Carmine’s Coffin Corner – week 4 in review

With a last second TD drive the MTL Spitfire move to 4-0 on the season.

Welcome back for another look at the Geriatric Gentlemen Division as well as some other musings and ramblings.

Tom Brady is back, his retirement was shorter lived than the MLB strike. Wonder if he saw Wilson leave the NFC, the Niners not really making waves, Adams rejecting the Franchise Tag, and said…the road is wide open?

A couple of quick thoughts from this past Wednesday evening:

We had our highest scoring week of the season, for the second straight week. Oddly enough, this was in spite of the Division’s top offence, the MTL Spitfire, having their worst offensive game of the season.
It was crazy to see how many new players/spares were used this past Wednesday. Monster used 2 new players, the Shenanigans had a new rusher, Owie was throwing for FPF once more, and so on…
The Tier 1 teams had quite an odd schedule, playing the same team 3 times in the first 4 weeks. Two teams had the opportunity to sweep the season series. Did it happen?
The Shenanigans remain the Divisions lone winless team. 3 of their remaining 4 games are against the Old Age Outlaws, who have played great football the last two weeks. Is a winless season in the forecast?
Shane Williams continues to show that ages is simply a number to ignore. Very cool to see him back overcoming a very scary injury a few years back.

Random thoughts from around the league:

ANP with a ho-hum 85 points in FMS’ 2 games this week. Current D! QBOTY leader as he tops TDs & Passing Yards. Jon Maheu right behind him for TDs but 400 yards off the pace, with a game in hand.
Fred Dupuis still throws a great ball…fun to watch. He does have a long delivery which can cause problems for him at times. The Party Crashers put up 46 points with Fred being held to 10/17? How? Simple. Phil Pharand had 2 Pick 6s on D.
While Fred did not put up huge numbers, most of them went to Emile Taillefer again. Emile finished 4-88-3 TDs and chipped in 7 tackles on D. This was a fun game to watch.
Speaking of putting up tons of points without the QB helping…Urgence Medic dropped 52 points on Team Swoosh. Again, 2 Pick 6s by the defence, amongst their 4 INTs, helped the offence output. Anthony Lapointe did most of the offensive damage with a 6-84-3 TD game.
Speaking of Team Swoosh…might have bitten off more than they could chew. 30 points in 3 games is not going to get you many wins as that is the per game average for many squads.
Not sure that I have ever seen a team with Paul Lapierre on it start 0-4. However that is the position that the Apocalypse find themselves in. They deserve to be 0-4 for their choice of jerseys alone. Holy cow, what bet did Jeff Rosenblatt lose??
Adam Rosen from the Silent Ticklers had a pair of games this week and put up stats that are a season for most players. 14-181-6 TDs in a pair of wins.
The Killa Bees had Alex Masseau at QB for their first 3 games. Turned him loose at receiver this past week. WTF??? 13-193-5 TDs. He might never take another snap…LOL
While Jason Rossie had a busy week playing 2 35+ games this week, he also went 21/24-295-7 TDs and added 5 tackles in his D3 game. Quite the week overall
Weird to see shutouts in D3 but that was the case for Les Maloudes this week.
Stephen Harripersaud might be having challenges in the other Divisions, but leading his normal crew “Blessed” in D3 has him at 22 TDs with ZERO INTs thus far. Chemistry plays a huge part at the QB spot.
One last shout out to Roger McGrath from TOPSZN. 6-93-3 TDs, 2 tackles, 2 PD, and an XPT. Nice game

WEEK IN REVIEW

For those of you not familiar with my way of doing the review, I will include what I wrote the week prior and this way everyone can see if I was out to lunch or not.

So when I looked at the results from Wednesday I was shaking my head as things did not look right. Looked at my previews from the last article and had to shake my head as the games played were different than what I previewed. I do promise that I only have a tasty beverage AFTER writing the article. It turns out that the league flipped weeks 4 & 5 in order to avoid repeat games for the Tier2 teams. Not that this seems to pose any issue for the Tier 1 teams I guess.

Old Age Outlaws vs. Monster (Old Age Outlaws win 43-42)

What I wrote: The big question will be who is the QB for the OAO? Not quite sure how long that Harripersaud will be out for but this team is built around his unique skill set. Benoit Lawlor did an admirable job in relief but his fastball definitely caused some issues. Monster won both of the meetings thus far this season but not convincingly. The first game was a comeback effort from Monster, led by back up Craig O’Brien. Similar question could be asked of the Monster squad. If Andy is fine to go then they are going to sweep the season series, regardless of who suits up for OAO. The TWIN TOWERS of Paul Lapierre and Andrew Blevings present too much of a size mismatch in close to the goal line.

What actually happened: So tough to beat a team 3 times in one season. So game time comes and Andy Peterkin was not present but Harripersaud was back after only a 1 week absence. Owie is a very capable QB but his two mistakes in this one were costly. Brian Martin and Jason Rossie suited up for Monster in this one. Martin, along with Lapierre & Blevings, gives Monster an immense receiving corps. I do find it interesting that Martin got more targets from Owie in this game than his last two games combined with Broady Windsor. Free Agency looms?? Stephen Harripersaud was his steady self for OAO with 5 TDs and no costly mistakes. Rob White with a big offensive game. He finished with 7-95-2 TDs to lead the way. Jason Stephenson and Anthony Siggia both found the end zone on both sides of the ball. They each had a Pick 6 making Monster pay for mistakes. The game score would have shown a bigger lead but Monster added 6 PTS on converts, basically making up a TD in the process.

Shenanigans vs. Montreal Spitfire (MTL Spitfire win 26-25)

What I wrote: We also have a team in this match up looking for the 3 game season sweep. The Montreal Spitfire won both games thus far this season and have the league’s top offence thus far. Hard to beat a team 3 in a row. The return of Danny Hilton should boost the Shenanigans defence as it allows Darren Costello to play a DB role. Personally I think that this game will come down to the Spitfire defence shutting down Shane Williams. As usual, I always choose my team.

What actually happened: We almost had the second upset happen. The MTL Spitfire scored a last drive TD to slide out of this with a victory and keep their perfect season for another week. Shane Williams with a huge impact on this game. An ill-fated decision on the second play of the game had him with the first of his 2 INTs on the night. With Jay Ulley still out with a lower-body injury, Brian Tock was once more pressed in QB duty. The MTL Spitfire defence came up big with 4 sacks on the night, 1 INT, and 3 PDs as Tock was continually under pressure. Francois Deslauriers gets the accolades this week for the Spitfire as he was big on both sides of the ball with 2 TDs and 2 of the aforementioned sacks. Converts would be the final difference in this one and Andrew Carruthers provided both of them for the Spitfire.

JMJ vs. Pacemakers

What I wrote: Nothing. This game was moved from week 5.

What actually happened: The Pacemakers became the second team to hit the 4-0 mark as they handled JMJ in this one. While Chris Olson is extremely shifty, that is the type of QB that the Pacemakers rush very well. Jason Rossie made his presence felt on both sides of the ball, giving him 3 great games this past week. 4 passing TDs, a sack (SAFETY), and 2 PDs is a good night for anyone. That safety, on the first drive, and an INT by Chris Brockwell on the second drive, had the Pacemakers up 3-0 in a long heartbeat. At that point in time it became a game of “keep away” and JMJ were unable to close the gap. Brockwell continues his march toward WROY as he finished with 6-67-3TDs on the night. JMJ was another team with multiple new faces. Jeff Brown and Francois Deslauriers from the 2022 Spitfire were recruited as well as was Domenic Benevento (2020 Spitfire).

Broady Windsor vs. FPF (PFP win 46-34)

What I wrote: Nothing. Again. Schedule flip.

What actually happened: For the second time on the evening, Owie O’Brien finished a game with 6 passing TDs. This time the costly INTs were avoided. Karim Yasmine was the popular man around the end zone as he converts 3 of his 4 receptions for TDs. He also added 2 XPTs. Big body with good hands is always a great call around the end zone. Eugene McLaren was absent for this one. In stepped Alex Lever, who has not thrown in FPF since 2019. The rust and timing was apparent early on. The FPF defence finished with 2 INTs (both from Adam Tock) and 6 PDs. While Lever did have a much better second half, much like the JMJ game, this became a game of “keep away” in the second half.

Players of the Week (according to me & the stats)

Jason Rossie (Pacemakers) – 19-31 for 205 yards and 4 TDs / 3 rushes for 27 yards on offence and 2 tackles and 1 sack (safety) and 2 PDs on defence

Chris Brockwell (Pacemakers) – 6 rec for 67 yards and 3 TDs & 4 XPTs on offence. 3 tackles, 1 INT, and 1 PD on defence

Shane Williams (Shenanigans) – 1 reception for 21 yards and 1 TD. 5 tackles with 2 INTs on defence

Francois Deslauriers (MTL Spitfire) 5 rec for 92 yards and 2 TDs. 2 sacks & 2 PDs on defence

Stephen Harripersaud (OAO) – 21/32-246-5 TDs

Robert White (OAO) 7 rec for 95 yards and 2 TDs

Jason Rossie (Monster) – 5 rec for 104 yards and 2 TDs & 5 tackles on defence

Craig “Owie” O’Brien (FPF) 16/24-177- 6 TDs

Karim Yasmine (FPF) 4 rec for 31 yards and 3 TDs & 2 XPTs

The Week Ahead

Pacemakers vs. Broady Windsor

What I wrote last week: After the last game it would be hard to pick Broady Windsor to shake things up and challenge the Pacemakers. No one seemed to be able to shake up Jason Rossie and he looked comfortable all evening. Not sure anything there will change. Brian Martin will not be held without a catch in this one but I do not think that it will be enough. Pacemakers for the win. Jason is now smiling….”About Time Carm!!”

This week’s NEW PREVIEW: Broady Windsor hits the half-way mark with the worst offence and worst defence in the Tier. This is NOT a recipe for success. Eugene McLaren has been inconsistent this season and was absent last week. This does not bode well against the undefeated Pacemakers. Eugene and Alex Lever, who subbed last week, are the type of QB that the Pacemakers rushers excel against so that will also pose problems. Chris Brockwell looks to be a lock for hardware at the end of the season, either as the top receiver or 2-Way Player. Not sure that anyone on Broady Windsor can stay with him. This game has “Long Night” written all over it. Pacemakers…

JMJ vs FPF

What I wrote last week: Not sure that Chris Olson is going to be able to top his performance from this past Wednesday. I think that Karl De Nie might get a call to come out and spare in this one. That would be my strategy as I do not see anyone else on the FPF roster able to stay with Olson. Rosenblatt did better last week but it was nowhere near enough with the way that JMJ lit things up. JMJ also rang up 8 XPTs which is HUGE! I am on the Chris Olson bandwagon…2 very good games in a row.

This week’s NEW PREVIEW: This game will come down to the QB role from FPF. Two vastly different styles between Jeff Rosenblatt & Craig O’Brien. There is a huge difference between playing QB for a TEAMS roster and a DRAFT roster. The DRAFT roster takes more time to build chemistry. Owie has played with so many squads that he does take very long to adapt to his squad. I still say that no one on this normal roster can rush Chris Olson. I am going to keep my original pick of JMJ for the win in this one.

Old Age Out vs. Shenanigans

Two teams headed in different directions. Stephen Harripersaud is getting more comfortable with his receiving corps with each week that goes by and the Shenanigans are biding time until their QB returns. While the Shenanigans are the more talented squad, this is non-contact football, for the most part LOL, and strategy and technique play a huge factor. Shane Williams has been the top player thus far for the Shenanigans but they should be leaning on him even more. OAO for the win in this one.

Monster vs. Montreal Spitfire

What’s that saying? “Get your popcorn?” To say that these two squads have a history is an understatement. Several of the principal players on each side began playing flag football against each other in the mid-90s. There have been some classic matchups throughout the decades. Monster seems to be having some roster instability at this point in time while the Spitfire have been remarkably consistent and welcomed back JP Moreau and Ryan Hector last week to solidify the defence. Francois Deslauriers has proven to be an extremely effective rusher with his speed and range. Not going to go into the game plan too much as these teams face off 3 times in the next 4 weeks. As always, Spitfire for the W.

That’s all for today! Thanks for taking the time to read along.