Playoff season is underway!

After tryouts, practices, and eight long weeks of the regular season, plus a rare primetime Thursday night game this week, this is it guys, it’s playoff time! 

The best time of the year will kick off Saturday afternoon at the Stinger Dome at noon with both the Quarter-Finals in the Freshman and Sophomore divisions, and the Semi-Finals, for the Varsity Division. 

 

With the real season about to get started, this article as you can imagine, will focus on all 6 playoff matchups, taking place this week-end.  

 

Here we go… 

 

Freshman Division 

First-Round Bye: 

#1 Seed – Ducks 

#2 Seed – Bruins 

 

(3) Cougars versus (6) Fighting Irish (Saturday 1PM @ The Stinger Dome) 

 

Previous Meeting: Cougars 32-0 (Week 4) 

 

In the team’s only other matchup, the Cougars soundly dominated their opponents.   

Cougars’ Quarterbacks Tristan Dermody and Jackson Lovig both had solid outings passing the ball, as they combined to throw for 110 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

 

On the receiving end, both Damiano Albino-Rodrigues and had Ryan Whitehouse were dominant, as the dynamic duo each caught 2 passes, had over 40 yards, and found the end-zone as well (Albino-Rodrigues did it twice). 

 

On the other side of the ball, the Cougars, were virtually perfect, as they held their opponents off the board, and held Fighting Irish QB  Kevin Payne – De Serres, to just two completions.  

Helping out their cause was Logan Trepanier, who despite having a surprisingly quiet game on offense with only 1 catch, recorded 2 sacks on defense. 

 

For the Fighting Irish to pull off the upset, they will obviously need to complete more than 2 passes, but they’ll have to get the ball to their best player-makers, in Daniel Taylor, Massimo Longo, and Lucas Fleet  early and often.  

 

On defense, they will need a strong performance from their sack master  Emile Durocher, who led the team with 3. 

 

Despite going win-less this season, the Fighting Irish have been playing their best football of the season as of late. Let’s see if they can carry that momentum into Saturday afternoon. 

 

 

(4) Musketeers versus (5) Wolverines (Saturday 2PM @ The Stinger Dome) 

 

Previous Meetings: Musketeers 20-6 (Week 2) and Wolverines 24-20 (Week 7) 

 

The first meeting was a dud, while the second encounter was a thriller that went down to the final possession of the game two weeks ago at the Stinger Dome. 

 

It’s hard to break down this matchup, because a lot of it depends on various elements.  

For the Wolverines, if they can get a semblance of their full roster, they should be able to get the job done Saturday afternoon. That is easier said than done, as last weekend, they had to borrow players from the Hurricanes of the sophomore Division, just to have enough people to play the game. 

 

When they are operating at full force, the Wolverines are hard to stop on both sides of the ball, as Carter Diabo, William Hart, Trystan Henson, Tank VanDommelen, Noah Soles, Davyd Jefferies, AJ Campione, and Sacha Henson are hard to stop as a group. 

 

For the Musketeers, this one will come down to Quarterback play. After playing a grand total of 6 QBs this season, the team has seemed to settle on Jahmaal Roach, and with good reason, as the passer has led his club to a season-long 2-game winning streak, including the aforementioned 24-20 win in Week 7. 

 

To make his job easier, Roach will look to connect with the deep ball early and often, as the speedy receivers he has at his disposal, are led by the ever-dangerous duo of Adam Bateman and Isaiah Roach. In the regular season, the rookies have combined for 341 yards, and 5 TDS. 

 

Will the Musketeers be able to stop the Henson to Diabo long bomb, and will the Wolverines find a way to contain the opponents’ newly explosive offense? We’ll find out on this weekend. 

