“And the SouthEast bracket is BUSTED” – Moe Khan
Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo
21-04-2024 02:21 PM
The Division 3 Divisional round of the playoffs started with a bang. The best 16 teams went at it on Wednesday night in Laval and it was a wild round. There’s nothing quite like the playoff atmosphere in FPF, where the entire division is (usually) all in one complex, watching teams go at it that they’ve played against, picking up on familiar play calls, admiring sweet sweet touchdown passes and incredible defensive plays. You finish your game, and unless you need to be somewhere, you just find yourself sitting and watching the next game, sometimes in a sad sorrow state if your coming off a tough loss, other times in a joyful, game planning way if you came away victorious. The highs, the lows, the hope, the hurt, that’s the emotional engagement FPF holds on us all. It’s what keeps us coming back, when we’re caught thinking about the 2-3 plays that could have changed the fortune of our playoff fate and tell ourselves “damnit, I’m making the Spring team right now”.
So let’s get right to it. Let’s get a quick recap of the Divisional round and then preview the Quarter Finals.
Here’s the updated Bracket now with the Divisional round in the books:
Division Round Recap
The BrotherHood vs. The Infantry – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: The BrotherHood
I didn’t anticipate The Infantry coming away with 4 interceptions, but alas The Infantry defense made some great plays.
Zack Stacey has had a rocky Winter season, combined with a surprising Div 4A loss on Monday night. He put those doubts to bed early in this one, completing all 8 passing attempts, capped off with a 4-yard TD to Marc-Andre Lapointe. Compare that to TB’s first drive that ended with a pass slightly overthrown to Quaysie Gordon-Maule and a spectacular diving interception caught inbounds near the sideline by Nick Di Maulo. The Infantry would capitalize on the turnover to go up 13-0. Another INT thrown by Theo to Khazaka almost spelled the end of the game, but Theo would keep his team in it with a 4th PD thrown in the direction of Lapointe.
The game would go score for score, until Nick Di Maulo iced the game with his 2nd INT of the game, leading to another Lapointe touchdown. If ever there was any doubt, Di Maulo sealed it with a 3rd down touchdown, making him the Player of the Game with a team-high 66 yards and 2 INTs.
Kiss My Inlaws vs. Beer Belly Brigade – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: N/A
This was a QB clinic, as both QB’s only had 3 incompletions. Surprisingly, there was an offensive drive for KMI that ended with a stop as a 3rd and 2 situation became 4th and 16 after the first ever bad snap from Dave de Andrade to myself. It’s definitely the first of the year, but might be the first bad snap ever between us as Dave is one of the most reliable snappers in all of FPF when it comes to hitting the QB right in the chest. It definitely came at one of the worst possible times. The 4th and 16 attempt from the KMI own 5-yard line was almost completed as well, as it came off the finger tips of Justin Gauthier, giving BBB the ball back with 4 plays remaining in the 1st half at the KMI 5-yard line.
Alex Fafard was as close to perfect as a QB can be, slicing up the KMI defense and scoring on every drive. Even though they outscored KMI 8 touchdowns to 7, the game was still tight, a 1 point victory due to the convert game playing a major role. Kiss My Inlaws got a touchdown off of converts while Beer Belly was 0/7 on converts until the final touchdown, they were able to hit the crucial XP1 to Nicolas Curotte that sealed the win as KMI had no timeouts left.
Dime and Bougie vs. Blue Chips – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: Dime and Bougie
The first half of this game was relatively close and competitive. With the teams trading first series touchdowns, and Blue Chips scoring again to go up 12-6, the game pivoted for first mental mistake that was controversial. Denzel Thompson would punt the Dime and Bougie ball, after an incomplete pass made it 4th and 8. While not caught right away, a smart, but controversial way of getting the OC penalty was awarded, making it 1st and 10. Now, while that got Dime and Bougie a fresh set of downs, Blue Chips still made it a 4th and 1 situation, but D&B would convert it into a 19-yard touchdown to the big man, Farell Gnago and get the XP2 to turn the tide in favor of D&B. That OC would also put Blue Chips down to just 5 guys, as they were a tight 6 players in the game. Momentum was switched. The next BC series started with a false start, then a 2-yard sack and on 3rd down, Jerome Hovington baited Jordan Mitchell into a pass that he took to the house. Even though Blue Chips would score before the half in just 4 plays and missing the XP2, they would be down 20-18, but starting the 2nd half on defense.
