Playing For Keeps: The Final Showdown

After 14 weeks of fun, competitive, unpredictable division 5 FPF action, the finals are here at last. It’s been a remarkable season with new heroes emerging each week and fresh narratives always waiting to be told. Thank you for making this the most remarkable division to cover throughout the season. It’s been an absolute pleasure watching the progression of each team, as we’ve witnessed relative unknowns emerge to become contenders, and contenders fall at the hands of underdogs.

After seeing our field of competitors dwindle from 64 to 4, I can confidently say that we’ve been spoiled with the level of play throughout these playoffs. So without further ado, tonight we can finally sit back and watch the best 4 teams in the division slug it out over the chance to crowned as FPF champions.  

Championship Previews:

5B

• (3) Friends in Low Places (12-1) vs (3) Jean Coutu (10-2-1)

Previous Matchup: N/A

In some ways, this matchup was fated to take place since week 2. We knew FiLP were going to be a powerhouse coming into the season. With so many established names on the roster, the only question was “how did this team get placed in 5B?” The defense was just too strong for the level of competition they would face throughout the season, headlined by guys that are feared defenders in divisions that are several magnitudes higher than this one. It’s no surprise that they rank first in PA in the division. The offense was an interesting experiment with Danny D’Amour stepping into the reigns for his first season at QB, but there was never any real doubt that they would fall flat. Once again, the personnel is just too proven in this league. The only real question surrounding this team was exactly how dominant would they be? Winning 12 of 13 games so far definitely provides a resounding answer. Now they find themselves in familiar territory, the FPF finals at Brossard, where this core has reached twice before without triumph. Something feels different about this iteration however. They seem more polished, more mature and more confident on the biggest stage. The roster is also more complete than it’s ever been before. Everyone just seems to fit perfectly into their defined roles based on their given strengths. I think we will see a FiLP team that is finally ready to take the next step and be anointed champs. Whether fortune favors them on this night is a completely different story however.

Opposing the established FiLP team on this evening is the big bad bully of the division. The tormentors, the tyrants, the punishers, Jean Coutu has been on a mean streak throughout their entire first season together. They sport the highest producing offense in the division, headlined by the sensational QC Antoine Coté “The First”. They came out of the gates flying this season, posting 85 points in the first two games. Every season we tend to find at least one powerhouse team comprised of new FPF players who fly under the radar and fit within a division far below their talent level. This year Jean Coutu are that team. Just taking a glance at their athletic and fast roster, it’s easy to tell that they would present matchup problems to everyone in the division. The scary part is that not only are these guys naturally talented, they also mesh very well together and have adapted to the FPF game unbelievably fast. Nobody would be surprised if they came out on Saturday night and ran the tables on offense like they have throughout the course of the regular season and playoffs so far. These guys are just so confident in their ability that they carry an allure of championship swagger with them like it was a heavyweight belt slung over their shoulder.

The longstanding narrative of top scoring offense versus best defense is transpiring once again in division 5B. Both teams have taken different paths to get this far, but they find themselves face-to-face in the no holds bar, winner take all scenario that everyone dreams of when registering their teams in the preseason. At QB we find two extremely confident and competitive players with strong desires to prove they’re at the top amongst their peers. D’Amour loves to buy time scrambling and either take off on the run or find his big bodied receivers downfield. His best games come when he knows he can shake the rusher at will, as this allows him to take an extra fraction of a second to find his receivers before bailing out of the pocket. The games where he’s struggled this season have often come against extremely athletic rushers paired with disciplined and aggressive secondaries, which force him to throw on the run into tight windows. He can certainly expect to see that today, as Antoine Coté will look to contain him in the pocket.

I’m curious to see how long Jean Coutu keep their QB at the rusher position in this game. He’s certainly had success throughout the season, but if focusing on rushing causes him any distractions on offense, Jean Coutu will need to go to their plan B at rusher, which will certainly benefit D’Amour. As for Coté the QB, we’ve seen another athlete with an impeccable ability of buying time in the backfield with his feet. Rather than running however, Coté does his damage with a strong arm, capable of launching the ball downfield from a variety of different arm angles. His footwork is a thing of beauty, as he can throw off balance or on one foot better than most can from two feet. The interesting thing to notice has been the difficulty he’s had in the past two weeks as a passer, against some of the premier defenses in the division. With only 200 yards and 6 TDs COMBINED in both games against the Jagys and BFPM8, he will need to summon his best performance against an even more formidable defense than those previously mentioned.  

