Power: ON – Back in action, heading into week 5

Welcome to Week 4 of FPF Jr. What started off as an exciting first Saturday back in action after the two-week holiday week, turned into a bit of a headache for everybody due to power going out at the Stinger Dome, and forcing play to be stopped in the middle of the Tigers (Jr.) and Wolverines (Jr.) matchup.

As the saying goes, there’s a first time for everything, and this is the first time in over 8 years that such an occurrence has taken place in an FPF game. As a Concordia alum and former Stinger, it’s actually a little puzzling and embarrassing to find out that the campus doesn’t have a back-up generator, but that’s another topic for another day…

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As for the game that did get played, we saw the Hurricanes take on the Longhorns in the Sophomore Division in a rematch from Week 3.

The game started off tight, as both teams traded chances on offense. Both teams’ defenses came out to play however, with each squad coming up with a turnover to keep it a low scoring 12-6 Hurricane lead at the half.

The second stanza however, is where the Canes woke up offensively, as Ryan Garber who surprisingly struggled a little bit with accuracy early, started to heat up. He hit Sam El-Mashtoub (Moe Khan’s idol), and Adam Mahrouse among others for touchdowns.

The Longhorns offense on the other-hand fizzled in the second half despite the best efforts of QB Rasheim Jones. Their love of the deep ball also got them into a lot of trouble, as the Hurricanes’ defense just started playing a Cover 2 making it easy for them to get their hands on any deep ball that was off-target.  For Dave Allen’s squad however, there are two good things to take out of this game. The first is with another game together under their belts, the offense is starting to take small steps in the right direction. They are spreading the ball around to different players, and using a huge advantage they have over all the other teams – speed. When the Longhorns went with the short game, they had a lot of success.

The other positive is FPF Jr’s decision to place Juwan Edghill with the Longhoirns this week. The WR/DB should add even more speed and play-making ability to a Longhorns’ lineup that already includes the lightning quick Shaylynn Bentley. Those two, along with the versatile Khalil Spielman should give defenses more than a few things to think about at rusher and in deep coverage. The Longhorns will also get back the athletic COnor Tomalty this week, who missed last week’s game.

To get something you got to give something, and in the Longhorns’ case, they had to send Malik James to the Crimson Tide. The addition of the athletic James should add some firepower to an offense that started to heat up just before the holiday break. To make things even more interesting, James will have a chance to show his former team what they gave up when he faces them this week.

At the end of the day, these are two big additions for both squads, and it will go a long way to improving parity in a Sophomore Division that is high on talent, but was not where it needed to be, balance-wise. Here’s hoping htis will result in a few more close games!

 

High Five

The FPF Jr. Community – Given what went down Saturday afternoon, more than a few people had the right to be annoyed after having to wait out in the cold for an hour. I can honestly say however, that I didn’t see one single player, their family members, any of the coaches, or the FPF staff complain about the situation. A tip of the hat, or in this case, a high five is in order for the entire FPF family.

 

The Action – After 4 weeks of action, it’s safe to say that besides the age and experience, there hasn’t been that much of a difference between FPF Jr and FPF in terms of the action and athleticism. Both leagues have been exciting to watch, as we have seen breathe-taking plays, great catches, fantastic runs, and some solid defense. Most importantly, we have helped promote the beautiful game of football as we have seen the FPF and FPF Jr numbers grow in recent weeks.

 

Attitudes – While it’s always great to have super star players on your team, as someone that played tackle football for more a decade, and has played in FPF for almost as long, I can tell you that they don’t always win you a championship. Heart, execution, and just as important – effort – get you the trophy. While there have been some highlight of the night plays, it’s the effort, drive, and team-first approach that I am seeing out of players like Isabella Aguiar, Alexi Dubois, Jacob Watson, Eric Crotty, Andrew Colucci, and both Diego and Jose Castro that is making a huge difference on their teams. These afforementionned players are all finding key roles on their teams, whether it be on offence or defense and are doing th elittle things right to make the difference between a win and a loss! The bad thing about football is that you can’t measure the impact one has on his/her team by simply studying the scoresheet.

