Week 3: Simon Dagenais Jinxes Rainmakers with Undefeated Talk

The upside to filling in for Simon Dagenais is that you and I don’t have to read a Simon Dagenais article this week. The downside is I have to write an article in his place, and for consistency’s sake I’ll keep the same format as him. So… Sorry, but also enjoy?

Week 3

Simon what the hell is this, like a post-intro intro to the article? Ok well, yeah no, I’m not doing that.

Thoughts of the Week

I hate Simon Dagenais.

Recaps

Division A

Top Guns vs. DA Finest: I’ve seen all of one Top Guns game this season – the one where they looked like a mid-tier Div B team in Week 1 – and I know what to expect from the Finest season after season. So I must admit the way this one turned out in this one left me pretty surprised. That, and the turnout itself: both Top Guns and Finest came out with full rosters in this one, a rarity for both the Finest and any team QBed by Paul Lapierre. But I can’t say that was the game-changing aspect of this game; rather, it was likely the fact Finest QB Kevin Wyeth looked to be in midseason postseason form. Wyeth’s throws were quick, strong and accurate from his first pass to his last, and all Top Guns could do was watch it all unfold before their eyes (they managed just two PDs all game; one of them a rush by Paul Lapierre and his freakishly long arms). That’s not to say Top Guns’ offense wasn’t sharp itself – it was… for all but one second half drive, when the Finest defense managed to get the game’s only stop. Getting the ball back with seven plays left and down by 8, Lapierre managed to march the field and throw the game’s final touchdown in four plays. But on the ensuing two-point convert, Lapierre’s pass to intended receiver Anthony Vendrame on a corner route would be picked off on a great play by Nathan Taylor to seal the deal in a 34-32 win for the Finest.

Rare Bears vs. Monstars: Ah, the classic tale of two halves. The first one was all Monstars, all the time. An opening drive stop resulted in an early Monstars score. And then again: another Monstars stop on D followed by a Monstars score. Next thing you know it’s 14-zip. That’s when the Rare Bears offense finally decided to show up with a quick score and convert to make it a seven-point game. But the Rare Bears defense was still in hibernation somewhere off the coast of Alaska as evidenced by Ryan Aridi “40-bombing the shit out of it” (his words not mine) on Monstars’ next possession. 21-7 Monstars. And that’s when it all fell apart for Rod Mashtoub and company. 21-7 became 21-14 just before the half, then back and forth they went in the second half until Monstars were up by just five with three plays to go. One pass moved Rare Bears up the field, the next one got them even closer into Monstars territory, and the last saw Theo Ojeaha reach paydirt on a perfectly thrown TD strike by Marco Masciotra for the 40-39 win. Might things have turned out differently had Monstars had Isiah Allard, Frédéric Viens and Monstars’ no. 1 cheerleader Sam Mashtoub (you know, for morale and whatnot)? Perhaps. But I guess we’ll have to wait until later in the season to find out.

Division B

Kings vs. Broccasion: You know things are bad when you’re spotted a 6-point lead to start the game and you still end up losing by 12. And I’m not even sure that’s the worst part of it. Only four actual members of the Kings team showed up at Brossard by this game’s designated 8:30 p.m. start, but they quickly managed to turn that into six when they pulled two members of Division D-2’s Buffalo Wild Wings onto Field 2 and into blue pinnies. And then it began: Kings QB Mat René went on a rampage hitting his receivers left and right with relative ease, while Broccasion QB Kristian Cerantola would mostly do what he’s come to be known to do, particularly this season: wait for the rusher to get close, try to beat the rusher, then throw either 10 feet too high or 10 feet too short to his intended receiver. He still finished the game with a respectable 4 TDs despite completing just 9 of 27 throws. That Broccasion defense on the other hand… when you’re a Div B team letting players from a struggling Division D-2 squad find the end zone, that doesn’t exactly bode well for your team either that night or nights to come. Kings take this one 44-32.

Quan vs. KGP: Sometimes it’s just not your night. It certainly wasn’t for Quan on Sunday. Things started off rough for them in this one as they were without both Ryan Perry and Jamil Springer early, resulting in a red zone stop by KGP on the game’s opening drive and a quick score a few seconds later from Phil Cutler to Sean Brophy. That’s when Ryan Perry finally appeared. But whatever short-term impact he had on this night will certainly be overshadowed by the long-term impact: the loss of two-way player Vincent Dagenais to what will be a season ending knee injury after he and Perry collided at full speed going over the middle. The immediate result was Quan being down to five momentarily, allowing KGP an easy 40-bomb on the next drive before Jamil finally hit the field. Result of that whirlwind of a first half: 20-13 KGP lead. The second half saw both teams taking turns going up and down the field until Cutler hit Justin McLean on an out route for a big TD along with the convert to take a seven-point lead in what was then a tie game. With five plays to go, Quan managed to march the field before finally answering back with a deep TD catch by Leo Lanni. Faced with the option of going for the tie or the win, Quan chose the latter and came up short when Perry couldn’t corral Holowach’s pass in traffic down the sideline. 34-33 was the final as Quan fall to 0-3 on the season.