 

Sophomore Division 

First-Round Bye: 

#1 Seed: Hawkeyes 

#2 Seed: Red Devils 

 

(3) Buckeyes versus (6) Seminoles (Saturday 5PM @ Kirkland) 

 

Previous Meetings: Buckeyes 35-28 (Week 1) and Buckeyes 35-0 (Week 6) 

 

The Buckeyes come into this one coming off of a massive upset victory over the previously undefeated Hawkeye’s team, 28-0. The team will look to ride that momentum, into this week-end’s game.  

 

When playing against a team like the Buckeyes, it’s like picking your poison. Trey Bentley, Jaden Frenette, Malcolm De Pooter, and the Arnovitz brothers, you just don’t know who to focus on. 

 

For a hungry Seminoles squad, it’s all about taking advantage of their opportunities mistakes, and using a defense led by Brayden Bevan, Mason Fleming, and Giuliano Longo among others, to create turnovers.

More importantly though, they will have to create pressure on Buckeyes’ Quarterback Trey Bentley, and get the last year’s QB of the year off his game and disrupt his timing with his receivers. Easier said than done. 

 

On offense, Kevin Wyeth’s team, will have to spread the ball out evenly, to his group of capable receivers led by Dean Fleming, David Bensemana, Massimo Longo, and the aforementioned Bevan.  

 

To do so, the Noles’ will need to settle on one Quarterback, after rotating players at the position all season. Their best bet, would be to roll with Jordy Melnik, who has made plays with both his arms and feet all year.  

 

I think game will be a lot closer than people think, because despite their record, the Seminoles have a talented team that seems to get better and better each week. 

 

 

(4) Hurricanes versus (5) Gators (Saturday 6 PM @ Kirkland) 

 

Previous Meeting: Hurricanes 14-12 (Week 3) and Hurricanes 34-14 (Week 8) 

 

As you just read above, this is a matchup from last week’s regular season finale, in which the Hurricanes came out on top, 34-14. 

 

Canes’ QB Marco Gentile, was on fire all game-long as threw for 3 TDs, intercepted a pass, and ran for 44 yards. If it wasn’t for some drops by his receivers, Gentile would have easily passed his season-long of 161 passing yards. 

 

One of Gentile’s receiver who didn’t suffer from a case of the drops was Nicholas Masella, who had 8 catches for 62 yards, and 3 TDs, which were all game-highs.  

  

On the other side, the Gators, who were without regular starting pivot, Vincenzo Frank, got 2 TD passes from backup QB Jahmaal Roach. Roach did the best he could, but it wasn’t enough, as the swarming Canes defense picked him off twice, including a beautiful pick-6 by Linebacker Justin Klein. 

 

Assuming Frank is back for the Gators, the team will be much improved, as it will have stud receivers Tahnyus Steer (who had 2 TDs on Sunday), Joshua Taylor, the versatile Frank, who can beat teams with his arm and legs. 

 

One question that needs to be asked about this team offensively is, is this the week that we see Terrence and Camron Brown utilized more so on offense? So far this season, the speedy brothers haven’t seen all that much playing time on offense. That makes no sense to me. 

 

I fully expect this game to go down to the wire. Both teams have offenses that can score from anywhere, and defenses that can do the same. This contest should be a thriller. 

 

Varsity Division 

(1) Horned Frogs versus (4) Longhorns (Saturday at noon @ The Stinger Dome) 

 

Previous Meetings: Horned Frogs 39-0 (Week 2), Horned Frogs 39-6 (Week 5), and Horned Frogs 43-6 (Week 8) 

 

As you can see from the scores above, the defending champion Longhorns, are in trouble as they get set to take on the juggernaut that is the Horned Frogs. 

 

 In three contests versus the first-year team, the Longhorns have scored a grand total of 12 points. One reason for the team’s struggles, is the play of their Quarterback. Against the other two teams in the Varsity Division, rookie QB Samuel Crudo, has thrown for 780 yards, 14 touchdowns, 5 interceptions (he missed a Week 6 game versus the Spartans). In head-to-head games versus the Horned Frogs, Crudo, has passed for only 285 yards, 2 TDs, and 6 INTs. Needless to say, the Longhorns will need to pivot to perform much better if they want a chance to defend their crown.  