With Doyon coming away with the 2nd half opening touchdown, Farell Gnago would once again come away with a clutch play, this time defensively, picking off a pass thrown by Sanders Armand. This is where Dime and Bougie smelled blood and struck with a classic bomb to Felix Boutet that would find the endzone from 31 yards out. The game then really ended when Manu Allard–Roy, on 4th down, would pick off Jordan Mitchell, spelling the end of the Blue Chips winter season.
Air Force 1 vs. Mongoose – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: Mongoose
This game had a wild start to it that had a 5% chance of Mongoose ending with 47 points on the board. Alex Gaudet started the game COLD, with his 3rd pass attempt of the game going into Xavier Collette‘s hands. Simon Blais on his end, did everything he could in the 1st half to give his team the best chance to win. After the first turnover, Blais went 4/4 for 21 yards and a TD to Nic Dumitru with the XP1 to boot.
The next play for Gaudet? A pick 6 from Mr. Playoffs himself, Alex Szalipszki. I’d argue that even though AF1 converted the XP1 attempt, that was their first mistake of the game. Always try to get 15 points when you can, it guarantees a 3-possession lead when your opponent uses their onside attempt. Gaudet never looked stressed though, and would use those calm nerves to drive down the field, even though Szalipszki nearly had his 2nd INT when batting down a pass intended for Simon Duchesne. The 3rd Mongoose drive though, would find the endzone, a 3-yard TD to reliable snapper, Francois Deslauriers.
I loved the next play from AF1, leading 14-6. A 40-bomb TD from Blais to… Mr. PLAYOFFS. That put AF1 ahead 20-6 and had Mongoose gasped, as their drive had taken 8 plays to find the endzone. But Mongoose would reply with a quick score of their own, as Duchesne slipped by a would-be tackler and ran it the distance for a 34-yard score. He would then drop-back as a 2nd QB and hit Franky Deslauriers for the BIG 2-point convert to make it a 20-14 game. Just like that, after 2 INTs and giving up 3 touchdowns, Mongoose found themselves down 6. Not only were they down 6, Blais would make his first real mistake of the game, throwing an interception to Maxime Théroux. After starting ice cold, Gaudet was heating up, and tied the game at 20 with a 29-yard touchdown to William Tondreau and hit the XP1 to find themselves ahead for the first time, 21-20. Not to be outdone, Simon Blais would drive the field confidently, going 4/5, 40 yards and hit Antoine Caron for an 8-yard TD on the final play of the half to go up 26-21 and starting the 2nd half with the ball.
Thinking we would see more of that final drive to start the 2nd half, AF1’s offense went cold, starting with a 4-and-out that Mongoose would punch in the very next play. AF1 would then drive the field down to the Mongoose 4-yard line, but came up empty. Once again, Mongoose would capitalize off the turnover and throw another 6 on the board, now up 35-26 with about 8 minutes remaining. Blais knew he had to score quick, and did so, with another bomb, this time to Antoine Caron to be down 32-35. Another long Mongoose 8-play drive though, ending with a TD put them up 9 with 5 plays remaining. With the onside still in their pocket, Blais would get AF1 down to the 2 yard-line in 3 plays, but Maxime Théroux put an end to any comeback attempt, picking off Blais and running it all the way back for 6.
Very entertaining game, one that AF1 will look back at their 20-6 lead and wonder how they let it slip away.
Bruins vs. Friends with Danny – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: Bruins
Friends With Danny started their playoffs strong, with a first-drive TD to the friend himself, Danny D’Amour, and then Jeremie Dorzin sacked Kris Verreault for a 12-yard loss that led to a 4th down stop, with Jason Armenti coming up with a big tackle to prevent Siriman Bagayogo from gaining the 1st. Jared Buck had the chance to go up at least 13-0 when a Jocelyn Calixte INT created an early turning point. It was a big play by Calixte as it lead to a 12-point swing and a 7-6 game in favor of FWD.
Buck once again found magic with Danny, airing one out from 27-yards out that, with the XP1, gave FWD a surprising 14-6 lead. The Bruins though, would come away with a clutch drive with about 1-2 minutes left in the half, one that took 4 plays to find the endzone and hit the XP2 attempt to tie the game at 14 and smartly leaving Buck only 3 plays to score, where they would come up short.