 

Shaylynn Bentley (Longhorns Jr.) – Through the first two weeks of the season it was clear that Longhorns’ rusher Shaylynn Bentley was fast. After last week’s game it’s also clear that she can do some damage with the ball in her hands as well. After only recording 3 catches in her team’s first two games, she recorded a season-high 3 last week vs the Hurricanes. Using her speed to get open on underneath routes, the vaunted Canes’ D had a tough time covering Bentley. Hopefully she will see even more passes thrown her way this week, when her and her team take on the Crimson Tide. Oh, did I mention she also picked up 2 sacks and came extremely close on at least 2 others last week?

 

Ryan Garber (Hurricanes Jr.) – The Canes’ QB was sharp Saturday afternoon as he put up some stats (16 of 20 for 214 yards, for 5 TDs) that some FPF QBs would give their throwing arm to put up. His ability to steady his team and lead them in the second after a surprisingly tough first half against an improving Loghorns team shouldn’t go overlooked.

 

Matchups

Malik James vs the Longhorns – As I said earlier, the James vs his former team (Longhorns) matchup should be entertaining. Malik is sneaky quick and we’ll get to see if he can remember some of those Longhorns play-calls now that he’s wearing Crimson!

 

Jaden Frenette (Buckeyes) vs The Tigers’ Defense – While the Tigers took round 1 of this matchup 30-18 in Week 1, Frenette put up some impressive numbers, catching 5 passes for 55 yards. As he can attest, none of the yards were easy going up against the Freshman division’s best defense. With playmakers like Trey Bentley, Antoine Roy-Alexandre, and Kaiden Dewey among others, the team has given up a division best 30 points through 2 games. Frenette will is coming of a strong outing in his last game against the Wolverines, will have to surpass his Week 1 numbers to make sure his team gets the W this Saturday.

 

Reece Woods (Crimson Tide) vs Juwan Edghill (Longhorns) – Right away this matchup jumped out at me. These two went head to head kickoff weekend, and Edghill came away with not only the all-important team victory, but a win in the stats department as well. How well he does on his new squad against a much improved Woods and Crimson Tide squad will definitely be worth watching (More on that in a bit.)

 

Picks

Buckeyes (Jr.) vs Tigers (Jr.) – Tigers – The Buckeyes D will have their hands full taking on the best offense in the Junior Division. The Tigers’ ability to run the ball successfully with QB Trey Bentley and Terrence Brown might be too much to handle.

 Longhorns (Jr.) vs Crimson Tide (Jr.) – Crimson Tide – This is a rematch of a Week 2 affair that saw the Crimson Tide stroll to a 58-21 victory. As I mentioned earlier, both teams look a little different after recent acquisitions. A HUGE key for the Longhorns besides slowing down their former teammate James, will be shutting down the dynamic duo of Dalton Paradis and Reece Woods who combined for 233 yards and 5 TDs in their first meeting. The aforementioned Shaylynn Bentley will also need to constantly pressure Tide QB Avery Lalla and force him to get rid of the ball early. I think that’s asking too much of a steadily improving Longhorns defense.

 Wolverines (Jr.) vs Buckeyes (Jr.) – Buckeyes – The Wolverines are in the best here, as they have the opportunity to watch the Buckeyes first game and see exactly what will and won’t work against them. Their Quarterback by committee approach however puts them at a disadvantage because the lack of continuity and execution has led to a lot of stalled drives. I would roll with either Amari Swayers or Tim Jeremiah. Getting a consistent rush on Buckeyes’ Quarterback Jaeden Edghill who destroyed them on the ground the last time out to the tune of 6 carries for 82 yards and a TD, and keeping him in the pocket will be key as well.

 

Once again, even though what happened last Saturday at the Stinger Dome was out of our control, we apologize for the inconvenience. We at FPF are working with the staff at the field to continue the game between the Tigers and Wolverines that was interrupted, as well as play the Crimson Tide and Hurricanes game that wasn’t allowed to take place. As soon as we have more details, we will get that information to you. Thank-you for your patience and understanding.

 

That’s it for this week. I will see you guys on the sideline this Saturday.

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt I left something out, don’t be shy. You can shoot me a tweet at @BADNEWS51.