Better Late than Never! A look at the past!

It has been a few weeks since we’ve last had a check into Division 5A/5B! Hopefully we are back on track and ready to update you on all your Div 5 needs moving into the playoffs! As a quick reminder: the playoff schedule has been posted in an FPF article a few weeks back I believe, but for those of you who have not had the chance to look at it, here is a brief look at Division 5 playoff dates! (Take note that currently all Div 5A/5B games occur on the same day)

Divisional Round – April 20th

Quarterfinal Round – April 24th

Semifinal Round – April 28th

Final Round – May 4th

16 of 20 teams will make the Playoffs this season, and looking at the bottom 4 so far, I’d say 4 games should keep you safe from elimination. However, nothing is guaranteed in the FPF playoffs, so pick up as many wins as you can! Keep in mind: To be playoff eligible a player will need to have played 5 games during the regular season. There are rules around replacing a player who has been injured so that teams aren’t short manned come playoff time, but please check in with the league if there are any issues before you go into the postseason!

Without wasting too much time, let’s take a look at what has been going down in Division 5 the past few weeks!

FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH:

NOTORIOUS C.I.G. got the win they needed over RUDBOYZ to stay afloat and give them a chance at staying out of the Elimination Zone! George Spano continues to do a great job at giving his offense opportunities to win games! RICO RYDERS is up next and they have been a good team against good opponents, having put up 32 points against STRAPAHOLICS, and 20 against LES PETITES CAROTTES! A big game for both teams who sit at 3 wins (though C.I.G. have 8 games played…) Joey Notaro has 2 games left to get more TDs and push to the top of the receivers ranking, but Junior Luke having 14 TDs will put him at a disadvantage.

5A: I missed it! It happened during one of the off weeks! STRAPAHOLICS BEAT DUCKS 26-24 in spectacular fashion in a photo finish! Bringing in 2 sacks and 2 TDs – Matt Kirouac – making a key difference in the game and pushing himself even further ahead of the pack with 17 SACKS! With 2 games left, can Matt get himself to 20 Sacks and cement himself as probable Defensive Player of the Year? Daniel Spina is also chasing #1 QB, but has a lot of competition on his tail! Luckily, regardless of how they win, STRAPAHOLICS prove time and time again that they are not to be underestimated. Losing only to the #1 team so far, could we be seeing a rematch in the Finals?

5B: TUNESQUAD lost in week 8 against the #2 team – PACK A PUNCH – and I thought it might have been one of their only losses (besides RAMPHINS), based on their schedule. BOOM! Enter week 9 and TUNESQUAD lost again! This time to LES TONDEUSES! Taking 2 big losses for Looney characters drops them all the way to 6th place. With only a handful of teams having scored more points this season, will the SQUAD be able to reclaim a top spot and get a bye week? It might all come down to their April 13th game against RAMPHINS!

5A is becoming more and more competitive! 4 wins as a key to the playoffs is a much higher ceiling than 5B currently. I imagined that both divisions would need 4 wins, but 5B may be a bit lenient – allowing teams into the playoffs with 2 or 3 wins. There have been a lot of ties this year despite the new FPF rule, BUT, I do think it has been successful at stopping other ties that would have happened! There are no ties in the playoffs, there are no second chances, so get them all out of your system now!

5A: IN N’ OUT have been having it rough the past few games. I’m not sure if they are in a tail spin due to Nicolas Katerelos missing a few games and having rough performances, or if their schedule has been a bigger challenge for them than anticipated. Either way, they’ve only been able to get 2 wins in 7 games, with the aforementioned ties keeping them afloat. SKEE YEE should be a win for them at the end of the season, but HAIL MARTY and NIGHTHAWKS will prove to be a big challenge for them. They have been shut out 2 games in a row, so will need to change things up on offense if they want a chance!

5B: Technically, we still have 3 undefeated teams in the division: WIN DIESEL, PACK A PUNCH, and MACCABEES! Despite their 2 ties, MACCABEES have yet to experience a loss, but will face off against WIN DIESEL in their final match on March 30th! If both of these teams can remain undefeated, it will truly be the match of the season! With PACK A PUNCH playing RAMPHINS and the other 2 playing each other, we might end up with only 1 undefeated team at the end of this kerfuffle… my vote is on WIN DIESEL.

