Categories: Division 4ADivision 4BGeneral

A New Season, A New Hope, but the Same Iggy Magnets

Welcome Div C readers to the season-opening article written by me, Iggy Magnets. You may know me and my writing style if you played in Division 4 last Winter, from my on-and-off appearances on Calling The Audible, or from calling some of the Winter ’22 Championship Final games as the color analyst. You may also know me from either playing with me or playing against me, as I’ve bitten by the flag football bug in 2017 and haven’t been able to shake it off ever since. Not only have I not been able to shake it off, but that bug has sucked a lot of money out of me and that thing is now as big as a bloated mosquito after sucking too much blood. I’m unfortunately not playing in Division C this year, although I was definitely tempted. Playing 6 football games per week (not all with FPF) was enough to stir me away from a 7th. I am however, playing in Div D (Kiss my Vulture), Co-Ed (Kiss My End Zone), and giving my 2nd shot at QB in Div E (Scranton Stranglers).

Funny enough, I covered Division C in the Spring ’21 season, so it will be a fun comparison from this year to last year in terms of any teams moving up, trending down and individual improvements.

For those who don’t know, my articles generally have a rotating format of segments which include: FPF news and notes, bullet point items that caught my eye in the Division, Game Recaps, Game Previews, Fantasy Teams of the Week, Power Rankings and Game Picks. I try and go in-depth to get the heartbeat of games and the division, and this year, with all the double-headers, you can bet each week there will be major shifts in the standings and you can tune in here to get all the latest happenings. This week, an opening statement for each team

Apologies for the late Week 1 article. The FPF off-season was a real short one and a writer’s gotta get a paid vacation! I spent the weekend up in Tremblant, which won’t happen every week, so don’t worry about the future articles coming out on time. Aight, now time to dig in. This week, I will be focusing on each team’s outlook for the season and show you the top performers in the Fantasy Team of the Week.

FPF opening week

  • Damn, anyone else playing on 2 or 3 teams notice the grind of the schedule if you had 1 or 2 double-headers? The condensed schedule and double-headers (and bye weeks? really?) is FPF’s solution to get the Fall Cup and Winter 2023 season back on its regularly scheduled program.
  • Ordered new jerseys? Make sure they get in on time for picture week in Week 2. Get your hair cut, your beards trimmed, and shine your (foot)balls, as photographers will be at the fields to take your individual (if you need one or want yours updated) and team pictures!
  • Tuesday night at Loyola was… wet, wild, and not-so-fun. But teams and players were still able to make big plays for their teams out there. Remember, games are not cancelled with rain. Unless there is a torrential down pour, refs will pause the game, but won’t cancel it. Games will only be cancelled/postponed in the event of lightning.
  • If one of your players will be missing a week where your team is playing a double-header, make sure you email the league at [email protected]. Why? If everything checks out with the scorekeeper, instead of missing 2 Games Played, your player will only miss 1 game.
  • If you entered your schedule in your phone or some calendar online, a reminder to re-check your schedule online. MONDAY NIGHTS at Parc St-Michel is no longer on the schedule. All Monday night games there have been moved to the Laval field (indoors, Field #2), still on Monday nights.

