And they were 4.

Last week, I went over how difficult it really is to remain undefeated in FPF. With another week in the book, a few more fell and suffered their first loss. We’re now down to 4 undefeated teams across the two Div 4s; Game Changers, MTL Originals, The Infantry and Ghosts. With MTL Originals and The Infantry playing each other next week, someone will reach 5-0!

Let’s get started

Week 4

Ghosts’ Defence stood tall, Air Force 1 won with 9 points, Lonzo Ballers are back on everyone’s radar, Mean Machine is low-key making waves, Savage Squad improves to .500, Past Our Prime looking like contenders in 4A, Baby Kangaroos bounced back real nice, Greendale Human Beings can score against anybody and SMYTDs finally has an offence worthy of their franchise.

Thoughts of the Week

Someone on Greendale Human Beings didn’t wear a number and got himself some nice stats there! *Cough* Matthew Rupcic
Vinny Gualano with the versatile stats: 1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 int, 1 pd, 1 td on D and 1 TD on Offence.
Alex Holowach with 4 interceptions in 2 games at corner. DPOY? Rating’s about to skyrocket!
I wonder who’s harder to cover in the redzone: Junior Luke or Junior Spera?
The Infantry’s numbers are a bit inflated due to their 60-0 forfeit win, but they’re the real deal this season.
We all talk about Ghosts’ roster and how dominant it really is, but Les Blues Branleurs may have the most underrated squad in 4B.
Enjoy the Super Bowl “Bye week” this weekend !
Can Game Changers really be the first team with TWO 14-0 seasons?
After back to back shutouts, Half-A-Stars allowed this week’s highest score: 46. I must be missing something here…!
9 to 7 win? What is this, baseball?

Recaps

69ers vs SMYTDs: Another Wednesday night game for 69ers without Dean Demetriou turn sour. SMYTDs haven’t looked like themselves and we all knew it was just a matter of time before they got things going, but 69ers really struggled this week against a fast pass rush and agressive DBs. SMYTDs’ offence wasn’t at its finest, but it didn’t matter as Mike Addona was able to distribute the ball pretty well and had his way on Wednesday. SMYTDs’ defence still needs a bit of work, but it’s definitely improving on a weekly basis and the team is quickly shaping up to be a contender in 4A when it’s all said and done. If Mike Addona can continue to retool his playbook to fit his receivers a tad more and continue to explore all the options he now has, this is one nasty offence.

Jagerbomb vs The Stoics: Minutes before the game, I noticed Jon Brown’s absence and JF Daloze taking snaps in warm up. Right there, I knew Jagerbomb would be in trouble, but I never anticipated this. JF Daloze took a few snaps under center, but the majority went to Yannick Doston who used to play in Div 4B a few Winters ago. Daloze lacked the confidence to sit in the pocket and deliver passes and tried to move too much; they stopped the fiasco early and inserted Yannick Doston who did not play any better when it was all said and done. Chemistry wasn’t there, the playcalling didn’t fit the receivers and Jagerbomb never got into any rhythm. The Stoics feasted as corner Holowach managed to get 3 interceptions out of the 6 thrown by the two QBs and The Stoics dominated from start to finish in a game where we all wondered “how is there still time on this clock” in the second quarter.

Fun Boys vs BD Bandits: In, probably, the best game of the week last week, Fun Boys and BD Bandits went at it big time. Game was pretty back and forth as both teams made big plays offensively and defensively. Converting big 4th downs (I see you, Corey Wawalski) and scoring at key moments, this game was coming down to the wire. BD Bandits had 4 plays after suffering a safety a bit earlier to score and win. They marched the field, but with 2 plays left from their own side of the field, things looked grim. Steve Sanner caught a pass up the middle and managed to break a tackle to turn said pass into a huge 20-25 yards gain and set his team up for 1st and goal, at the 5 with only a play left. Fun Boys’ pass rush got there, forced a bad release by Mark Belvedere, couldn’t connect with his intended receiver, incomplete pass. Game over, Fun Boys win.

The Sheriff vs A-Squad: I’ve been praising A-Squad for quite some time and this doesn’t change much for me regarding their potential success this season, but The Sheriff really needed a win and got a BIG one this week. Sure, it wasn’t flawless execution as Luis Begin posted a 4:2 ratio, but it was enough to get the job done. Junior Luke went off for A-Squad, but without a 2nd guy stepping up to make plays for them offensively, his valiant efforts were a tad wasted on Sunday night. With both teams now sitting at 3-1 right behind MTL Originals and The Infantry, this game might actually end up being a tiebreaker for seeding down the road!