OTF vs. STL: In Tuesday night’s Great Acronym versus Abbreviation Battle of 2017, Brossard Field 3 was treated to a nail-biter. OTF, fresh off their important win over Incredibles, came out firing on all cylinders versus an STL squad that played far from the well-oiled machine we saw the week prior. Most of STL’s struggles rested on the shoulders of QB Dylan Taylor, who made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes throwing the ball. That being said, the STL defense also has some ‘splainin’ to do after letting Yadel and Yafet Meshesha go HAM to the tune of 13 catches 165 yards and 4 TDs combined. While those brothers are legit, it remains a surprise to see them tear it up on a secondary featuring another pair of legit brothers, Theo and Jamie Ojeaha (although it must be mentioned this pair combined for 3 INTs on the night, one more than the Meshesha pair). A back-and-forth contest for most of the night, it looked like this one was going to finish in a tie when OTF were able to make it 32-all with just two plays to go. But that’s when STL punched in cheat code “Jamie Ojeaha,” when on the last play of the night Theo heaved a Hail Mary to his brother, who was Johnny-on-the-spot when the pass was tipped right into his waiting hands for the game-winning TD. If you were at Brossard that night, that sound you heard around 10:30 p.m. was all of STL breathing a collective sigh of relief as they take it 38-32.

Players of the Week

Division A

Jonathan Maheu (Braves): 8 total TDs, 0 turnovers, nearly 260 yards of offense. Rainmakers (and the rest of Div A), how you gonna let this guy walk into his first spring season in FPF and tear it up like that?
JD Chevalier (Braves): 5 catches, over 100 yards receiving, 4 TDs. In three games this season, he’s one touchdown away from matching his TD total from D2 in Winter 2017.
Nathan Taylor (DA Finest): The best plays don’t always show up on the stats sheet. Taylor’s game-winning pick on Top Guns’ two-point convert attempt on the last play of the game earns him a well-deserved spot here.

Division B

Frédéric Viens (Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan): 2 incompletions (both of them drops); over 240 yards offensively; and 8 TDs. They may not have been against the Coyotes core, but Ryan Lelinowski, Dave Chityat, Jacob Bernett, AJ Rashkovan Danny D’Amour and Adam Rockman are still some pretty solid mid-and top-tier players. That’s my quarterback *cue T.O. crying gif.*
Chris Milard (Incredibles): Four sacks versus any QB is impressive, but especially so versus ones who are more pocket passers than runners. And who knows how many of Mario Porreca’s four INTs were direct results of Milard’s rushing.
Theo Ojeaha (STL): he was just edged out for Players of the Week honors in Div A. But with 7 catches for 95 yards and 3 TDs in Div B, along with 2 INTs defensively, and he threw the game-winning 40-bomb? Consider this imaginary hat on my head tipped.

Power Rankings

Division A

Braves (2-1): A convincing 18-point win over Simon’s previously top-ranked team means they become the new no. 1 team.
DA Finest (2-1): If luck were the difference-maker in a game that came down to the final play, maybe I would’ve kept Finest lower in the rankings. But it was pure playmaking ability that got them their most recent W, so up you go.
Rainmakers (2-1): Was their loss to Braves a hiccup on their path to their first successful season in a while, or was this loss the first of many for a Rainmakers team about to crash back to Earth? It’s still too early to tell. I think Simon would give them the benefit of the doubt… but I’m not Simon Dagenais.
Top Guns (1-2): Whichever Top Guns team showed up in Week 1 looks to be long gone. That’s a good thing… for Top Guns, anyway.
Rare Bears (1-2): Kinda bummed we don’t get to see Marco freaking out over starting 0-3 on this week’s podcast.
Monstars (1-2): For the second week in a row Monstars give up more points in the second half than they do in the first. I understand keeping with what works, but it may be worth it to look into mixing it up on D come the second half?