The Award race is heating up! If you’re like me, you spend your spare time scrolling the Player Stats page on FPF and see how I rank up to the rest of the division. If you’re NOT like me and you don’t constantly think of FPF stats, then look away!! Once you get the taste of stats… nothing will be able to save you. For those that are already obsessed – Let’s just take a quick look at who may be competing for some awards IN MY OPINION! *FPF does not and will not ever endorse Zack’s Award Opinions. They are not Fact, merely speculation*. ALSO! THERE IS NO AWARD FOR RUSHER OF THE YEAR. But I always gotta give a Shout out, and the league should have a Rusher of the Year award. Let’s Go:

5A QB: Daniel Spina and Jason Rayes are both tied with 30 TDs total but Jason has an extra game to play over Daniel! And I think in a race this close, every game matters, which is why I still think George Spano (29 TDs) absolutely has a leg in the race, and has 3 games to pick up some more TDs! George currently has the most yards out of the 3, and the least amount of INTs and Sacks. Game by game, we get closer and closer to getting our answer, but my vote is currently going to: Jason Rayes!

5B QB: Man O’ man! William Sebag is running away with the QB award. 30 TDs in 6 games is a great average to have and I see no showing that he is going to slow down! Raphael Dufour is doing a great job at putting pressure and putting up tons of yards! I can see Raphael passing Will temporarily, but with only 2 games left in his schedule, Will Sebag has the advantage here. 2 vs 3, Will vs Raph, it’s a clash of Titans and my money is on William Sebag!

5A Offense: I’ve talked about Joey Notaro and Junior Luke being viable candidates for Offensive Player of the Year! Realistically though, Zachary Cloutier, Xavier Brault, and Matt Kirouac are all in contention! Zachary Cloutier and Xavier Brault have the advantage on games played, but since they are both on the same team and have basically the same stats, 1 of them will have to gain at the other’s detriment… I’m having trouble really seeing who will come out on top this year, but I think we will be ending the season with Junior Luke on top of the competition.

5B Offense: It’s an even closer race for Division 5B! Jessy Dumeignil and Adam Antel are driving the rest of the receivers forward – both have 6 games played and 11 TDs each but Julien Proulx and Massimo Massari are right on their tail with 10 TDs each. Julien Proulx is leading in Receptions and Yards, so if he can bring in enough TDs I would vote him for Receiver of the year.

5A Defense: What a wild ride this Defensive journey has been so far! So many players and so many different claims to fame: Charles Dollimore has the most INTs in the least amount of games! Benjamin McMahon, Marc Antoine Martin, and Matthew Cadogan all have 3x PICK-6’s, which is in itself an incredible achievement! And although Matthew has the lead with 7 PDs, the fact that only Mr. McMahon has sacks to his name might give him an edge over the others! Matt Kirouac is dominating the division with 17 sacks in 8 games! I’m doing my best to catch up and sit at 14 sacks myself, but getting another 8 sacks in 3 games seems highly unlikely! With all of these big names and performances, it is anyone’s guess as to who the winner will be, but as a rusher my vote goes to Kirouac or Ben McMahon at his current pace!

5B Defense: Marcus Lynch looks like he can do it all! Leading 5B in PICK-6’s (3) and INTs (8) Marcus also holds 6 PDs and double digit Tackles, making him one of (if not THE best) defensive players of the division! Joey Poce and Jessy Dumeignil might be able to keep up, seeing as they’re both at 7 INTs and a few PDs themselves, but my vote is that Marcus takes this one home!

5A Rusher: My Favorite position of FPF! Without a good rusher, the opposing offense will have all the time in the world to break into backyard football style and run all over you. I always think that the benchmark for a rusher should be an average of at least 1 sack per game – some games you won’t get any and others you may get 2-3. However, sometimes the mark of a good rusher can’t actually be seen. Unlike offense, for rushers, the absence of stats can sometimes indicate a great rushing performance as well! I won’t be diving too in depth to see who ISN’T running, but shout out to the unsung heroes of FPF! Matt Kirouac (as stated above) is currently our leading Rusher, but I’m hoping to overtake him!

5B Rusher: It is neck and neck (and maybe even a 3rd neck?) for our top rusher! Shawn Graham is currently ahead with 9 sacks in 5 games played, but his current rival is Julian Salvatore, who also has 9 sacks but in 7 games played! Chad Dumeignil and Yannick Graham are close by with 7 sacks in 7 games, but I don’t know how they will catch up to a player who has more sacks in LESS games already! Julian Salvatore is going to have to pass Shawn by a few sacks if he wants a clear victory of Shawn!

