Categories: Division 5ADivision 5BWinter

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Program

What’s up Div 5!? Long time since I’ve gotten to add some personality to the article since those goddamn 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 #7 and 8, 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.

Division 5A

Week 8 Highlights

  • After playing one of their worst games of the season against Buffalo Wild Wings, Red “Not” Skins started their game against Him University slow once again, going down 20-0 at one point in the 1st half. They pulled out a 27-20 comeback victory with Frankie Scalzo at QB, where he lead the offense to the every important end-of-the-1st half score and beginning of the 2nd half TD. After a stop on the ensuing Him University drive, Keiller tied the game at 20 and Scalzo‘s defensive pick 6 on the next Travis Moses throw iced the game.
  • Skylar Bayliff would be your 2-way player of the year if the season ended today.
  • The list of undefeated teams is down to 2: Big Fat Bats and the aforementioned Red “Not” Skins. BFB are 2 wins away from the perfect season with games against Save The Turftles and Rico Ryders. But will they pull the ultimate FPF classic, 10-0 season and 1st round exit?
  • Glory Boyz must be ecstatic that Clinkers lost their game to Backwoods. The Clinkers loss keeps GB in the mix for a playoffs. Remember though, it is the bottom 4 teams that don’t make it!! So even though Clinkers are colored in green in the standings, with 2 points on the season, they would be eliminated if the playoffs started today.
  • There was a horrible altercation between The Tokyo Sandblasters and Practice Squad (5) where several suspensions were handed down.
  • Ballers got back on the winning track with a win over Tip Top Shape, who were without David de Andrade at QB. Danick Coulombe went OFF for 124 yards and 3 TDs.
  • I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the articles or not, but Div 5A has a new QB taking over for a team. Ryan Dobbs-Garnett is quarterbacking Menace II Sobriety for the rest of the year. After putting up 39 against The Tokyo Sandblasters, the MIIS team let up 39 against the West Island Boys.
  • If the season ended today, Mathew Zeppetelli would win QBOY. He’s got over 1,603 yards of offense and 38 TD’s, with only Zack Stacey throwing less INTs.
  • Les Petits Carottes suffer yet another defeat, a 29 point loss to the 8-0 Big Fat Bats. They now find themselves 1-4 at the halfway point of their schedule. They need to win 2-3 games in the back-half of the season if they want to make it into the playoffs.
  • The bottom of Group B is very tightly contested with three teams at 2 wins. One of those teams are the Tokyo Sandblasters who have already played 8 games on the season and have little runway left. They have the Turftles and BWW left. Turftles are sliding while BWW are 1-0-1 in their last 2.
  • Again, if the season ended today, another Big Fat Bat, AJ Zeppetelli would win receiver of year. He’s the only receiver with 500+ yards and has hit the that mark 4 seasons in a row now. He’s 1 TD off his career best 17 from last Fall Cup with 2 more games left. He easily shatters his personal TD best.
  • After starting the season 4-0, Save The Turftles have dropped 3 games in a row. That streak might go to 4 with a matchup against the undefeated Big Fat Bats next.
  • No Friend Zone have rattled off 5 wins in a row and have 1x 400-yard receiver, 1x 300-yard receiver, 1x 200-yard receiver and 3x 100-yard receivers. Good luck covering this diverse skill receivers.
  • Are you kidding? BFB running away with the awards, as I believe Luca Leccese has the inside track for DPOY with his 16 sacks. He’s racked up 3 sacks in each of his last 4 games. WOW.
  • There are 3 QBs with QB ratings of 124.0 or better, that’s crazy!

Game Preview/Game Recap

The Process vs. Rico Ryders

Rico Ryders are coming into this one having barely beaten a struggling Le Speakeasy squad, 21-20 on Monday night in Hebert. Mathew Yanakoulias didn’t have his best performance, scoring only 3 times, but did go 3/3 on the XP converts, which ended winning them the game, but more importantly threw just 1 interception. After throwing 10 INTs in his first 3 games of the season, he’s thrown just 3 in the past 3 which has either kept them much closer in games, or even lead to an outright blowout.

As for The Process, they are coming off a heartbreaking loss where they held a 21-0 lead over Big Fat Bats that they let slip away. Quarterback Noah Groper threw 3 INTs in the 2nd half he would obviously want back and has the chance to right the ship against Rico Ryders. He will need to lean on not only Ariel Librati, but Greg Castiel, Jonathan Perez and Arie Baazov as they need more YAC yards to help the offense drive the field.