At receiver, I expect D’Amour to continue to work his top two targets from the playoffs, Kevin Smuda and Brenden Sabloff. Sabloff will be the key, as the Jean Coutu defense will certainly load up on Smuda running clear out routes over the middle of the field. Sabloff possess the agility to get open deep downfield with quick cuts and create YAC if he gets the ball in space. Whenever they get to the redzone, Smuda will be the top target, as his box out ability allows him to catch the ball at its highest point, even if multiple defenders match up on him. Despite their speed and athleticism, Jean Coutu defense lacks some size with the injury to Bruno Lagacé, and it will be interesting to see who they pair Smuda up with. Justin Santillo remains a constant threat running isolation patterns down the right side of the field. D’Amour loves to work the left side to set up the defense before taking a stab down the opposite hash mark. Santillo is also a guy D’Amour trusts and don’t be surprised if he goes his way on key third and long situations, should they occur. Finally, Michael Timmins has become a solid and reliable snapper over the last few seasons. Few people give him the attention he deserves for his offensive contributions, but he continues to provide D’Amour a steady outlet for dump off passes when in need. We’ll see if Jean Coutu also underestimate him today, which FiLP would love, as they won’t hesitate to feed him the ball continually until Jean Coutu change their defensive scheme.

The loss of DPOY Lagacé might have had a bigger impact on the Jean Coutu offense than it has their defense, as he was also their second best receiver on the season. Coté will continue to feed the ball to the outstanding Vincent Hamel and Francois Rocheleau, who`ve been virtually unstoppable for the most part throughout the season. The x-factor for this offense will be Tristan Toussaint, who`s stepped up in major way throughout the playoffs for his offense. You know that FiLP will play a zone coverage throughout the game, as they can`t match up in man versus the speed of the Jean Coutu roster. It will be up to Coté to buy time against the talented Justin Matteo at rush for FiLP, and find the soft spot in the zone. I think the best approach for JC will be to work the short zone, and avoid a patrolling D’Amour and Smuda in the deep secondary. It will It`s certainly difficult and a bit counter-intuitive for a quick strike offense to march downfield, but Coté will need to remain patient, poised and take what the defense gives him in order the thrive.

I can see this game playing out as a back and forth contest, coming down to the wire. Neither team will be perfect on offense, as JC may throw a few INTs to the FiLP defense, but FiLP may be stopped on a few four and outs from the aggressive JC man coverage. The focus will be on both QBs, since their defenses will have their backs, it will come down to which one can avoid the crucial error and make the big play when called upon. For all their talent, I think Jean Coutu will fall just short in this contest, as they will miss the impact of their star player Bruno Lagacé. FiLP`s experience will allow them to come in with a sound game plan specifically designed for JC, and this will allow them to remain poised down the stretch when the pressure is mounting. I just believe that the stars are finally aligned for FiLP to take home the prestigious title of FPF champion. This is the moment they`ve been waiting for.

Prediction: 39 – 34 FiLP   

    

5A

• (5) LOB (9-4) vs (7) Bunch of Rookies (8-4-1)

Previous Matchup: N/A

Part of the beauty of FPF is the ability of Cinderella teams to go on late season runs and truly define themselves in the playoffs. The best teams are often defined by their ability to adapt and make key changes on the fly, not only mid-game, but also throughout the week. In this finals matchup we find two teams that made the bold decision to switch QBs mid-season, and both were rewarded for it with a place in the finals. Neither of these teams were perfect in the regular season, so by necessity they’ve had to continually reinvent themselves each week. Because of this, I believe we have two teams with a lot of character, who will be well prepared for each other and will execute intelligently crafted game plans.