Air Force 1 vs Les Montagnards: First and foremost, I would never imagine this game finishing 9 to 7. Regardless of who wins. Now that that’s out of the way, losing due to a safety must reallllyyy suck. Marc-Antoine Viens has struggled under center this season but this particular outing was his worse one yet as his team simply couldn’t get anything going offensively and Air Force 1’s defence finally stood tall and made their opponents pay. AF1 is slowly adjusting to the speed and nuances of Division 4 and could become a very tough opponent in the upcoming weeks. As for Les Montagnards, I must say I’m a bit disappointed; it’s a good team with talented players on both sides, but the QB position is currently dragging them down. They’ve done it before in times of need, so it’s not impossible they turn their season around, but something IS missing this season.

Players of the Week

Tim Horner (Soft Serve): 6 receptions, 153 yards and 5 TDs. Monster performance.
Jordan Panetta (Game Changers): 63 receiving yards, 4 TDs and a pick on defence. I mean.

Daniel Goloff (Mean Machine): 222 combined yards, 7 TD and a 120.2 QBR.
Carmine Pollice (SWAT): 9 receptions, 122 yards and 4 TD. I’d love to say “cover the man at some point” but it is harder than it looks.
Rory Semerjian (The Infantry): 3 offensives TD and 2 interceptions. Can’t really be more impactful than this.
Aryan Jamati (Believe the Hype): 2 pick-sixs and 2 pds. As far as defensive performances go, this is pretty impressive.

Power Rankings

Division 4A

Game Changers (4-0): The only undefeated team in 4A and I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon.
Greendale Human Beings (3-1): Huge statement game vs Half-A-Stars last week with a whoppin’ 46 points. This offence is finally back on track.
Half-A-Stars (3-1): One loss won’t define them. Still the best +/- in the division too.
EBROS (3-1): Taken by surprise? Maybe. EBROS remain one of the favorites to go all the way this season.
The Stoics (3-1): If you don’t come out swinging, you won’t beat this team this season. Heck, you won’t even compete for 44 minutes.
The Tide (3-1): Another solid outing for The Tide sees their stock rise just a tad more. Their next game is going to be a big one. Sucks it’s in 15 days.
Baby Kangaroos (3-1): I guess you can call me a hater for picking against them so early. Big win over Soft Serve puts them right back on my radar.
69ers (2-2): This second ugly loss has me worried a bit. Let’s see how they fare in Week 6 before I jump the gun.
Fun Boys (2-1): Clutch win to keep them at the top of the division. They’ve only played 3 games, but that shouldn’t change how dominant they’ve been recently.
SMYTDs (2-2): Back to back wins will definitely help your case. With a handful of winnable games upcoming, it’s time to buy.

Division 4B

Ghosts (4-0): A strong defensive showing after a few weeks of offensive prowesses shows that they don’t need Francois Martin to be at his best to win games; scary thought.
MTL Originals (4-0): Won a close game against a contender this season; this only elevates their stocks.
The Infantry (4-0): Even without their week 1 forfeit, their +/- would still be the highest in the division (granted they win that game by a score or more)
Les Blues Branleurs (3-1): This is, by far, the best LBB roster they’ve ever put together.
Les Verges Folles (2-1): A tough loss against one of the division’s finest brought them back to reality. How they’ll bounce back is what intrigues me now
The Sheriff (3-1): Huge win vs A-Squad sees them rise a few spots; can they keep the streak alive?
A-Squad (3-1): A-Squad drops a few spot after last week’s loss. I’m not worried though.
All Hooks (2-2): They’re able to keep games close against the division’s best, but they’ll need to do a little bit more than that to rise back to their former glory.
Lonzo Ballers (2-2): With Lonnie Johnson back under center, this team is scary. Even without Quaid Johnson for a few weeks, they’ll be dominant.
SWAT (2-2): After a bad start, they’ve found their footing and are finally playing their kind of football. With such a loaded roster, SWAT will be a problem this season.

Predictions

Game of the Week in 4A: Fun Boys vs Keyport Lock

Game of the Week in 4B: The Sheriff vs Air Force 1

**Please note, these are purely subjective and have nothing to do with FPF’s official GOTW filmed product**

Past Our Prime vs Sphinx: Past Our Prime

Don’t Mess With Texas vs Pub Epoxy/Sports Campus: Don’t Mess With Texas

Jagerbomb vs Half-A-Stars: Half-A-Stars

SMYTDs vs Les Hommes de l’Ouest: SMYTDs

Fun Boys vs Keyport Lock: Fun Boys

BD Bandits vs The You: The You

The Sheriff vs Air Force 1: The Sheriff

Lonzo Ballers vs Small Giants: Lonzo Ballers

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this will trigger you just enough to drop me a message either via email ([email protected]), twitter (@DagenaisFPF) or in person. Remember, I didn’t do this to you, YOU did this to you. Until next time…! I’m still laughing at Peeze trying to start that unplugged clock.

Week 4: SuperBowl Bye Week