If Rico Ryders want a shot at winning this game, they need to put their best rusher, which is likely Daron Migdesyan to contain Groper and force accurate throws, where Justin Lerner will be lurking deep. If Rico Ryders can force the short game, and know the short game is coming, they need to be disciplined and hyper aggressive when shooting the flats. This will disrupt The Process’ offense and can hopefully either create turnovers from interceptions or on downs. Offensively, Mathew Yanakoulias needs to continue protecting the football the way he has. He must also continue getting everyone involved the way he has. If he zones in on Lerner, Librati could make them pay with at least 1 interception. M. Yanakoulias has done a great job spreading the ball with a 300-yard receiver, a 200-yard receiver and (almost) 4 100-yard receivers, where everyone has caught at least 1 TD.

If The Process is going to come out victorious, Groper and the offense will need better executions on the XP converts. Going 5/20 won’t get you a win in a close battle, which if the Rico Ryder defense steps up, it could be a 21-20 point affair that ends up coming down to converts.

Prediction: The Process 25 – 20 Rico Ryders

Week 8 Players of the Week

Time to see who balled out last week!

QBs of the Week (2)

QB1 – Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo (No Friend Zone): 20/27 (74.1% completion), 250 Passing Yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

QB2 – Vincent Guillette (Buffalo Wild Wings): 18/29 (62.1% completion), 198 Passing Yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT, 2 Rushing Attempts, 2 Rushing Yards.

Receivers of the Week (5)

WR1 – Danick Coulombe (Ballers): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 124 yards, 3 TDs

WR2 – Fred Mallette (Buffalo Wild Wings): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 95 yards, 3 TDs

WR3 – Skylar Bayliff (West Island Boys): 6 receptions, 6 targets, 93 yards, 3 TDs

WR5 – AJ Zeppetelli (Big Fat Bats): 5 receptions, 7 targets, 110 yards, 1 TD, 1x XP2

WR5 – Vincent Cheung (Save The Turftles) 3 receptions, 4 targets, 87 yards, 2 TDs, 1x XP2

Defensive Players of the Week (5) + 1 Rusher

DB1 – Frankie Scalzo (Red “Not” Skins): 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 Def TD

DB2 – Julian McLaren-Thompson (West Island Boys): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB3 – Fred Mallette (Buffalo Wild Wings): 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

DB4 – Marc Demers (Practice Squad) – 1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 Def TD

DB5 – Giordano Giannini (Big Fat Bats) – 4 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PDs

Rusher – Ian Coulombe (Ballers): 3 sacks

Division 5B

Week 8 thoughts and reactions:

  • Stormers are STRUGGLING. After a 31-12 loss to the Warriors, they just dropped another game to Team Sexy in Week 9.
  • HimU got a big win over the Brewers last Saturday, with the defense coming up with a big INT on the final drive to seal the victory
  • Pocket Rockets also got a big win, with Will Power getting 4 INTs on Team Sexy. Yeah, Ben Berbrier didn’t learn to stop throwing deep on Will and PO Tremblay-Agelakos had his breakout game.
  • We are down to 2 undefeated teams: Killer Rays (7-0) and Red Dragons (5-0-2).
  • Speaking of Red Dragons, they suffered a bit of a gruesome injury leaving them without their star receiver Émile Bolullo. Looks like they will be putting him on the IR and perhaps getting Samuel Cantin, who plays with them in the Div 4 Bébés Magiques team, to replace him.
  • After a Week 8 bye, Vick in a Box came back fresh with a whopping 46-8 victory over the lowly Blues.
  • No Punt Intended had no need to punt and put up 41 on Bulldogs to get them back to .500
  • Justin Goodman didn’t have his best game, but the 2 towers on defense, Nic Fon and Jared Boidman got the best of Fred Juneau, intercepting him 4 times.
  • Primetime weren’t too happy seeing yours truly lineup against them, but WCHB did nothing but spend their cap money.
  • Vincent Bolullo (Red Dragons) with 18 sacks in 7 games is just crazy. Keep up that work!
  • Woah, Green Monster with a monster 49 point, shutout performance over Wolf. They brought in the Dumeignil brothers/cousins from past Green Monster teams to help boost their offense without Pat Jazon.
  • Who will get their first win, first? Cover 3 or Ball So Hard U? Both teams are 0-6 and have put up 78 and 77 points, respectively.
  • Jeff Tayeh (Vick in a Box) making a late season surge to be in the conversation of QBOY, throwing 21 TDs and just 1 INT in his last 4.
  • What Could Have Beens have 4 receivers with 200+ yards. Now that’s depth at receiver!