Division B

STL (3-0): The STL train hits a bump, but it keeps on chugging along.
Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan (3-0): 50-6 is one hell of a final score, although it should be noted that it came against a Coyotes squad missing…well…just about every full-time member of the Coyotes roster.
Incredibles (2-1): Bounce back confirmed.
Rich & Famous (2-1): A 9-point victory over a Lightweight team that had a better QB than Simon Dagenais taking the snaps? Color me impressed.
Lightweight (2-1): Simon Dagenais is technically still undefeated after three weeks of play. Fact: this will not last.
Kings (2-1): They performed well versus Broccasion, but roster concerns, and questions regarding their ability to perform versus top tier teams, remain.
OTF (1-2): A win and a close loss to STL in back-to-back weeks. While the result wasn’t there this week, the important thing is they’re finally starting to compete.
Drop the Mic (1-2): They’ve been competitive every week so far, and that’s despite having not yet had the chance to see Jordan Moses or Jordan McLaren take the field. 1-2 can easily become 6-4 by season’s end.
KGP (1-2): Week 3 finally saw them record their first INT of the season, but this defense still has a lot of work to do to help this team get back on track.
Quan (0-3): Two of three losses have been by a single point. They’re literally a couple more on-target throws away from being 2-1. They may be down at the bottom now, but there is still plenty of time to turn things around.
Coyotes (1-2): In three weeks, we’ve seen Sammy Feder once, and Josh Feder and Kevin Smuda zero times. If the players who make Coyotes Coyotes don’t show up, they simply won’t win.
Broccasion (0-3): They belong in Div C, and I think they know that.

Matchups to Watch

Division A

Monstars’ D vs. JD Chevalier: Braves QB Jonathan Maheu is starting to build a solid rapport with this new addition to the team. Monstars have a tendency to give up a ton of points. Let’s see if Monstars can scheme their way out of this predicament, or if they’re doomed to let JD continue his dominance of Div A.
Rainmakers vs. Rainmakers: Maybe it’s me who’s misremembering, but anytime I see Rainmakers take on the Finest it seems they’re either ahead or in it right up until they make some kind of unforced error that ends up resulting in a tough loss. Will it happen again?
Paul Lapierre vs. Rare Bears’ secondary: Paul isn’t one who shies away from trying his chances deep. He may want to reconsider versus a secondary with the size, speed, and ball skills of Rare Bears’ secondary. Or not: Rare Bears have recorded just two INTs so far this season, both coming via the hands of Jordan McLaren.

Division B

Alec Cerantola vs. Sammy Feder: After seeing Justin Cerantola take over the rushing duties last winter, it seems Alec is once again the one counted upon to get sacks or dive trying. Assuming Sammy Feder makes a damn appearance this week, effective rushing will be critical versus a QB who seems to throw it quickly off the snap as often as he does rolling to one side.
Quan secondary vs. Greg Stern: Stern has a habit of depending heavily on timing when it comes to his downfield throws. Disrupt that timing, and you give yourself a much better chance to come out with a W. Careful though: you do risk getting run over trying such a strategy on such big receivers as Chris Milard, Sasha Papich and Vince Nardone.
Justin McLean vs. Theo Ojeaha: I haven’t actually gone back to check, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s been a little while since Theo has been given this big a challenge, at least in in Div B. The comparable size, speed, hands, and leaping ability make this matchup one I’m really looking forward to.
Rich Humes vs. whoever will rush for Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan: So between choosing to attend my University convocation ceremony and looking like a fool trying to rush Rich Humes, I decided to go with the former. Good luck to whichever one of my teammates gets tasked with keeping Rich in the pocket.
Lightweight’s secondary vs. the Meshesha brothers: They’re tall, fast and run smooth routes. Lightweight’s secondary won’t shy away from getting physical. This battle promises to be a good one.

Picks of the Week

Note that these are Simon’s picks.

Division A

Braves vs. Monstars: Braves

Rainmakers vs. DA Finest: DA Finest

Rare Bears vs. Top Guns: Rare Bears

Division B

Coyotes vs. Broccasion: Coyotes

Incredibles vs. Quan: Incredibles

STL vs. KGP: STL

Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan vs. Rich & Famous: Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan

Lightweight vs. OTF: —

Drop the mic vs. Kings: Kings

And it’s now time for a message from Simon Dagenais:

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this is what you’ve all grown to love and expect out of me for your weekly readings. If it isn’t, you can send any sort of formal complaint to Paolo Della Rocca via twitter (@PeezeFPF) so I can keep tab and act like I didn’t know about it. Otherwise, if you have any comments, feel free to hit me up either via emails ([email protected]) or twitter (@DagenaisFPF). Until next time, my name is Simon Dagenais, and I can’t wait to get back from my week off so that I can continue to not score points and throw a ton of interceptions for my Div C team.