ZACK’S TOP WEEKLY PICKS:

QB (1): Fabrice Robillard (NIGHTHAWKS) – 24 Attempts / 17 Completions (70.83%), 174 Yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT, 0 Sacks // 2 Rushing Attempts, 14 Yards

QB (2): Richie Mondesir (A-SQUAD) – 26 Attempts / 21 Completions (80.77%), 142 Yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 2 Sacks // 3 Rushing Attempts, 23 Yards

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WR (1): Zachary Cloutier (LES PETITES CAROTTES) – 9 Targets / 8 Receptions (88.89%), 55 Yards, 4 TDs

WR (2): Marc Antoine Martin (NIGHTHAWKS) – 8 Targets / 7 Receptions (87.5%), 48 Yards, 3 TDs

WR (3): Trevor Ruffner (RUDBOYZ) – 7 Targets / 5 Receptions (71.43%), 90 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (4): Steven Biddle (VULTURES) – 6 Targets / 6 Receptions (100%), 39 Yards, 2 TDs

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DB (1): Gabriel Wiseman (SUPER TROOPERS) – 3 Tackle, 1 Sack, 1 INTs, 1 PD, 1 TD

DB (2): Felix Hudon (SUPER TROOPERS) – 3 Tackles, 1 INT, 2 PDs, 1 TD

DB (3): Mathis Ledoux (LES PETITS CAROTTES) – 4 Tackles, 2 INT

DB (4): Stefano De Seta (NIGHTHAWKS) – 1 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

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RUSHER (1): Xavier Couture (A-SQUAD) – 1 Tackles, 3 Sacks

RUSHER (2): Kevin Donnet (VULTURES) – 2 Tackle, 1 Sacks

QB (1): Chad Dumeignil (WIN DIESEL) – 21 Attempts / 15 Completions (71.43%), 217 Yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, 2 Sacks // 2 Rushing Attempt, 24 Yards

QB (2): Shimmy Cons (THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT) – 25 Attempts / 15 Completions (60%), 144 Yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 1 Sacks // 3 Rushing Attempts, 20 Yards

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WR (1): Yan Librati (CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS) – 9 Targets / 6 Receptions (66.67%), 85 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (2): Yannick Nadeau (RAMPHINS) – 4 Targets / 3 Receptions (75%), 70 Yards, 1 TDs

WR (3): Jordano Colicchio (BETWAY BANDITS) – 6 Targets / 5 Receptions (83.33%), 52 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (4): Hugo Stensland (THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT) – 7 Targets / 6 Receptions (85.71%), 31 Yards, 1 TDs

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DB (1): Kevin Legoute (TOP G) – 4 Tackles, 2 INTs

DB (2): Alexandre Nadeau (RAMPHINS) – 9 Tackles, 1 INT

DB (3): Jessy Dumeignil (RAMPHINS) – 2 Tackle, 1 INT, 2 PDs

DB (4): Mikey Titleman (MACCABEES) – 3 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD

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RUSHER (1): Liam Assayag (CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS) – 2 Tackles, 1 Sacks, 1 PD

RUSHER (2): Eitan Assayag (CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS) – 3 Tackles, 1 Sacks

GAMES OF THE WEEK:

RICO RYDERS vs STRAPAHOLICS

SLEEPING ALL-STARS vs LES PETITS CAROTTES

DUCKS vs STEPBROTHERS

HAIL MARTY’S vs IN N’ OUT

THUNDER BUDDIES vs VICE CITY

PASTA ARRABIAT vs BANDITS

PREDICTION RECORD: 22-18

BREWERS vs TUNESQUAD

PACKING PACKERS vs LES TONDUESES

CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS vs REITRED ALL-STARS

THE HOOLIGANS vs BETWAY BANDITS

RAMPHINS vs PARLAY TILTERS

KICKING ASSETS vs LES SACRIFIES 2

WILD WEST WRANGLERS vs WIN DIESEL

PREDICTION RECORD: 34-18

That’s it for this week! We are fast approaching the end of the season, and the last few games for players to compete for Awards! If there is an idea or upcoming milestone you might want me to write about/cover in my articles, don’t be a stranger, let me know! If you want to see more accurate info about your teams, your players, your rivalries – send them to me! Comments, Criticisms, and Concerns are welcome… unless it’s about my Capitalization of random words. I stand by them! Also, check out the new episode of Calling the Audible – the official FPF podcast – available on Youtube and …. Probably somewhere else too!