Friends with Danny were ready to pull off the upset, but the offense sputtered from then on and the Bruins defense came to life, shutting FWD in the 2nd half, while the Bruins offense rolled 20 points on FWD, with 2nd half TD’s from Zack Zwirn (2) and Jocelyn Calixte, propelling them into the Quarter Finals .
Backyard Bullies vs. Sharks – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: Sharks
In the absence of their big playmaker Jaylan Greaves, the Sharks relied heavily on Ariel Librati in this one. The game started with a 4th and 1 conversion that went to Ariel for 19 yards and 6 points on the board. He would then bat down a pass on 4th down from Sean Avraam, intended for Rich Humes.
The following drive, with a chance to go up 2 scores, Gianni Johnston came up with a big 7 yard sack, followed by an incompletion that set up a 4th and 3 situation, where Vinny Gualano defended a pass going Groper‘s way. The teams would exchange big-play scores, with the Bullies hitting Jordan Allard for 23 yards and Corey Walwaski connecting with Ariel for a 2nd time, this time for 40 yards. The Bullies would find themselves, 3 plays later, in a 4th-and-2 situation, with Librati coming up with his 3rd TD of the game, this time dancing around the Bully receivers for a pick 6. After the explosive defensive play, Avraam went right back to him, and Ariel had his 2nd pick in as many throws. Luckily, the Bullies defense didn’t break because 24-6 would have been a tall task to overcome. Instead, they were down 18-6 after Gualano blocked the final Walwaski throw of the half.
The key in the Bullies comeback started with a key 2nd half opening drive, and getting all 8 points they could have gotten. The 2 teams would exchange 2 touchdowns aside, missing all their XPs for a 30-26 Sharks lead, and the Sharks with possession of the ball. Corey would drive the Sharks all the way to the 3-yard line, but apparently a controversial 4th down sack call that would have otherwise gone for 6, didn’t go the Sharks way.
The real question is that with 2 plays remaining and the Bullies 34-yards away from the endzone, how the hell did the Sharks defense give up all 34-yards in a single play?? Well that’s what happened, as Derrick Fontana caught Avraam’s pass for the score that put the Bullies up for the first time in the game. They left Corey 1 last heave that wouldn’t get in, and the Bullies advance to face off against Dime and Bougie.
Lightweight vs. Minions of Migdesyan – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: Lightweight
This game was a game of 4th down. On the opening Minions drive, Zeppetelli found himself in an 4th and 4 situation that he did not convert.
Simon and Lightweight on the other hand, after 3 incompletions to Emyl Gregoire, who would go 0 for 7 on targets for the night, lead to a 4th and 10 situation. Unlike Minions, Lightweight would convert, gaining 15 yards. Lightweight would find themselves in another 4th down situation, this time 4th and 3 and Simon hit Justin Blanchard for a 10-yard touchdown, going 2 for 2 on 4th down on the drive, leading 7-0.
On the 2nd Minions drive, Zeppetelli was once again faced with 4th and 3… incomplete. 0 for 2 on 4th down with Lightweight 2/2. Lightweight made light work of the short field, as Blanchard caught his 2nd TD of the night. With Simon‘s love for the 1 point converts, they found themselves up 14-0 when they should have gone for 2 and make it 15-0.
Minions would finally have a sustained drive and got to 4th and goal from the 1, where Zep had to clutch up and did, finally connecting with Daron Migdesyan for a touchdown instead of a 3rd turnover on down.
Minions were holding Lightweight and Simon in check on 1st and 2nd down, but Simon is a guy who LOVES going deep and connected with Blanchard again, this time down the skinny post pipe for a 40-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead. They would take that lead into halftime.
The opening drive of the second half, took no longer than 1 play, a fade to Juwan Edghill that beat the corner lock defense of Minions. Now down 27-6, Mat Zeppetelli had no choice but to go hurry up, and they did what they had to do, scoring in just 2 plays and converting for 2, cutting the score to 27-14.
The Minions D would once again forced a 4th down situation, but Simon would find Tre Bentley (3/3) for the first down and Hendrick Ambroise for the touchdown on the very next play, which included a UR penalty on Nic Knez. Up 19 points, Simon smartly decided to pin MOM back on their own 1 on the next possession, hoping that would kill another 30-60 seconds. Despite 49 yards to travel, Zepp would cover those 49 yards in just 4 plays, keeping the score close, now down 13.
