Div E Week 4 Recap

Hello everyone and happy sunday! Today I am in a particularly amazing mood because Carlos Sainz has just won the British Grand-Prix in Spectacular fashion, and I may need to rewatch that race a thousand more times before I get enough of it. 

Anyway I’m here to talk about Flag Plus not Formula 1, so let’s get to it. 

My weekly insight actually has nothing to do with football, but much more to do with me. Lately many teams have been emailing their rosters before gametime, which in theory should be a big help to me. However, it actually only helps if you send it before 5:30pm when I am still at my house. This is because I, unlike many other scorekeepers, do not have a tablet to use during the games and I must use the App on my phone. Switching between the app and my Email sometimes causes the app to freeze which is really just the opposite of Ideal. Basically I’m saying if you are going to take the time out of your day to email the lineup, please do it at a time when it will actually be beneficial to all parties involved. If you send it to me at 6:45 while I am already at the field, there is about a zero percent chance I’ll be seeing it because frankly it’s just a nuisance. 

This is the second consecutive blackout Sunday Flag Plus, but it is also the last one for a while I think so I’ll surely be attending more games in the coming weeks. 

I am going to change the name of this segment for the week, because I can not call it games of the week when in reality they were just the two games that I happened to be at. I am also happy to report that in Week 6 and 7 I’ll be scorekeeping games for The Praetorian Guard and I’ll finally be able to write about one of the better teams in our division. 

Games I attended in Week 4 

Big Fat Bats 25 – 46 The Penetrators 

The Penetrators took the ball to start the game, and they had just six players for the game. Their opening drive began with three inconsequential short passes, but ramped up quickly with a 26 yard touchdown from Justin Goodman to Nicholas Fon. Big Fat Bats responded with an eight play drive with no incompletions, finishing it off with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Matthew Zeppetelli to Luca Leccese. Leccese finished the game with 25 yards and the score. The duo of Goodman and Fon were undeterred and on the first play of their ensuing possession connected for a 32 yard pass. Fon would score a 1 yard touchdown a few plays later. The Bats were not yet out of the game though. Zeppetelli found Anthony Giacomodonato for his lone catch of the night, which would result in a 30 yard touchdown and cut the lead to 1. Josh Nadler was a huge contributor for the Pens in this one. His 31 yard catch set up a 4 yard touchdown from Josh Jacobson. Nadler recorded 54 yards, a touchdown, and a sack in a solid outing for the snapper/rusher. With just two plays remaining before halftime the Bats attempted to bomb one down the field. Unfortunately for them it fell into the hands of Jake Halpern, and proved to be costly for the Bats. The Penetrators used the one remaining play to throw a Hail Mary which was miraculously caught by Nicholas Fon after about four tips, a devastating blow for Big Fat Bats. The Penetrators took a 26-12 lead into the break and held onto it until the end of the game. 

The Penetrators have been super impressive in the past few weeks. They had a brutal 0-2 start to the season but have since rallied to win four straight. 

A fun fact I learnt this week about The Penetrators is that they really love their team name. A good number of the team members also play on a Div C squad called Los Penetrados so my question is; Do they really love the name that much, or are they really just super unoriginal?  

Players of the game: 

Justin Goodman: 220 yds, 6 TD, 89% comp.

Nicholas Fon: 142 yds, 4 TD, 5/5 Rec.

Josh Jacobson: 8 yds, TD, Pick 6, 5 TKL. 

Matthew Zeppetelli: 122 yds, 4 TD, 83% comp. Also I just need to mention that the name on his jersey is Randy Lahey and I think that is pretty sick. What goes around is all around. 