 

One way to accomplish that, is to have Crudo go through his reads while in the pocket. Too often, the rookie looks at his first option, and then tries to scramble, despite the fact that he has a talented receiving core at his disposal, with the likes of Jordano Colicchio, Nathaniel Peters, Shaylynn Bentley, the Patry brothers, and team MVP Joshua Peters.  

 

Another crucial way to help out the offense, and more importantly getting the win, is to establish long drives that keeps the Horned Frogs lethal offense on the bench. 

 

Most of all, the Longhorns will need to protect the ball against the ball-hawking Horned Frogs’ ball-hawking defense, led by the Kaylem Ferdinand (5 INTs and 3 defensive TDs vs the Longhorns), Alexi Dubois, Jordan Murphy, and FPF Jr sack-master Giordano Proulx.  

 

When the Horned Frogs offense does get on to the field, the Longhorns will need to find a way to slow down receivers Ferdinand, Murphy, Dwante Morgan, and Zachery Stehr, who have torched teams all season-long. 

 

Versatile quarterback Avery Lalla, not only can hurt the Longhorns through the air, as evident by his 13 TD throws against them this season, but he has also killed them with his legs, as he has averaged 13 yards a carry in their 3 meetings. 

 

This is not the first time the Longhorns have faced long odds in the post-season. Last season after finishing the regular season looking like longshots to win it all, they knocked off the best team in the Sophomore division for the championship. Hopefully for them, that valuable experience will serve them well, because they will need it. 

 

 

(2) Spartans versus (3) Bulldogs 

 

Previous Meetings: Bulldogs 24-19 (Week 2), Spartans 34-33 (Week 5), Spartans 32-6 (Week 8) 

 

It’s only fitting that these two teams are meeting in the first-round of the Varsity playoffs, because with the exception of last week’s blowout victory by the Spartans, both squads have played each other in thrilling down to the wire games this season. 

 

Rookies taking on rookies, ex-teammates versus ex-teammates, there are a ton of matchups within the game that will be exciting to watch in this contest. Adam Mahrouse vs Sam Mashtoub, Spencer Fitzpatrick vs Gianni Frassetti, Justin Grenon vs Jared Gallant, Roupen Djourian vs Christophe-Mikhail Tardif, and of course, Ryan Garber vs George Aifantis, both teams have play-makers galore, and players who lead FPF Jr in various statistical categories. 

 

Momentum is rolling with the Spartans right now. Besides knocking off the Bulldogs in convincing fashion last Sunday in Kirkland, the team’s Week 5 34-33 win over the favored Bulldogs in Week 5, started a streak that saw them win 3 out of their remaining 4 games, and more importantly, saw Quarterback Ryan Garber, finally elevate his game. 

 

For the Bulldogs, they have as much talent as anybody in FPF Jr, but their only issue is consistency. If the offense can find it’s rhythm early, they will be difficult to stop. To do that, QB George Aifantis, will need spread the ball around to all of his receivers, and they will need to catch the ball. Too many times this season, the team’s receivers have dropped passes, and Aifantis, quickly gets frustrated with them, and then stops throwing their way for long stretches.

 

This is what practice is for, so hopefully, the team has put in the extra work this week, because while the Bulldogs so have the best receiver in the entire division in Sam Mashtoub, they will need a team-effort to eliminate a really good Spartans squad.   

 

That’s it for this week. Good luck to all the teams this week-end!

 

Next week will be championship Sunday at Stade Hebert. The action starts at noon for the Freshman Division, followed by 1PM for the Sophomore Division, and a 2PM start for the Varsity Division.

 

This coming week will also be the final FPF Jr podcast with Rob Campana and I. If there is anything you guys would like us to cover during the show, let us know before Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who has reached out to us so far.

 

Enjoy the games, and I’ll see you guys next week!

 

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt that I left something out, please feel free to reach me at [email protected]