Playoff Time in FPF Junior

Last weekend’s games were the last of the regular season but the games that matter most start this weekend. I’m sure every team has worked hard up to this point, but none of that really matters now. In the playoffs, it all depends which team rises to the occasion. FPF Junior has seen its fair share of upsets over the years and I am sure we will see more this year. Since the playoffs are about to start, I will breakdown the playoff picture division by division and I will recap a few games that I saw last week.

Before getting into those playoff breakdowns and the game reviews, there were a few performances from this final week of the regular season that I absolutely have to mention. By Atom’s standards, Tyler Bowell of the Bears had himself quite the game. He led his division in passing yards with nearly 100 as well as in passing touchdowns with two. I have not talked much about rushers this year, but a rusher from Flight School 4 in Mosquito caught my eye this week. Amaziah Simulumbu dominated defensively with four sacks on his team’s way to victory. A single sack is impressive, four means you were making the opposing quarterback nervous on every single play. To keep on the theme of rushers, Malik Sabourin-Danglade from Flight School 2 also impressed me with three sacks in this final week of the regular season. In Bantam, it was Trey Bentley, with a performance for the ages that grabbed my attention. Trey Bentley’s Flight School 1 were going up against their closest competitor, North Shore. I expected the game to be close but with the way Trey Bentley was playing, North Shore never stood a chance. Flight School 1’s stellar quarterback passed 243 yards and a staggering seven scores. He did all that without conceding a single sack or throwing a single interception. In Midget, the Raiders managed a closely fought 32-31 win over the Titans. That win was largely thanks to the remarkable performance of the Raider’s quarterback Riley Element. He passed for close to 250 yards as well as five scores. The only blemish on his passing record was the two picks he threw. Another offensive performance from Midget is worthy of mention. Jake Newman of the Tigers cemented himself as one of the top receivers in the division with his stellar week 8 performance. The Tiger’s star receiver totaled seven receptions for 136 yards and a score.

Playoff Picture

Atom: Things are straight forward in Atom. There are no consolation finals, just two semi-finals with the winners advancing directly to the final. The first semi-final will feature the undefeated Flight School 5 against the Jaguars. While this may not be the most even of matches, the Jaguars can try to keep it close with one simple thing: good tackling. Flight School 5 relies on yards after the catch and if the Jaguars limit those yards after the catch, they may stay in the game. The second semi-final features the Bears and the Silver Cougars. This game promises to be a closely fought affair. If the Silver Cougars can find a way to limit the Bear’s stars like Harley Minzberg, then they should have a legitimate chance at victory.

Mosquito: In Mosquito, things are not quite as straight forward as in Atom. The top four placed teams (Flight School 3, McCaig Gladiators, Hurricanes, IB Vikings) will be playing for the championship while the bottom three teams will play in a consolation bracket. The Red Cougars will play the Spartans and the winner will play Flight School 4 in the consolation final. The other bracket should be quite interesting as well. All four of the top teams are extremely talented and I’m honestly not sure who will beat who. Flight School 3 will be the favorites in their game versus the Vikings, but we have seen the Vikings upset teams before. In the other semi-final game, we have two extremely talented teams facing off. The Gladiators may be the best team in the division, but it depends what version of the team shows up. Will we see the Gladiators that beat Flight School 3 or the Gladiators that lost to the Vikings? The Gladiators are facing off against one of the best-rounded teams in the division: The Hurricanes. As to who will prevail, it could very well be a coin toss.

Pee-Wee: In Pee-Wee, the last two placed teams, the Black Cougars and the Fighting Irish will play in a consolation final. The game that really interests me here is the semi-final game between the Musketeers and the White Cougars. While the Cougars beat the Musketeers in both of their previous encounters, I smell an upset coming here. This isn’t based in any stats or logic, but I just have a feeling that the Musketeers will be able to pull out a win here. They have a new roster and QB Kaydon Shaw has become used to his receivers and I think this is the game where it all comes together. If the Cougars disagree with my gut feeling, well, all they have to do is go out there, play like they did in the past two meetings and move onto the final. The winner of that game between the Musketeers and Cougars will meet Flight School 2 in the final.

