Wednesday Night Recap – Week 3 – Laval Edition

Dream Breakers 18 vs. The Tide 32

I think this game stood as a message for everybody in the Division that the Tide should not be taken lightly. They started out strong as Doug McKernan used both his arm and legs to drive the field, capping off the first drive with a 23 yard touchdown pass to Chris Pinsonneault. On the Dream Breakers first drive, they got stalled by a rusher interference penalty and couldn’t recover, turning the ball over on downs and giving The Tide a short field.

McKernan took advantage of the short field and hit 5 different receivers before finally connecting with Pinsonneault again for his second touchdown of the day. His numbers don’t really jump off the page but he led The Tide on Wednesday night and was certainly the catapult for their offense. While Dream Breakers we’re able to keep him in check the rest of the game, the damage was already done.

The teams then began to trade scores, but The Tide kept their early advantage thanks in large part to their ability to shut down Jasmin Prince. They allowed Vincent Laganiere to eat up the middle of the field but Sebastien Dallaire couldn’t seem to connect on too many big plays in the game overall and that hindered him quite a bit.

I would say that the game was closer than the score indicates, but ultimately Dream Breakers were never able to slow down The Tide offense and Doug McKernan’s infamous point one way and throw another, along with his pump fake down the field were in full display that night. Dream Breakers are a good team and The Tide proved they belong in the Division’s elite.

Pension Plan 21 vs. Llamas Pyjamas 13

I enjoy getting the chance to score keep Pension Plan games and it was great to catch up with a few old friends and opponents. If FPF had a man of the year award, it would be tough for anybody to take my vote away from Anthony Siggia each year and while he didn’t have as much of an impact on this game as usual, his touchdown was the game winner and difference in this one.

The first half was completely dominated by Pension Plan and Llamas Pyjamas didn’t have an answer for Vince Pisano and his crew. He spread the ball around nicely and I was impressed with Philippe Bazinet especially who gives this team another dimension. He’ll act as their big play wide receiver alongside trusty teammates Siggia and Mario Rinaldi.

Pension Plan managed to go up 21-0 before the momentum shifted and Llamas Pyjamas came back to make it closer on the scoreboard than the game suggests. Olivier Godard wasn’t very accurate in this one and when he was, his team wasn’t helping him out very much. He did a lot of damage with his legs but ultimately it just wasn’t enough.

Freshmen 16 vs. Backwood Boyz 21

These two teams are built extremely similar and this one was probably the most exciting game of the night. Backwood Boyz had the edge because Barazzoni is a polished pocket passer than his counterpart, Jeremi Thompson O’Reilly. That said, I actually give the edge to O’Reilly on the ground and he looked dangerous and just like a running back with the ball in his hands. It’ll help him a few drives per game, but I’m not convinced it will win them more games than they lose. He’ll need to work on his accuracy and overall presence in the pocket to have sustained success.

One thing that helps with that is a big, fast, target on the outside which is exactly what he has in Vincent Lemieux. He didn’t have his best game but I think that Freshmen will be at their best when O’Reilly and Lemieux are on the same page. In this game, Jeremie Aerts took center stage and played very well, making a few one handed catches and bailing O’Reilly out in several instances. He also scored both touchdowns for Freshmen.

Ultimately, Backwood Boyz just had too much fire power and experience and they generally handled this game fairly easily and were dominating most of the game, even though the final score doesn’t reflect that. Their struggle in this game was converting in the red zone for both teams and Backwood Boyz had many opportunities to take an even bigger lead, especially early on, and they could not convert. That said, Groppini had his usual big game and we should be on the lookout for Nicky Farinaccio who showed he can be an excellent number 2 for the Boyz.

Killer Rays 6 vs. Stiffy Arm 26

A fun part about doing these articles is learning about new teams. It’s even more interesting when I realize I get to cover an old friend. Adamo Colella, also a really good hockey player, had a solid game on Wednesday night and he’s now responsible for handing Killer Rays a losing record.

Killer Rays had a decent start, but after a long completion came several incomplete passes and a sack on 4th down to turn the ball over. It was a great opportunity for Stiffy Arm to start the game ahead and take control with first possession in the 2nd half but Colella started off a little rusty and threw his only interception of the game. Chris Pololos would help out his quarterback and get the ball back and then scoring a 31 yard touchdown of his own on that very next drive.

The Killer Rays did their best to stay in the game but were forced to punt while down 6-0 and Stiffy Arm made them pay. Colella found Pololos on another deep pass from midfield and the Killer Rays did not have an answer. Stiffy Arm then scored on their first possession of the 2nd half and never took their foot off the gas. Just like that, one team finishes the game above .500 and the other finds themselves back to the drawing board.