Bombsquad’s Breakdown (Div 1 & 2) – Week 1

Bombsquad’s Breakdown Week 1 Division 1 & 2

 

Welcome back lads to another great FlagPlus Football season. And look at the changes. Both divisions grouped together, which makes my job easier!! We have old faces, fresh faces, pretty faces, ugly faces and grumpy faces after week one. So without further ado…

 

Countdown to detonation:

 

9. The season kicked off with the veteran Gladiateurs defeating the new look Air Squad who are now the Ducks 53-39. Francois Lebeau was consistent as usual going 21-30 for 247 yards and 7 touchdowns but his counterpart was very good as well. Manuel Crisi-Lauzon was 13-22 for 289 yards, 6TD’s but also 1 INT. All 6 TD’s going to 3 players with 2 apiece. Sebastien Crisi-Lauzon, Alex Hovington and Kenny Baye. While Lebeau spread the ball around more but mainly used his favorite targets brother Marc-Andre Lebeau and Matthew Bishara, who both had a pair of TD’s. It was a very high scoring affair and a great way to kick off the season. Too early to really judge either squad though.

 

8. After moving up from div 3, Terror Squad defeated the Wolverines 33-26.Tam Vilaydeth got the job done and didn’t make any mistakes. Throwing for 189 yards and running for 54. He threw 5 TD’s and believe it or not only one was to Pat Jerome. That said, Jerome’s long TD was a jump ball only he could  corral to put them in the lead late in the game. The big receiver for Tam on this day was Kevin Bernatchez who caught 4 for 90 yards and 2 scores. In the first game of their double header Tony Tabet struggled completing only 50% of his passes with 4 TD’s and an INT. Sevag Kaloussian continues to shine for this team but this is definitely not the start the Wolverines hoped for.

 

7. In the first of the division 1 match ups, Montreal’s Finest took on TG with a registered trademark, which I do not know how to add so keep quiet TG. The Finest took down the trademarks 36-27 even with Kevin Wyeth having an average day and only utilizing 4 receivers. Akked Moore was once again a beast in the middle while Rochdi Benabdelkader caught 2 scores. Paul Lapierre had a decent game, especially connecting with Stephane Chartrand 12 times for 114 yards and a score. But the rest of the team had 9 catches combined, which wasn’t enough on this day.

 

6. Our second D 1 matchup saw the Rainmakers narrowly defeat the returning Express 32-31. Ryan Kastner had a bit of a rough game, while he did have 5 TD’s and 206 yards passing, he also tossed 2 interceptions. The bulk of his touchdowns went to Rainmaker staples Bobby Mikelberg and Charles-Antoine Sinotte, who we shall furthermore refer to as C.A. Both of whom caught 2 TD’s. Patrick Chenard made his FPF return at the QB position and tried to shake the rust off. His legs still work fine as he ran for 39 yards and a TD. Chemistry early on with receiver Kevin Regimbald was evident as he caught 6 for 66 and a score. But the ball was definitely evenly spread. This team is a team to watch out for.

 

5. Our first crossover game of the season featured possibly the best name change in FPF history; The Expos have changed their name to the Bills.  In honour of losing the 3 last winter finals much as the Buffalo Bills came up short 4 times in a row. They defeated the D2 Top Guns 31-6. Chad Byers did what he had to do with 5 TD passes, 2 of which were to Addley Dufour which may come as a surprise to some. Mario Perreca had a rough go against this All-Star squad throwing more interceptions than touchdowns; completing only 11 passes. This was obviously a mismatch, but it can only help the Top Guns learn moving forward.

 

4. The Silver Fox Rick Nincheri marked his return to FPF with Purple Haze with a hard fought victory over the Pantheres. Rick threw 19 for 35 for 238 yards and 5 TD’s with an INT to a fellow Silver Fox, Gerry D’Altilia. As usual Rick spread the ball, but not as much as Pantheres QB and newly svelte Mike Grilli, who hit 7 different receivers. It was the 2 INT’s that hurt Grilli however. Grilli even hurt himself and came back to throw the go ahead touchdown late in the game, but Robbie Robinson salted the game away with a long TD for the Haze. Great battle.

 

3. In the second game of their double header, the Wolverines fell to the former D4 Hall of Famers 32-44. Definitely not the way they wanted to start their season. H.O.F. QB Justin Smolar had an incredible game going 16-18 for 255 yards and 7 TD’s but one blemish is the 1 INT. The story of this game though had to be the performance of H.O.F. receiver Ryan Lelinowski who torched the Wolverine defense for 160 yards on 5 catches and 5 TD’s… could be a little golden something in his future. The Wolverines really have to regroup because 0-2 is an early deep hole to climb out of.