With the clock ticking down and the Minions trying to mount a comeback, things got heated and McNally was given an OC penalty that some say was valid, others say it wasn’t. Either way, it didn’t help Minions as it came with an automatic first down and 10 yards up for Lightweight. Despite the defense missing McNally on the field, Simon finally didn’t convert on 4th down, as Mike Caparelli defended the pass to Blanchard. If you weren’t keeping track, Lightweight is now 3 for 4 on 4th and MOM 1 for 3.
After AJ got MOM down to the 5 yard line with a big 29-yard catch down field, 3 incompletions later had Zeppetelli sweating, with their fourth 4th down attempt of the night. Caparelli would come up huge, with the nice in and out move, connecting for 6 point and inching the Minions closer, now down 7 points, 33-26.
With McNally back in the game, and Lightweight at around midfield, 3 straight incompletions later, the game was once again in the balance on 4th down. And then things got dicey. Apparently two guys on the Lightweight line moved before the snap. Pause. Readers of Div 3, I hope you are not shocked when you read that receivers ARE allowed to move on the Line of Scrimmage (LOS) before the snap. You CAN flinch on the line. What you cannot do, is completely cross the LOS. So what was told to me, was that one guy flinched, but the other Lightweight receiver definitely crossed the LOS. It was not called, the snap was taken, Luca Lecesse missed Simon‘s hip and flags, Simon evaded the rush, move up in the pocket, scanned, and found Justin Blanchard downfield for his 4th and game-ending touchdown of the night to seal the victory for Lightweight.
EZW vs. Dirty Birds – Reminder of Iggy’s Pick: EZW
WELP, Dirty Birds forfeited their game to EZW. ANALYSIS
Quarter Final Matchups
Bruins vs. Lightweight
Bruins were able to get away with not having Rocco Christiano and Gab Dabe Champagne in their Wild-Card matchup but will absolutely need them against Lightweight. Lightweight themselves may be short a guy or two as the reality of recreational sports hits home.
A big matchup in this game will be Franky Hogue rushing Kris Verreault. When Kris can extend plays and get open for runs, and dip downfield, is when the Bruins offense is rolling best. If, however, Hogue can create 3rd and 4th and long situations with 7-8 yard sacks, like Dorzin created for Friends with Danny on the first drive of the game, the Lightweight defense is capable of getting a stop on a 4th down try. Otherwise, the Bruins have a lot of options to mix up the Lightweight defense, and I think they should pull out all the tricks, because this looks like a Div 3 Finals matchup in the Quarter Finals. Notably, Rocco is a big piece of that offense that can create confusion between when he’s getting getting the ball as a receiver, dropping back as a 2nd QB, or simply a decoy, he is a focal point of the Bruins offense and should be a target Lightweight has a close eye on.
Another key matchup to watch out for is how well the Bruins defense can defend the Lightweight BOMBS from Simon Dagenais. It’s incredible how few interceptions Simon throws given the high volume of deep shots he takes. He’s used to having the speedier guys to get his passes, but now you have a CFL DB covering guys in Siriman Bagayogo and the monster Gab Champagne that towers over receivers and uses his height to his advantage.
Ultimately, this is a game that will likely come down to a convert game, and this is where Simon‘s reluctancy to go for 2 is going to hurt him. Kris Verreault handles his offense in a Braves-like fashion. He’s been in that huddle often now, and his game management mirrors Jo Maheu (and why not take a page out of one of FPF’s best), and part of that is going for 2 and having more comfort than Simon. I’ve mentioned it several times now, that going for 1 is going to eventually bite Simon and Lightweight in the back, and this might just be that game.
The Infantry vs Beer Belly Brigade
Some would be surprised that both these teams are here, but both have their own ways to win games and executed it perfectly in the Wild-Card round.
