Categories: Division 6Winter

Battle of the big boys, the Individual Award Race and Week 8 Team of the Week

Aight, we are right back to our regular articles after a grueling mid-season review. I guess I know how a teacher feels, since those report cards take so long. Just so you get an idea… it takes about 20 minutes to write a report on a team. Div 5A: 20 teams x 20 mins = 6 hours and 45 mins. Not too bad. Div 5B: 21 teams x 20 mins = 7 hours. Div 6: 33 teams x 20 mins = 11 hours. Yes, I’m venting. The first few are fun to write, but once you start hitting team #10 and 11, you start wanting to rip the eye balls out after more than 1,000 clicks and going down the rabbit hole of “oh, this QB played with this receiver back in 2016 and showing a returned chemistry in 2023”. While team recaps are fun for teams, as they get a bit of a more in-depth look at their team, I’m sure, like myself, we miss what’s happening in the division and who’s making a push in the standings. So let’s get back to it.

This past week, we had a couple of division giants facing off to get a good idea of where they stack if they were to meet later down the road in the playoffs. But to talk about that, let’s go into the Divisional Discussion Board

Division Talking Points

  • Sure, X-Men got their revenge over FA Squad in a big way, but after a 32-0 shutout victory, they were handed the same courtesy by the young, high-flying X-Men. That said, Win Diesel would surely want a rematch with Will Sebag at quarterback and Marcus Lynch set at receiver. Still, X-Men put up 32 on pretty much the same defense.
  • The week before, X-Men ABSOLUTELY wrecked the Trailer Park Boys, even with Division 2 talent Mathieu Houle playing with them. He had a few uncharacteristic drops that let the X-Men have more offensive possessions on their way to a 50-point victory.
  • Coach Andy Peterkin could be heard screaming at the defense getting them in the right positions, but the game was lost in 2 parts. One, after taking an Unnecessary Roughness penalty for trucking a defender on a run (which from my vantage point, I thought Olivier St. Onge held up and a moving defender just smashed into his big frame, but, the Lasalle Warriors Midget couldn’t get a stop on a backup emergency quarterback in Tyler Gurberg . Second, Emerson Peterkin couldn’t get away from the lengthy arms of Curtis Ryan as he would intercept the talented young QB three times on Saturday night.
  • Speaking of Emerson Peterkin, despite the rough outing, he is still in strong contention for 2-Way Player of the Year. For new players and teams in FPF, some think 2-Way Player of the Year is lesser than Receiver or Defensive Player of the Year since it’s being somewhat good both offensively and defensively. This is wrong. 2-Way is THE award to win as it means you were likely Top 3 in BOTH offensive and defensive categories, which is REALLY hard to do. Emerson leads the Div with 8 INTs (tied with Avery Klimas of the Wild Hogs) and has over 1,500 yards of offense with 33 TDs on the season.
  • Dime Squad finally put in a legal roster together and came away with a tough win over a good Betway Bandits squad.
  • Top G were the winners of a 6-interception game where both teams were without their starting quarterbacks.
  • Last week, on the last play of the game, Marcus Lynch had the game-winning touchdown over Douilles Molasses.
  • The Habibis vs. Maccabees was supposed to be a 1st-class battle royale. Instead, both sides weren’t truly focused as Maccabees were 3 or 4 regulars short. Even against 5 defenders, Zack Stacey couldn’t make them pay, slightly overcomplicating his plays with the extra man on the field.
  • Fiddlers had 2 games in Week 8 and 2 wins. They have a big game against The Habibis, Monday night in the Hebert Dome.
  • The battle for the Top 8 spots for a 1st-round bye is very, very close. Unofficially, the Top 8 (not in order) right now are: The Habibis, X-Men, Win Diesel, Dak To The Future, Baby Rays, Maccabees, Fiddlers, and Mountain Dew Babies.
  • Nabeel Khatib of C Town Spice and Nino Lombardi of Fiddlers both lead the Division with 11 quarterback sacks on the season. Lombardi has also racked up 6 PDs. Completely disrupting 17 plays is awesome, leading to long 3rd and 4th down attempts.
  • The Bottom 9 teams (unofficially) who are facing elimination quickly are (in no particular order): Gyprock, MTL Red Blacks, Grus’ Crew, Trailer Park Boys, Threat Level Midnight, Tex4s Chooches, The Royals, Don’t Blink, and C Town Spice.
  • Towers FT are an interesting team that are getting better with each passing week. Keep an eye out on them. QB still runs too much, but that’s Div 6 and he can do it well.
  • After a couple of absolute ROCKING games, Justin Gauthier has surged his name up to the Quarterback of the Year conversation.
  • Uh… speaking of Gauthier and Dak To The Future… 81 points?!?! Gyprock State U gave up 72 earlier this season to Towers FT and I had never seen 72…. I can’t believe that was beat, IN THE SAME SEASON! 81? They pulled a Kobe Bryant on Why So Serious.
  • After some Bye weeks and a missed game, Princeton Cruikshank has been on an absolute tear, rising his way to the Division’s leading receiver in yards and TD’s. Watch out Div 6 defenses 👀