What you gotta know going in: Divisional Season Previews

  • Les Montagnards will be seeking to redeem themselves. They come into the division after going a perfect 10-0 in the Winter season, only to see them lose in their first playoff game (the Quarter Finals). They now need to go through an entire season’s grind to get back where they want to.
  • TWO INCH’S GANG are coming off an up-and-down Fall Cup 2021 season in Tier 3 and have registered for Div C. Damn, that’s quite the leap, but they were able to squeak out a win against One Step Closer, a game that was heavily influenced by the rain. Lots of missed tackles, popped up balls for interceptions and dropped touchdowns. Game 2 didn’t go so well, as they went up against the high-flying Vultures, but good on them for putting up 30 points on the board.
  • Air Force 1… finallllyyy, they are playing in a division that is suited for them. While I started with that, the fact is, I love this team. The guys are awesome, humble, playmakers, and are GOOD at football and have fun while doing it. Watch out for them to make a strong case to be atop of the standings throughout the season.
  • TOPSZN! Not sure why I have an exclamation mark next to them, but them, like Les Montagnards had an outstanding regular season this past Winter season, only to lose in their opening round game against Small Giants. Not only did they bring about 80-90% of their core roster back, they upgraded Charles Verrault with Quaysie Gordon-Maule. That is one hell of an upgrade, adding the guy who had six pick-6’s last year in Div 4A. Not to mention the speed he bring on offense. Let’s see if he’s on the team for good, or if he was a sub for the Parent brothers. Either way, look for TOPSZN to once again be amongst the top teams in Division C.
  • Vultures took a big lead in the division standings late in the week as they won both their games by putting up big offensive numbers. This year’s edition of the Vultures has usual snapper James Drysdale moving to the slot while free agent Ryan Dobbs-Garnett and Juwan Edgehill join the arsenal attack of the Vultures, and damn did it work out! They almost put up 100 points in just 2 games and James had a career outing against the Ravens, catching 5 balls for 168 yards and 3 TDs.
  • A lot of the members of the Fall Cup winning team are back for Hot Sauce Sports. After a tough winter season, one of the interesting questions with this team is whether Paolo Della Rocca can take his quarterback play to the next level. He’s proven he can, with the right weapons around him, draw up a good schematic playbook when facing particular defenses. That right mix of players are back, so can HSS make the playoffs in a fascinatingly tough division? Can their defense bail them out unlike in the winter season? One thing is for sure, it will be an up and down ride for Hot Sauce Sports that will have my attention all season.
  • Blitzed Budds are the team a lot of people will be frightened to go up against. The “Eastside boys” of Division 4B added AJ Gomes and a QB with potentially the best arm-talent in Felix Goulet. Oh, and they added Dante Sparagna and Nic Groppini full-time too. If I’m Goulet, I am licking my chops at FEEDING my star-studded receiving core and I’m excited at the prospect of putting FPF-record type numbers. Then you see what I’m writing and say, but Iggy, they put up a mere 26 points against Los Penetradores. Yes, and they did so in rainy conditions and with no reps with Goulet. It may take some time, but as Felix learns his receivers tendencies game by game, watch out for this team to be a force to be reckoned come playoff time. If they can’t pull it all together, I say it will be a disappointment.
  • I’m not too sure what to think of The Commission just yet, which is neither a good or bad thing. Just not sure. From Game 1, it looks like the team will be hard to score points against their stingy, led by ballhawk Mike Pierrecin and peeps before my time in Jean-Michel Alerte and Peter Rose. They stuffed an-offense heavy Infantry team in their way to a comeback win in Week 1 and we may see more of that from their D this season. The offense will be driven by Gino Di Fazio under centre, who seemed to lean heavy on Hakim Kasbi-Filiatrault, but clearly built an instant chemistry as Hakim caught all 6 targets for 136 and 2 scores. Let’s see if the ball gets distributed more evenly amongst the reliable receiving core.
  • Jeremy White and the EZW gang are back! They too played in Division C last Spring and finished with a 3-7 record. That said, they’ve since played in Tier 1 (Fall Cup ’21) and Division 3 (Winter ’22) and in fact, finished 7-3 this past winter season, losing to the Div 3 finalists, Junkyard Dogs by 2 points in the Quarter Finals. In other words, this team has faced stiffer and stiffer competition and have now combined their elite athletic talent with true and tested FPF veteran experience. It’s been often talked about, but White‘s ascent in his Quarterback play has been nothing short of spectacular. In Week 1, where he faced off against another name in Fafard that has skyrocketed in QB development, he was able to rip apart the 9-1 Beer Belly Brigade defense to shreds, dropping 40 points on them. Expect more score lines like that against these Division 4 teams that are stepping up to Division C. Essentially, those teams making the jump are the EZW of last year in Division C. Look for this team to be a top 2 seed by season’s end and contending for a championship.
  • Eyyyyyy, the dynamic duo of Luis Begin and Alex Noel is back! Although, and Noel would be the first one to admit, his first two games have not been as dynamic as he would like. Despite being the #1 target leader, he’s only hauled in 3 of the 12 targets gone his way. Granted, the first game was outdoors in slick and wet conditions. But enough about just 1 player, I really like the receiving core of Alexis Bessette, Kevin Marcil and Richie Mondesir as the primary cast. They only thing I worry for, is most of the rosters time away from FPF. Div C is not what it once was when these guys were playing and perhaps would have been better suited for Div D. But that is besides the point. The team will be competitive in the majority of their games, but look for a low of 3-7 and a high of a 6-4 record for One Step Closer when all is said and done. They will be a team fighting for a playoff spot.