Sulé Fesss 28-0 TB Elite 

This game was a gongshow, best displayed by the number of Qbs TB Elite used in the game. They had seven players and four of them attempted passes. One other player wanted a go also, but was denied by pretty much everyone on the team.  The Game began well for Tb Elite. James Levitsky picked off Dave Kyle on the opening drive and it seemed like the young guys’ athleticism could hold them in the game. This was short-lived though, on their second play from scrimmage Brett Goldenberg was picked off by Julien Wilson. The first of three interceptions thrown by Goldenberg. Neither team scored on their first couple possessions, until Dave Kyle found Francis Desrochers for a 19 yard touchdown which ultimately proved to be the game winner. The other scorers for Sulé Fesss were Loic Savoiz-Seguin (twice), and Vincent Desrochers. Desrochers scored a pick 6 on the final play of the game. It is also noteworthy that Loic Savoiz-Seguin was late to the game, and Sulé Fesss were leaps and bounds better once he arrived.

Players of the game: 

Loic Savoiz-Seguin: 32 yds, 2TD, 2 INT, TKL.

Francis Desrochers: 59 yds, TD, 2 TKL. 

Vincent Desrochers: 42 yds, XP2, INT, Pick 6, PD, 3 TKL. 

I know that I usually do three games of the week, but this week I only saw two Div E games, and I don’t think that anyone reading this cares to hear about Div C. 

Now it is time for my first official Div E summer 2022 power rankings. 

1. The Praetorian Guard (5-0) 

I’ve mentioned a couple times (a billion) that I am yet to see them in action, however, numbers do not lie. They sit atop their conference with a 5-0 record and they have a solid +70 point differential. Their qb Mederic Lauzon is 2nd in the league in; touchdowns (23), yards (936) and completion percentage (77.2%). He is first in the league in quarterback rating (137.7). He is also yet to throw an interception which is nothing short of exceptional. Their weakest faction is their defense. They allow a touchdown on nearly 62% of their defensive possessions, which could prove to be costly against good teams. However, until that happens, they are the team to beat in my opinion. 

2. Minchia FT (5-1) 

Unfortunately this is another team I have not been able to see in person, and one might argue that they deserve to be #1 in the rankings. Their point differential is better than The Praetorian Guard’s (83), and they are far better on defense. On average, opposing teams run three more plays per touchdown, and they allow 2 less ppg than the Guard. They are also very solid defensively on 3rd and 4th down, allowing teams to convert just 32% and 29% of the time respectively. Michia do however score less points per game than the Guard and require more downs to score a touchdown… Unfortunately they do not play the Praetorian Guard this regular season, but I do expect these two teams to meet deep into the playoffs. 

3. The Penetrators (4-2) 

This is the only 2-loss team to make the power-rankings, and that is because they lost their first two games of the season and have rallied to win four in a row. They have the best point differential in the league (+89) and they have a good number of tall athletic players who love making plays. QB Justin Goodman leads the league in numerous stat categories such as; Touchdowns (32), yards (1026), completion percentage (82.5%). He is also second in QB rating (121.8). Nicholas Fon has been instrumental for them as a receiver, in the four games he’s played he’s recorded 285 yards, 8 TDs, and he’s caught 18/20 targets. 

The three other teams which I believe deserve to be on this list are: Les petites Carrottes, Vick in a Box, and Magnetos. The only reason I’ve not given them their own rank / info blurb is that I don’t think they’ve played enough games to know for sure.

Les Carottes are 3-1 and have only allowed 82 points on the season which is really impressive, but that is only four games. The same goes for Vick in a Box and Magnetos who are both undefeated but they have only played three games! The second half of this season is due to be extremely interesting and I am very excited to see which teams fall apart, and which others turn it around. 

Players of the week: 

QB: Justin Goodman: Penetrators: 399 yds, 12 TD, 89.5 % comp. (2GP)

WR: Nicholas Fon: Penetrators: 233 yds, 6 TD, 23 yds/rec. (2GP) 

WR: Matthew Neiss: Minchia FT: 57 yds, 3 TD, 14 yds/rec. (2GP) 

WR: Xavier Brault: Les Petites Carottes: 139 yds, 5 TD, 17 yds/rec. (2GP)

WR: AJ Zeppetelli: Big Fat Bats: 101 yds, 2 TD, 14 yds/rec (2GP)

DEF: Vincent Desrochers: Sule Fesss: 2 INT, TD, PD, 3 TKL. (GP) 

DEF: Josh Jacobson: Penetrators: INT, TD, 5 TKL. (GP)