 

2. Two new teams faced off with Flag Moi L’Sac against the Wild Boys as L’Sac beat them down 32-6 even with newly graduated U of M QB Alex Nadeau-Piuze throwing 2 interceptions. To be fair he did also throw 5 TD’s. Three of which were to receiver Felix Prevost who had 73 yards receiving.  Their defense was very good as well, picking off Wild Boys QB Matt Rene 3 times. Rene had a forgettable outing throwing for 65 yards, almost half of them to receiver Rashawn Perry who also had the lonely score. This team needs some of that outdoor chemistry they had going for them.

 

1. In the lone D2 Monday nighter, the Wolfpack got off to their usual slow start falling to the Mercenaries 44-27. Both Pascal Murray of The Wolfpack and Gino Di Fazio of the Mercenaries were very similar in yardage but the big difference was Gino’s 6 TD passes to Murray’s 4 TD’s and 2 INT’s. Both QB’s used all their weapons, but the Mercenaries Carmine Pollice, who is now strictly a pass-catcher, showed us why he loves playing receiver so much, catching 7 balls for 88 yards and a TD. Deep threat Jean-Richard Verger had 2 scores for the Mercs as well. Both teams have a long season ahead of them and we know by week 4 The Wolfpack will not be the same team you saw this week.

 

BOOM!

 

Now for some individual accolades and I guess it is only fair to recognize Div 1 & 2 separately so here we go.

 

My Golden Boy for D1 has to be Stephane Chartrand of TG, who caught more passes than the rest of his team combined. 12 catches is a great night. Especially with over 100 yards receiving.

 

The Golden Boy for D2 is Hall Of Famers receiver Ryan Lelinowski, who caught 5 TD’s and 160 yards!! Insane stats and great job.

 

My SHOWSTOPPA for D1 this week is Pierre-Olivier Brunet who had 1 INT and 2 passes defended for the Bills. Great work.

 

My SHWOSTOPPA for D2 is Garret Taylor of the Mercenaries who picked off Pascal Murray twice. Great job.

 

I have heard some people complaining about the new rules surrounding D1 & 2. Some think it is not fair but we have to realize we are in the minority. We have to look at the overall competitiveness of the league and no one can deny that these new rule changes have made D3 a VERY competitive division as well. The league is still growing and adapting to different formats. There is still a need for trial and error to make this the best product not only in Montreal but in Canada and hopefully one day North America. We have a very unique league with a very unique format. So let us all enjoy the season and see how this pans out in the end. If it doesn’t work out then you know our trusted leader will make adjustments again, always working to give you the best possible football experience.

 

Here is a preview of a few of the games we can look forward to this week. As it is still early and we have so many new teams, it is really hard to choose but we shall take a look anyways.

 

The veteran Gladiateurs take on the Hall of Famers who looked very good out of the gates. Both teams seem to have explosive offenses so this could be a game of the week candidate. The H.O.F. squad now has some veterans of FPF with Eric Rapps, and newly acquired Tony Khoury, while the Glads have come off a very successful Spring season. Give this game a look at 6pm Saturday in Brossard.

 

In a crossover game, the newly formed Purple Haze, which is mostly comprised of outdoor Blue Bayou touch squad members (minus some key members) take on the returning Express with Chenard and company. Many would look at the Purple Haze roster and say they should be in D1 anyway, so this game could be very entertaining. Names like Richard, Gualano, Kennedy take on names like Collette, Regimbald, Thuot and how can we forget Simon Charbonneau-Campeau who missed week 1. You must see this game Sunday at 6pm at Loyola.

 

The Wolfpack get a shot at the new look D2 Terror Squad this week. The Wolfpack defense has been very good in the past at holding big receivers to modest games so Pat Jerome better bring his A game. That said, the loss of Mikhail Davidson to Flag Moi L’Sac whould hurt this team. Meanwhile Terror Squad is hungry and wants to establish themselves as a legit D2 contender. Beating the Wolfpack would definitely be a right step in that direction.

 

The season has begun

The teams take the field.

Some were victorious,

While some had to yield.

 

We are just at the start,

Week one is in the books.

In time we will send,

How the end of the season looks.

 

As always you can you email me at [email protected] with commentary or salsa recipes. I hope to see you all during the season, but until then another week has been defused.