  • The Stoics are looking to rebound from a tough Winter season playoff loss to Mongoose and also looking to repeat their Spring Championship of last year (in Division D), but will look to do so without the glitch in the matrix, Denzel Eadie-Lowe. They did however reach in the free agency pool and snatched up Giordano Proulx and Rivest likes what he’s seen so far from him. The rest of the core looks in tact, but everyone will need to step up their game and max out their effort as the competition week in and week out will be like playing in playoff games. There are no slouch teams here, so I will love to see how Chris Rivest‘s development progresses. He proved me wrong in the Winter, as he show-cased his offensive flair with multiple 30 point performances. Can he once again take his game to the next FPF level?
  • Here’s another team where the QB progression has been nice to see throughout the last 4-5 years, but once again, Mathew Lerner will need to continue his development as the season goes along. I think Peeze got it right on Episode 1 of Calling The Audible. The initial knock on Mathew Lerner was that he relied too heavily on brother Justin Lerner, but that hasn’t been true for a while now. He loves hitting snapper Justin Bizzarro Gray and has gained both chemistry and trust with Daron Migdesyan and Olivier Doleyres. New to the Tough Lung family this season is lowkey superstar Brandon Aylward. I love the addition of the 2-way forward. He can, for 1-2 games, completely take over games and win games on his own. That is one of the best free agent acquisitions in Div C.
  • After seeing The Infantry only put up 22 points and gave up a lead to The Commission, I was surprised, but not totally deflated on them. This team made the finals last year in Division C when they went up Blessed in a hell of a Finals. After a Winter season that saw the Semerjian brothers once again face Blessed in the Division 3 finals, they must be relieved to not see the Outlaws/Blessed franchise in Div C this spring. They’ve added a few players to the mix from last spring’s team, bringing in Yvan Desjardins from Junkyard Dogs, but also guys from the Centaures franchise in Armand Balla and Ben Nolette. These are 3 quality players that can easily come up with a big touchdown, a game-changing INT or even a pick 6 that completely changes a game’s outlook. Oh, and if Jeremie Ledoux can heal from a late-season injury from the Winter season, he is a high-end depth player that many teams would love as a WR4/WR5.
  • There always has to be a team that will end up low in the standings, and no one wants to hear it, but Los Penetradores might just be that team. Rocco Christiano is giving the QB position another shot, but with the young guns of the Div 6/E Penetrators. Christiano has had success in the past, but those were the Norfolk in Chance squad’s that were loaded with Andrew Carruthers, Chris Williams, Sydney Gage, etc. I think Los Penetradores have some players with raw-talent, but are making a jump into Div C in their FPF careers a little too quickly and their inexperience will be evident.
  • What is happening to Jordan Rossie and his Centaures/ESU Timberwolves franchise? They’ve always been a strong team, but since the Fall Cup in 2020, their last good season, the team as a whole has taken a dip. A 2-7-1 record in Div C last spring and a 3-7 record in 4A this past winter, the team has struggled to get more than 3 wins. Yes, Chris Brockwell suffered a gruesome hand injury, but it appears he is back in the mix as one of the most reliable snappers in the Div, but that hasn’t stopped the losing streak, as the Timberwolves are, in a season that can quickly get away from teams, already down 0-2 on the season. Unless they can get a consistent roster to show up to games, and those players play at the height of their games, this might be another disappointing season.
  • Beer Belly Brigade had one hell of a season in Div 4B this past winter, but they are taking a big step forward (the right one) going into Div C. They may have already played in their toughest game of the season in Week 1 vs. EZW, so they got a taste of what it is to play against a team that gained a lot of higher-division experience. Honestly, it’s probably best they faced them in Week 1, since Week 1 is a bit of a wash whether you win or lose. Instead, they got a feel for what they can expect against those teams like The Infantry and TOPSZN. But forget those teams for now, I’m sure when the schedule came out, BBB circled the last game of the season, where they will play against the Vultures, a rematch of the Semi-Final game where they lost their chance to make the Div 4B Championship Final.
  • Ravens have quickly made the jump from Div E last spring to Div C this year. That’s impressive, and I would be confident if Joel Houle was the clear-cut starter, but I’m wondering who the teams quarterback will be. They subbed in Gab Wiseman in Week 1 but are perhaps going with Fred Mallette, the teams Week 2 starter. The Ravens are always a good mix of speed and size, but if Justin Sarlabous‘ injury in the Div 5A Winter season Semi-Final game is keeping him out from the entire Spring season, the Ravens lose a lot of speed their. They have replaced that speed with Karl Pelletier who has wheels, but less refined football cuts than Sarlabous. And if they can sub in Anthony Lapointe here and there, my god, he looked good out there in Week 1. Going through their schedule, it’s hard to say which games they will/should win and which are losses. I definitely don’t see them getting blown out by any team, so they will be in close in almost every game, which many of them will come down to the last possession.