In LOB we have a team that was highly touted coming into the season. They have a fully loaded roster, meshing experience with athleticism and a high football IQ. In one of the riskiest late season moves in recent FPF history, the decided to switch QBs at the beginning of the playoffs, because they believed this would make them more dynamic overall on offense. Not only did they switch the div 4 QBOY for someone who hadn’t QBed FPF in years, they also bumped out one of the best snappers in the league to the slot and replaced him with someone with very few reps at the position in recent seasons.

These risky moves demonstrate the true strength of this team, their belief in one another and unity as a team. Since then, their offense has prospered greatly. Their playoff stats now show a receiving staff that is balanced from 1 through 5. Cory Johnson has done a phenomenal job spreading the wealth on O and keeping the defenses guessing. Lonnie at snapper and Francois Deslauriers at slot receiver are the perfect pairing for this offense. They are both possession receivers who run impeccable routes and have guaranteed catching ability. They’re able to tear apart short zones by finding the soft spot in the defense, and have developed an incredible rapport in such a short time with their QB. Cory deserves a lot of credit for stepping up to bat when called upon for this team. He is a pure pocket passer who throws with anticipation and touch to open spots on the field. Look for him to continue to work the short game while setting up the BOR defense to take a shot over the middle to either Jason Hovington or Vincent Dagenais.

BOR’s path was different than LOB’s, but the results were similar. They came into the season with a roster short on FPF experience, but high on underrated football talent. AJ Gomes began the season at QB. Hoping to use his athletic ability and knowledge of the flag game to buy time and create for his new receivers, the BOR offense stumbled out of the gate. It just felt like they lacked another big play receiver, capable of stretching the defense and making contested plays when in doubt. Gomes was also showing some growing pains at QB, which resulted in a few too many INTs in the first two games. Rather than wait until it as too late, they made they sound decision to switch to Jonathan Goyette in week 3. In doing so, they addressed their two major concerns with one roster move. Gomes slid back into the wideout position, and was once again unleashed as a dominant receiving force, and Goyette brought his experience, leadership and polished game to the QB spot. Since then this has been one of the most explosive offenses in the division. It’s no secret that they love to air the ball up deep frequently. With big play receivers like Mohammed Nechchad, Anthony Lazzara, and Domenico Manno, it’s been impossible for div 5 teams to account for all the size and talent on this roster.

I’m curious to see how an experienced FPF team like LOB will game plan defensively for the array of deep shots from BOR. Francois Deslauriers is one of the best defensive game callers in the league. He thinks two steps ahead and crafts game plans meant to take away you’re first option. The big question in this game will be does BOR change up their style of play if LOB takes away their deep ball option? If there’s nothing open over the top early I truly wonder if Goyette will start working the short ball, or if he’ll instead continue pushing jump balls downfield for his tall, athletic receivers. On the other side of the ball, BOR is well known for presenting a physical and fast defensive front. In previous playoff matches this has worked well, as they’ve been able to bully their opponents on D and make the field feel very small for opposing QBs. Today however they face off against an equally large LOB receiving crew that isn’t afraid to bang over the middle.

My key focus in this game will be Cory Johnson. We saw him look a little tight in the semi-finals versus KGP, missing some throws that he had made in prior weeks when the pressure wasn’t so high. The BOR defense will need to look to push him off his game early and get in his head. As a timing QB, he relies a lot on rhythm to deliver his passes on target, often to an area before the receiver gets there. BOR will certainly want to get him out of sync and throw off that rhythm, which they could do if their physicality on defense throws off the LOB receivers. If Cory gets comfortable in the pocket however, and Goyette’s deep ball attack overpowers LOB’s game plan, this game can become a beautiful shootout between two confident, gun slinging QBs at the top of their games.  

I think that both defenses will make a stand at some point in this game and it will be up to both QBs to battle through some adversity and remain focused down the stretch. I like Cory Johnson’s meticulous, take-what-they-give-you offense to remain consistent and execute the key drives to win the game.

Prediction: 32-26 LOB

 

That’s it for this season! Believe it or not but the FPF winter season is already coming to an end. See how fast it goes! If you have any feedback, concerns, comments or just want a shoulder to lean on you can reach out to me @alexholowach1 on Twitter, or hit me up on Facebook. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope I’ve been able to do justice to the marvelous play of division 5 this winter. Good luck to all remaining teams, may the best team prevail!