Game Preview

No Fly Zone vs. TuneSquad

No Fly Zone (4-3)

vs.

TuneSquad (3-2)

TuneSquad are coming into this one on a 2-game winning streak, improving their record to 3-2 while No Fly Zone have been alternating wins and losses since Week 3, so based on their outcome last week, this week should be a win, right?

If No Fly Zone do want the victory, Adam Ouici will need to put up at least 4 Touchdowns against TuneSquad. He will need to mostly do it through the air, as Avi Korman is a decent enough rusher where he might get beat once, but will adjust to Ouici‘s cuts and speed and will be able to break down his rush and not let him escape. If TuneSquad take away the Gonzalez bros, Ali Alvi and Connor Houston have the chance to have a breakout game and cement themselves as solid WR depth that can contribute in winning ways.

For TuneSquad, if Garner Ross continues his safe ways, throwing just 3 interceptions on the season, then TuneSquad already has a 75% chance of winning this game. No Fly Zone is a riskier offense that goes for the homerun kill but can lead to more turnovers. If Ross can take advantage of those turnovers with points, he can bury them early. Ross is a better QB when playing with the lead and I believe will have a chance to play with the lead in this one. TuneSquad have their own brother duo, the Arnovitz‘s alongside Adam Antel and Jesse Dym that are all capable of moving the chains when driving down the field.

The offenses won’t be scoring 36 points in this one, so it will be a bit more of a defensive battle, but ultimately see TuneSquad with their greater experience to come out on top to extend their winning streak to 3 games.

Prediction: TuneSquad 26 – 18 No Fly Zone

Week 8 Team of the Week

QBs of the Week (2)

QB1 – Noah Swaminadhan (X-Men): 16/19 (84.2%), 173 Passing Yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs

QB2 – Justin Gauthier (Dak To The Future): 11/14 (78.6%), 211 Passing Yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT

Receivers of the Week (5)

WR1 – Princeton Cruikshank (Lasalle Warriors Midget): 5 receptions, 7 targets, 77 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR2 – Jo Santucci (Fiddlers): 5 receptions, 7 targets, 89 yards, 2 TDs

WR3 – Mason Fleming (FA Squad): 4 receptions, 4 targets, 83 yards, 2 TDs

WR4 – Alex Lessard (X-Men): 3 receptions, 6 targets, 69 yards, 3 TDs, 2x XP1

WR5 РFran̤ois Rochette (Dak To The Future): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 74yards, 2 TDs

Defensive Players of the Week (5) + 1 Rusher

DB1 – Manny Bizogias (Fiddlers): 2 tackles, 3 INTs, 1 Def TD

DB2 – Luca Chiricosta (Pigeons): 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 Def TD, 1 PD

DB3 – George Spano (Towers FT): 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 Def TD

DB4 – Tristan Cerminara (Tex4s Chooches): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB5 – Emanuel Benarroch (The Habibis): 2 tackles, 3 INTs

Rusher – Oriola Poirier (Dak To The Future): 4 sacks, 1 PD

Epilogue

Alright Div 6, that does it for this week, but be sure to come back next week and see what’s happening in the division. If you want more content, there’s always more! Check out our podcast, Calling The Audible for our Div 6 talk: