Carmine’s Coffin Corner – HoF weekend, Week 5 Review & a look ahead
35+ Division
Carmine’s Coffin Corner
Week 5 recap and a look ahead to Week 6
Week 5 is now done and done.
Somewhat weird week for the league as multiple divisions had shortened schedules due to the Super Bowl. The Old Men were the only ones with a full slate of games.
We have also reached that point of the year where ballots are cast for the Hall of Fame. Many different opinions as to who should be eligible, with some believing it should be reserved for players who have played D1/A only. Personally, I think that it should be open to all players in all divisions. The league criteria is 10 seasons played…it does not specify in which division.
Here are my 10, in Alphabetical Order by first name
- Alex Holowach
- Benny Goodfriend
- Fred Viens
- Isiah Allard
- Jason Prince
- Jesse Dupuis
- Justin Lerner
- Kyle Lebofsky
- Phil Cutler
- Sean Avraam
Random 35+ thoughts
- O.A.S. look poised to wrap up the #1 seed in Tier 1 if they beat Monster this week. This would give them the “Bye” as the Tier champ
- O.A.S. and Polvige are tied for the top PA against with 117 through 5 games.
- FPF teammates Robbie Robinson & Brian Martin look like safe bets to take home hardware this season as they each lead their respective category in all KPIs.
- I find it hard to believe that we still see players wearing jerseys without a #. FFS spend the $10! Especially the lads from Monster. Find it hard to believe that they do not have a BLACK jersey at this point in their career. Not like they need to come up with a teal or plaid shirt.
- The Rossie boys are made for TV comedy material. Have to give props to Jason for the move he pulled on brother Jordan this week. More on that during the game recap.
- It looks like we might have more winless teams to finish the season than we will teams with a perfect record. Some tough sledding ahead for both JMJ and GOXM
Random league thoughts
- D1: STL win! STL win! STL win! Took them long enough AND they had to shut out DA Finest in the second half, but they finally put one into the Win column. Not how I would have expected this one to go down but good on them!
- D1: Justin McLean continues to cement his spot amongst the league elite. Another busy day at the office finishing 10-112-3 TDs for YCSWU last week.
- D2: #NR 59 Underachievers 51. 110 points scored. The QBs combined to go 51-61 for 693 yards and 17 TDs. A goal line stand by #NR was the only stop.
- D2: Taco Tuesday played on Monday and got stymied by the Bad Boys ending their perfect season. Nic Arseneault-Hum continuing to show that he can excel anywhere on the field finishing 9-93-4 TDs. Tough loss for TT and it gets no easier this week as they face #NR who just put up 59 points. Good luck with that one…LOL
- D3: JYD continue to roll up the wins. Jason Rossie (35+ player) had a nice night finishing 20-27-278-8 TDs using the Semerjian brothers to good effect. Sean and Rory each had 3 TDs on the night with Rory adding 2 INTs and Sean a Sack for good measure
- D3: Always weird to see shutouts at any level but really weird for D3. Les Maloudes took it to the Loups 32-0. Hard to believe they scored 32 points with only 89 passing yards but when you hold the opposing QB to 9-27-58 yards and 2 INTs you get multiple short fields to work with. 147 total passing yards in FPF is like watching a tennis match between two players with powerful serves…no sustained plays…
- D4A: It was surreal watching Z. Stachowski from the Eskimo Brothers score from 31 yards out on Thursday. 4 players from Les Blues Branleurs literally flailed at him as he waltzed the length of the field. This might happen at the end of a blowout, but this was the game’s opening drive!
- D4A: Speaking of Rory Semerjian…had the chance to watch the Infantry in Baie d’Urfe and Rory made a highlight reel INT on the goal line taking away the ball from the receiver on a deep post. His only comment? “Mossed” as he handed the ball back to the receiver.
WEEK 5 REVIEW (due to injury I am still not playing. Due to the weather and 13 hours of travel I missed part of the action)
GOXM 33 Pacemakers 39
What I wrote: Ah the battle of the Rossie boys! Jason vs. Jordan. Should be loud and contentious. I think that Jason is playing better ball at the moment and has a few more playmakers. Chris Brockwell, Robert White, and NIM-J are playing some good ball. GOXM have heart and spirit but need more consistency if they look to get a W this season. I do not see it happening this week.
What actually happened: Ah those Rossie boys. An even first half saw the squads tied up at 20 apiece. Brother Jason did a great job on the night of spreading the ball around. All 5 of his receivers found the end zone (great balance) with Chris Brockwell doing it twice. Brockwell was also busy on defence with 4 Tackles, a Sack, and a PD. Jason’s only blemish was a PICK 6 taken back by Martin Geary on the opening drive. 4th and 12 from your 8-yard line. Questionable decision but since I don’t punt either…what the hey. Brother Jordan was not as generous with the ball as he leaned more towards Wade Williams (7-64-1 TD) on the evening. Jordan did manage to Sack his brother to open the game which set the stage for the Geary PICK 6. Jason did have the last laugh in this one though. It would appear that Jordan’s girlfriend came to watch. Later in the game brother Jason picked off brother Jordan to end a drive. Rather than return the ball to the GOXM he gave it to Jordan’s girl and asked her to return it to Jordan for him. I would love to get a video of their next family dinner…
Spitfire 19 Polvige 19
What I wrote: This should be a good game to watch as Ryan Kastner and Addley Dufour seem to be hitting on a couple of cylinders recently…some deep balls for TDs have proven timely. As for the Spitfire they have been exposed a few times recently on deep patterns and need to defend that “deep 3rd” if they hope to win this game. Sean Avraam continues to improve and will need to play well in this game for the ‘Fire to win the game.
What actually happened: No matter how hot your cousin is, kissing her simply is wrong. Same thing with ties in football. Just leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The Spitfire started off strong with scoring drives on their first 2 possessions to take a 13-0 lead. Unfortunately, they were outscored 19-6 the rest of the way. Seemed a bit like the Niners in the Super Bowl. Drives just could not be sustained on offence and Polvige kept chipping away. Neither QB put up stellar #s in this one as Avraam finished with 161 yards and Kastner fared slightly better with 177 of his own. Chris Rosen had a strong game for Polvige with 2 TDs on offence and an INT on defence. The Spitfire were paced by Dominic Benevento who had a game high 3 TDs to go with his 2 Sacks on defence.
FPF 47 Old Age Outlaws 39
What I wrote: Back to back weeks against high score offences for the OAO. They slowed down OAS, but lost, and will need to do a similar job against RR & Crew. RR is rolling and will a very difficult person to shut down. His opposite #, Stephen Harripersaud will not to improve dramatically from last week if the OAO will have any chance
What actually happened: Robbie Robinson and Brian Martin put on a show once again. While the OAO made him work for it, RR was held to 19-34 on the night, when it did work it worked big as he finished with 244 Yards and 7 passing TDs. Big Man On Campus (BMOC) was Martin who finished 8-114-4 TDs. Both players look like a lock for hardware this season as they continue to perform every week. Tim O’Hara chipped in 3 TDs on his 4 receptions to round out the scoring for FPF. Stephen Harripersaud did a great job marching the ball and actually finished with better yardage than RR (even including the 30 rushing yards that RR had) but fell short on this night. Josh Levine with a great game leading OAO offensively going 7-11-2 TDs.
JMJ 28 Monster 50
What I wrote: JMJ has yet to win a game and Monster just hung 50+ on FPF. Somehow it would not shock me to see 60 points from Monster in this game. If Andy Peterkin is back, then we should see a good QB/Rusher battle with Brian Eudoxie. Monster’s b/u, Craig O’Brien can buy time but tends to not get involved in the run game as much. Monster for the W
What actually happened: Well it was not 60 points, it simply felt that way. Monster kicked things off with a PICK 6 from Craig O’Brien and never really looked back. Using the halfback on converts bought them a tremendous amount of time and they converted 5 attempts for a total of 8 extra points. That is HUGE! Between all of the razzle dazzle the Monster QBs finished a perfect 13-13 with 225 yards and 6 TDs. Normally you would expect more yardage, but they had 3 other INTs in this game besides the opening PICK 6. Short fields kill stats…LOL. Ron Oquet tried to carry his team as he finished 9-118-3TDs, but it was not enough.
PAZAZZ 40 OAS 45
What I wrote: OAS only had 6 bodies last week. Not sure if this was simply bad scheduling (some Chateauguay boys went to the Super Bowl) or if other issues prevailed. Either way, if they have 6 players at the field, they are a tough out. PAZAZZ will need to involve Rob Allen to have any chance in this one. Not sure that it will make a difference, but he can influence games all by himself.