Division C Fantasy Team of the Week

Quarterbacks (2): First time in my Fantasy Team of the Week, I have the same Quarterback in my lineup as Ben McMahon ripped up the Division in Week 1 and is creating new rules for my Fantasy lineup!

QB1 – Benjamin McMahon (Vultures) – Game 2: 18/25, 65.5% completion, 284 yards, 8 TDs, 0 INT, 115.5 QBR, 6 Rushing Attempts, 54 Rushing yards.

QB2 – Benjamin McMahon (Vultures) – Game 1: 15/21, 65.5% completion, 196 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, 115.5 QBR, 4 Rushing Attempts, 60 Rushing yards, 1 Rushing TD

Receivers (5):

WR1 – James Drysdale (Vultures – Game 2): 5 receptions, 8 targets, 168 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR2 – Nicolas Ashkar-(Two Inch’s Gang – Game 2): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 107 yards, 4 TDs

WR3 – Hakim Kasbi-Filiatrault (The Commission): 6 receptions, 6 targets, 136 yards, 2 TDs

WR4 – Anthony Lapointe (Ravens): 9 receptions, 11 targets, 95 yards, 2 TD

WR5 – Etienne Laurence-Gervais (EZW): 9 receptions, 9 targets, 90 yards, 2 TDs, 1x XP1

Defensive Backs (5) + Rusher (1):

DB – Rory Semerjian (The Infantry): 1 tackle, 1 INTs, 1 Def INT, 1 PD

DB – Mike Pierrecin (The Commission): 1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 Def INT

DB – James Drysdale (Vultures – Game 1): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT

DB – AJ Gomes (Blitzed Budds): 4 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

DB – Guillaume Fraticelli (Air Force 1): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1x INTXP2 (Pick 2)

Rusher – Nicholas Gomes-Risso (Blitzed Budds): 4 sacks (in the rain, i.e. slippery flags)

Week 2 Game Picks 

My Picks are in Bold Green

Air Force 1 vs. The Stoics

Vultures vs. TOPSZN – Found out the score before picking

EZW vs. Les Montagnards

ESU Timberwolves vs. Hot Sauce Sports – Found out the score before picking

The Infantry vs. Blitzed Budds – Found out the score before picking

Los Penetradores vs. EZW

Air Force 1 vs. TWO INCH’S GANG

Ravens vs. One Step Closer

Beer Belly Brigade vs. The Commission

Les Montagnards vs. ESU Timberwolves

The Stoics vs. Tough Lungs

One Step Closer vs. TOPSZN

Epilogue

Well, that does it for the first article of the season! I know a lot of you were wondering where the first article was, but the next one’s will be on time 😉 Feel free to reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger. Get your rest in when you can as there are plenty of games to be played in succession

Want more FPF? Here’s Week 1 of CTA with the usual suspects