Bantam: The Bantam division has the same playoff format as the Mosquito division. The Cyclones will play the Wildcats in a consolation semi-final and the winner of that game will face the Islanders in the consolation final. The top four teams will play for the championship. The first game will have Flight School 1 play against and the Rebels. We all know how good Flight School 1 is but I think the Rebels may have a chance in this game. It all depends on what version of Zachary Nelson shows up for the game. Will we see the Zachary Nelson from the beginning of the season who listened to his coach and meticulously dissected the opposing defence? Or will we see the man who took it upon himself to modify plays and throw as many interceptions as touchdowns? In the second semi-final, the Dusters will take on North Shore. Despite the Dusters being without their long-time QB Adam Malinoff, I believe they have a fighting chance. Backup quarterback Matthew Leutner looked extremely dangerous last week. If he can keep up that level of play and avoid turning the ball over, the Dusters have a chance at moving onto the final.

Midget: Midget has to be the most interesting of all five playoff brackets because I believe every team has a legitimate chance at winning. Two of the most dangerous offences will face off in a qualification match. The winner of that game between the Raiders and the Crimson Tide will take on the Nittany Lions in the semi-final. Despite the Tide currently sitting in last place, I believe they have a good chance at winning it all. The recent addition of Kaelen Trepanier revolutionized their team. If he plays to the level we all know he is capable of and his receivers catch the ball, they have just as good a chance at winning as anyone else in this division. The other semi-final will oppose the Tigers and the Titans. I have never seen the Titans play but from what I have heard, they are a well-balanced team with some very talented players. I do know the Tigers and they are a team to be feared. Their offence is a lethal mix of passing and running and they have the athletes on defence to create turnovers. I’m not sure who will win this game but I do know it will be a great game to watch.

Game Recaps

Nittany Lions (28) vs Crimson Tide (18)

Nittany Lions: The Lions are used to relying on Noah Lachance. However, without any of their main coaches on the side-lines, they were also dependant on their star quarterback for play calling. Noah Lachance thrived under this pressure and led his team to victory with 15 completions for just over 150 yards. He also rushed for 49 yards and scored a touchdown in the process. However, Noah Lachance also threw three interceptions. All three of those were when he attempted to force the ball deep. Maybe that tendency to throw deep was a result of no coaches being present, but Noah Lachance will need to either stop throwing that deep ball or make better decisions as to when to throw it. One facet of the game that was working was the 10-yard pass to William Bradford. William Bradford and Noah Lachance connected on nine occasions for nearly 100 yards and a touchdown. The Lions two other receiving touchdowns came courtesy of Darius Nicholson and Noah Smallwood. On defence, the Lions did not manage any interceptions, but they were able to get constant pressure on the opposing quarterback thanks to the outstanding rushing of Noah Smallwood. He managed the difficult job of containing the dangerous Kaelen Trepanier with his three sacks, one bat down and countless pressures.

Crimson Tide: The Tide have been a different team ever since they recruited all-star quarterback Kaelen Trepanier. While Nicholas Di Maulo is a talented quarterback, he is definitely more dangerous as a receiver. With Kaelen Trepanier under center, the Tide have to now be considered playoff heavyweights. However, the Tide’s receivers were not making life easy for their quarterback. Out of Kaelen Trepanier’s 24 incompletions, over half of those were drops. Maybe the Loyola dome was a bit cold or the ball wasn’t sticky, but there is still no excuse to drop that many passes. Hopefully the Tide’s receivers will remember how to catch before the playoffs roll around because that many drops in the playoffs isn’t going to mean a loss, it’s going to mean season over. One receiver who didn’t have any trouble catching the ball was the ever reliable Eitan Assayag. While he may not have devastated the opposition with long catches, he was a safe pair of hands for the check down throws. He caught a total of eight passes for 55 yards and a score. While Eitan Assayag may be the short threat, Olivier Gauthier is definitely Kaelen Trepanier’s favorite deep threat. Despite only catching three passes, Olivier Gauthier led his team in receiving yards with 71 as well as in touchdowns with two. Olivier Gauthier caught nearly as many passes on defence as he did on offence. He picked off the Lions twice, both on deep balls and also managed three tackles to round out an outstanding performance. The Tide’s third and final interception came courtesy of John Michael Anfossi. Kaelen Trepanier also made his presence felt defensively with his five tackles.

With that, the Winter 2019 season of FPF Junior draws to a close. We have seen new players and new teams establish themselves as forces to be reckoned with as well as players emerge from the shadows to grab center stage. It is always great to see players progress from season to season and those improvements were on full display during the regular season. However, now all that is out the window since the playoffs are about to begin. I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks will have in store!