Game Preview

The Penetrators vs. No Punt Intended

The Penetrators looking to extend their 5-game win streak to 6 when they face off against No Punt Intended to open the Sunday night games at Loyola. With the exception of their game against Primal, they’ve been winning their games by 2 possessions or more and are a dangerous team when playing with the lead, as they rarely give it up.

No Punt Intended are a bit on a hot streak themselves, going 3-1 in their last 4 thanks to their offense picking up the early season slack where they scored a lowly 18 points in 2 games. In their last 4 they’ve put up 127 points, which is a big reason for those 3 wins with QB Jacob Soles doing a great job protecting the ball, throwing 0 interceptions in each of the wins.

A big key in this game will be Soles continuing to play the safe game and not turning the ball over. The longer he can keep Justin Goodman and The Penetrators offense on the sidelines is a big part in how they could beat The Penetrators. Sustained drives with continuous first downs serves multiple purposes: frustrating The Pens, chewing the clock and limiting the number of possessions Goodman will have on offense. Soles will need to forget about the run and make sure he can get balls through the hands of Nic Fon (if Fon goes in to rush for some plays). Use that arm and feed your receivers and let them get upfield. If they do find themselves in a tight game, No Punt Intended will need to do a better job on converts. 6 conversions on 21 attempts is just not good enough in a tight game like this one could be. Defensively, NPI need to communicate in their zone coverage as Goodman loves the rollout plays and flooding zones.

The Penetrators can play an equally frustrating offensive game against defenses. Goodman does a great job of hitting all parts of the field with a great mix of short, intermediate and deep passes. He is a little too risky at times with his deep shots that are 50/50 jumpballs, however, both Nic Fon and Jared Boidman are just winners when the ball is in the air and more often than not, come down with the catch. Not only does Goodman make sure defenses are covering every blade of turf, he does an equally good job of spreading the rock around, with two 200-yard receivers and another three 100-yard receivers. If defensively, they can get 1-2 turnovers, the game is theirs to lose. They do however, need to watch out for the speed and playmaking abilities of the two Carters: Soles and Condon. The Pens though, definitely win the game-management portion as Rocco has taught them well, and they’ve started hitting 60 games under their belt, so they’ve been exposed to many of the different situations that present themselves in a game.

Prediction: The Penetrators 33 – 19 No Punt Intended

Week 8 Players of the Week

Time to see who balled out last week!

QBs of the Week (2)

QB1 – Jacob Soles (No Punt Intended): 14/24 (58.3%), 205 Passing Yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 4 Rushing Attempts, 28 Rushing Yards

QB2 – PO Tremblay-Agelakos (Pocket Rockets): 20/34 (58.8%), 210 Passing Yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT

Receivers of the Week (5)

WR1 – Lewis Epstein (Warriors): 11 receptions, 13 targets, 113 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR2 – Anthony McCall (HimU): 6 receptions, 8 targets, 126 yards, 2 TDs, 1x XP2

WR3 – Alexis Labonté (Brewers): 8 receptions, 9 targets, 106 yards, 2 TDs

WR4 – Kaylem Ferdinand (What Could Have Beens): 7 receptions, 8 targets, 74 yards, 3 TDs

WR5 – Ali Issa (Pocket Rockets): 5 receptions, 8 targets, 68 yards, 3 TDs

Defensive Players of the Week (4) + 1 Rusher

DB1 – William Power (Pocket Rockets): 4 INTs

DB2 – Ryan Maclellan (HimU): 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1PD

DB3 – Eric Namts (Les Bleue Dry): 2 tackles, 2 INTs

DB4 – Nicholas Fon (The Penetrators): 3 tackles, 2 INTs

DB5 – Jared Boidman (The Penetrators): 2 tackles, 2 INTs

Rusher – Jared Arany (Killer Rays): 7 sacks

Honourable Mention: Yannick Graham (Green Monster): 5 sacks

Epilogue

Alright Div 5, that does it to recap Week 8. If you want more content, there’s always more! Here’s our podcast, Calling The Audible from this past Friday with Moe Khan, myself and Eagle at Master Control: