drive to make it 33-20 and the game all but clinched with just minutes left to play. But 57 didn’t give up, tossing yet another deep touchdown to Pilon Jr. this time to make it 33-26.
They were able to get the ball back with one play left and one Hail Mary to throw. Trying to buy time to get his players downfield, Mongeon-Duby tossed the ball back to Nick Pilon who was supposed to toss it back to Mongeon-Duby, but Pilon’s pass went over Mongeon-Duby’s head and into the endzone to make it 35-26 the final.
Preview
Predators (1W) (8-2) vs. Sea Assassins (1N) (9-0-1)
Previous matchup: none
Quarterback
Lazzara may have won QB of the Season and led the division in yards and touchdowns, but check out the stats sheet and you’ll see Floreani right behind him in both categories.
In a case like this, I think it comes down to matchups: Lazzara vs. Phil de Kovachich, Floreani vs. Zack Jauniaux. For de Kovachich, the goal will be forcing Lazzara to throw it earlier than he wants to, and that means putting constant pressure on him. For Jauniaux, the challenge is to keep Floreani in the pocket.
And looking at that, I have to say Lazzara is going to have an easier day at the office, simply because rushers aren’t nearly as important against him as against Floreani. Lazzara gets rid of the ball quickly already; Floreani meanwhile likes to buy extra time with his legs. He’s going to have a tougher time doing that against Jauniaux than Lazzara will have throwing the ball with de Kovachich rushing.
Advantage: Sea Assassins
Receivers
I don’t mean to disrespect the Predators receiving corps in any way, but to me this is a numbers game. Predators have three exceptional receivers in Mathieu Brunet, Kenton Lowe and Jacom Bernett. Sea Assassins have five in Zack Jauniaux, Stephen Casey, Alex Blanchet, Anthony Lazzara and David Horwood.
I’ll give Predators the advantage in terms of discipline—they rarely deviate from the route combinations Floreani calls. The Sea Assassins receiving corps, on the other hand, seem to like adjusting their routes mid-play once in a while. If your QB sees the same thing you do it works perfectly. In every other case, however, and an interception is a big possibility. It nearly happened last week when Lazzara wanted Casey to run a hook and he ran a corner instead.
That being said, in terms of overall talent, I think this category goes to Sea Assassins. All of their receivers are as dependable catching short hooks as they are blowing past the defence on a deep bomb.
Advantage: Sea Assassins
Defence
Comparing regular season stats, this one seems pretty evenly-matched: Predators gave up 22.6 points per game on average, Sea Assassins gave up 25.6. In the playoffs, however, it’s been a different story. Whereas Predators’ PPG allowed has actually remained steady at 22.5, Sea Assassins’ has ballooned up to 35.2.
Predators have the extra caveat of having held the Mongeon-Duby-led 57 to their lowest point total of the season with him as quarterback in last week’s semi-final round.
It’s obvious which defence I think is best, but it’s not just about the stats. The Predators defence matches up well with Lazzara—most of last week’s deep passes by 57 were from the slot, whereas Lazzara makes most of his deep throws on hook and gos with his wideouts—and rarely miss a sure tackle, something Sea Assassins have struggled with at times.
Advantage: Predators
Prediction
This is one game I can see going either way. Though Predators have had an easier road to the championship game than Sea Assassins, they’re nonetheless fully deserving of their spot in the final and are coming off a big win over everyone’s late-season pick to win the trophy.
Both of these teams are offence-driven, but that being said, Sea Assassins have shown an unmatched level of resiliency this year led by an offence that few can say they’ve stopped, let alone slow down.
Prediction: Sea Assassins
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By now I think you guys know the drill. Email address is [email protected], Twitter handle is @JBlanchFPF. Be sure to check out this week’s Division 4 podcast, featuring guests James Floreani of Predators and Daniel Lazzara of Sea Assassins, at http://www.theunclehood.com/calling-audible-finals/. Best of luck to both teams!