What actually happened: OAS once again with only 6 players, including former Relic Joel Shahrabari subbing at the Rush. That short bench would actually play a factor, according to an OAS player, in a controversial non call. Cory Pecker with another great night finishing 19-23-257-7 TDs. His main target was Shane Williams who finished 6-108-2 TDs. For the PAZAZZ squad, Eugene McLaren did a great job buying time with his legs and spreading the ball around after beating the rush. Rob Allen and Rob Young both had 2 TDs in this one. Controversy stuck when Rob Allen was fouled by an OAS defender while making a great catch on the sidelines, holding on for the 20-yard gain in spite of the contact. Everyone I have spoken with agrees that it should have been a 15-yard penalty and 10 plays off. The officials disagreed and only assessed a 5-yard illegal contact foul. According to an OAS player no less, they did not give the 15 yarder because OAS only had 6 players. Had OAS been forced to play 6 on 5 for 10 plays things might have been different. I personally have no issues with people playing hard to the ball and have always played to the limit that the refs will allow myself. However, the lack of a bench should not play a factor and rough play does need to have consequences.
Carmine’s POTW
- Dom Benevento (Spitfire) 7-63–3 TDs and 2 Sacks on D
- Brian Martin (FPF) 8-114-4 TDs
- Rob Robinson (FPF) 19-34-244-7 TDs
- Josh Levine (OAO) 7-111-2 TDs
- Ron Oquet (JMJ) 9-118-3 TDs
- Andy Peterkin (Monster) 12-12 209 5 TDs
- Cory Pecker (OAS) 19-23-257-7 TDs
- Shane Williams (OAS) 6-108-2 TDs & 2 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD on D
- Chris Brockwell (Pacemakers) 6-79-2 TDs & 4 Tackles, 1 Sack, and 1 PD on D
Week 6 preview
PAZAZZ vs. FPF
I really like what I saw from Eugene McLaren last week. Using his legs to get things started and Rob Allen seemed to be a part of the game plan. Guess what? FPF also have a mobile QB and a monster receiver of their own in Robbie Robinson and Brian Martin. I do think that we will see Mr. Allen keeping an eye on Mr. Martin in this game as he has the size to match up. Of course, that leaves Lonnie Johnson and Tim O’Hara for the others to contend with. FPF have a big receiving corp. While PAZAZZ will keep it close, I think FPF remains on course for a perfect season
Spitfire vs. Old Age Outlaws
After back to back weeks of facing the two top offences in the division the OAO get a bit of a breather as they look to wrangle the Spitfire, who have struggled to put up points this season. They have only outscored two teams so far (both of who are winless) and can look to their defence (4 PA from being the top in the division) for the reason why they are at .500 so far with a 2-2-1 record. Unfortunately, this is an offensive game and points will be needed. For the OAO, Stephen Harripersaud is having his usual type of season with 22 TDs vs. only 3 INTs. His grind it down style of offence works well for him and keeps the ball away from the defence. For the Spitfire offence it has been the Domenic Benevento show so far but they will need more balance if they are going to win this game.
Polvige vs. Grumpy Old X-Men
Ryan Kastner has had a very productive rookie season in the 35+ Division, sitting in the middle of the pack with 21 TD passes so far and only 4 INTs. His opposite number, Jordan Rossie, has had a bit more challenging season making the adjustment. People forget that, regardless of the age restriction, there are a tremendous number of talented football players in this division. Jordan seems determined to take his lumps and improve his pocket presence. Curious to see how long his competitive spirit will allow this to happen as his mobility gives him a huge advantage when he uses it. Should be a fun game but I think that Polvige will take this one.
Pacemakers vs. JMJ
Speaking of mobile QBs, here is the other J. Rossie for your viewing pleasure. He has come a long way in the past 5 years in terms of decision making and not allowing his emotions get away from him. He still has one of the uglies throwing motions this side of Philip Rivers, but it gets the job done. As for JMJ, this is quickly becoming a season to forget. The boast the worst PA in the division and an offence that simply does not hit pay dirt often enough. Moving the ball is NOT the issue, Cory Johnson sits second in passing yardage in only 4 games. However, his 9 INTs lead the Division and is killing them at this point. The Pacemakers have several ballhawks on D and Jason is going to drive JMJ nuts with his legs. Look for the frustrating season to continue for JMJ
Monster vs. OAS
Fairly simple for OAS. Win the game and they clinch the first-round bye in the playoffs. For Monster, they are looking to avenge their earlier loss where they were without their QB, Andy Peterkin. Peterkin has missed considerable time this season and Craig O’Brien has done a great job filling in. However, this offence becomes extremely dangerous when both are there and they use the halfback option. Most teams simply do not have 2 good rushers able to contain the two-headed “Monster”. OAS do have those players and should be in a good position. They also have an excellent receiving corps, when Cory Pecker is there. Kevin Wyeth has stepped up to become one of the dominant receivers in the division, but he gets moved into the QB role when Pecker is absent. Not a bad thing but it does remove a weapon. Look for OAS to close out the bye with a W.
That’s all for today! Thanks for taking the time to read along.