For Beer Belly, the game will be in the hands of Alex Fafard. He was magistral in the game vs. Kiss My Inlaws, but they were missing their high-end player in James Drysdale. The Infantry should be with their big gun in Rory Semerjian, which tightens things up for Fafard. The good thing for BBB is that they have 4 solid options at receiver in Olivier Claveau, Nicolas Curotte, Jonathan Benoit and David Enault. The thing is, The Infantry can go 4 defenders deep, with Rory, Khazaka, Lapointe (injured reserve replacement for Sean Semerjian) and Di Maulo, but their biggest factor for The Infantry is that they have Ethan Adrian rushing Fafard and limiting the damage that the Beer Belly QB can do when he’s running around in the backfield, buying time. Their won’t be much time for his receivers to get open before he gets sacked for 4-5 yards. That will be the biggest matchup that Fafard will need to win if Beer Belly wants to go score for score with The Infantry, because TI will score on almost possession. I don’t see Stacey forcing many balls and the Beer Belly defense only forced 7 turnovers off of INTs this regular season. Also, they can’t expect to give up 48 points every game and come away with the win. Definitely not a recipe to win Div 3 playoff games.
EZW vs. Mongoose
EZW vs Mongoose is a battle of who reaches 40 first, maybe even 46. And in that scenario, give me EZW 9 out of 10 games. Could this be the 1 game that Mongoose has the upper hand? They showed their resilience and poise when down 20-6 against AF1 to comeback and go on a 41-12 run, but they absolutely cannot afford a start like that against EZW. Jeremy White is too smart, too elusive and too experienced to let a lead like that one slip away. He will chew the clock on 8-9 play drives and end them with touchdowns. With 3 potential award winners on the team, EZW will look to shake off the rust after not having played a serious game since April 3rd after their first round playoff game was forfeited. That said, EZW only had 2 occasions this season where they scored less than 30 points, so the team knows how to score and score in bunches.
For Mongoose, they will need to force turnovers, which will prove difficult on the large Laval fields, as EZW present a speed challenge for them. Maxime Théroux, JF Daloze, William Tondreau and Simon Duchesne will need to play sound positional defense to intercept Jeremy White. That, combined with the offense rolling like they did in the 2nd half of the Air Force 1 game, which shouldn’t prove to be too difficult a task against a good but not elite EZW defense, and Mongoose will then have to win the XP battle to get a chance at beating EZW. If that didn’t make it clear, EZW is an 7.5 point favorite with a lot of things needing to go Mongoose’s way.
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Dime and Bougie vs. Backyard Bullies
This one is an interesting matchup because BB beat Dime and Bougie in the regular season. Though, as we’ve spoken about many times, that was with Vinny Gualano at Quarterback. In my opinion, this is Dime and Bougie’s game to lose. There’s no defender on the Bullies lineup that can cover Felix Boutet and if Jordan Allard is that guy, then there’s no defender who can cover Jerome Hovington. In 3 of their last 4 games, the D&B defense, lead by a new play caller in Jerome has allowed 25 points or less, including 20 to powerhouse Lightweight. Defensively, Maxime Brissette has been a solid addition to the squad as he registered 3 INTs in just 5 games. Him and Farell Gnago are true X factors in a playoff game where the stars on the squad will be highly surveyed in Boutet, Hovington and Allard–Roy (CMONNNN MAN!).
For the Bullies, they will need to play safe ball, as any turnover by Sean Avraam will likely spell the end of the Bullies. One turnover, they may be able to get away with, but definitely not 2. For the Bullies to win this game, they will need to outsmart their opponent, as they are outmatched physically and athletically. The one matchup I do like on their end is Gianni Johnston rushing Jules Regimbald. If Jules is too focused on beating the rusher, the Bullies can force 3rd and 4th and long situations, which increase their odds of winning, though, if there were to be a handful of teams that can get out of such a long-distance situation, Dime and Bougie is one of those teams. Still, the idea being here that Jules should not be focused on the rush at all, and if he is, he’s lost focus of the game plan, and then it’s possible he starts having flashbacks to past playoff failures. If the game script starts flowing that way, the Bullies need to see that crack and jump right through it, as its likely the best chance they have at winning and heading to the Semi-Finals.
Quarter Final Round Game Picks
Bruins vs. Lightweight – Iggy’s Pick: Bruins
The Infantry vs. Beer Belly Brigade – Iggy’s Pick: The Infantry
EZW vs. Mongoose – Iggy’s Pick: EZW
Dime and Bougie vs. Backyard Bullies – Iggy’s Pick: Dime and Bougie
Epilogue
Alright Div 3, that does it for this week. Congrats to the Wild Card winners and good luck to you all in the Divisional Round as the games go down on Wednesday night in April!