Championship Weekend in FPF Junior

After weeks of me talking about them, the playoffs finally got underway last week. There are always a few upsets in the FPF Junior playoffs, and we saw our first upset in this opening week of the playoffs. Without further ado, here are your divisional recaps and previews for this final week of FPF Junior action.

 

Division by Division Recaps and Previews:

Sophomore: The Sophomore season is over and it is fair to say, it did not end how I expected it to. I thought the Bulls were going to win it all.  They had an uber athletic roster and one of the most experienced coaches in the division. I thought the combination of those two factors would lead them to a championship. However, the Panthers threw a wrench in those plans. The Panthers defeated the Wolves 29-14 in the semi-finals and went on to upset the Bulls 26-14 in the finals. Let’s take a more in depth look at how that final game of the Sophomore season played out.

The Panthers started things off strong. They scored on their opening drive thanks to a 23 yard pass from Antoine Richard to Zachary Nelson. That opening drive would set the tone for the rest of the game. Richard had a perfect game. He passed for 149 yards and three touchdowns. He added to those impressive totals with 47 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Most importantly, Richard avoided turning over the ball. Championship games can be decided by razor thin margins and a simple interception can change the outcome of the game. Crucially, Richard started the game with an early score and protected the ball. Not only did the Panthers avoid turning over the ball, their defence picked off their opponents three times. All three of those interceptions came late in the game. Just when the Bulls finally got a stop in the second half and they had moved the ball all the way down to their opponents 7 yard line, Antoine Richard came up clutch with an interception. The next interception really sealed the Bulls fate. Richard had just ran for a 30 yard score and on the second play of the Bulls drive, Zachary Nelson picked off the Bulls.

The Bulls had relied on their offence all season long. Their offence was premised on the fact that they had strong athletes who could beat man coverage. In the finals, that superpowered offence failed them. They actually wound up running for more yards than they passed. Unfortunately, things just gave out at the worst time for them. The Panthers did not win this game by fluke. I saw them practising week in and week out on Monday nights. They put in more work than any other team in the division and that was ultimately rewarded with a championship. They were always showing up early and they had a unique game plan for each opponent. All that hard work was rewarded with a championship.

Atom: So far, things have gone as expected in the Atom division. Flight School beat the Lakeshore Cougars 40-6 to move on to the finals. Impressively, Flight School won their semi-final game without running a single time. They also used four different quarterbacks, three of whom passed for touchdowns.

In the other semi-final, the Jaguars defeated the 49ers 27-6. The Jaguars relied on two factors to win this one: the legs of Jacob Jenikovsky and their ball hawking on defence. The 49ers defence had no solution to stopping Jenikovsky. He decided to tuck the ball and run three times. He tallied 85 yards and two TDs. The Jaguars defence was also fearsome. They picked off their opponents four times and half of those picks came courtesy of the talented Aaron George.

The stage is set, Flight School will face off against the Jaguars. All season, this is the final that these two teams have been expecting. Despite the fact that FS won all three encounters in the regular season, the Jaguars are confident. They saw the regular season as one long training camp for this ultimate game. The Jaguars have been improving all season long, however, I have to give the edge to FS in this one. Jordel Spring is an electric player and I do not think that the Jaguars will be able to slow him down.

Mosquito: There is only one game left to be played in the Mosquito division, but it is going to be quite the game. Flight School 2 are taking on Flight School 1 for the big honors.

Flight School 2 booked their place in the finals with a dominant 40-0 win over the McCaig Gladiators. While FS2 did score 40 points, this was really a dominant defensive showing. They picked off the Gladiators five times. Jailen Chopra and Tristan Neil led the pack with two each.

Flight School 1 also pitched a shutout in their win over the Lakeshore Cougars. FS1 did a great job spreading the ball. They used three quarterbacks and completed passes to six different receivers. Spreading the ball like that will be key if FS1 are to succeed in the championship game.

This championship game between FS1 and FS2 should be one for the ages. These teams finished in first and second place. Their only loss came to each other. This game is going to be a duel of the quarterbacks. FS1’s main man has been Gavin O’Connell. The talented passer has only thrown four interceptions all season. That kind of mistake free play is going to be essential because Amani Ho Sang, FS2’s QB, led all Mosquito quarterbacks with 1066 passing yards and he only threw one interception. The last time these two teams met, FS1 won but FS2 were without Ho Sang If Ho Sang is there for the finals, I have to give the edge to Flight School 2.

Pee-Wee: Predicting games in this division was never easy, but I always expected Flight School and the Gladiators to meet in the finals. I only got half of that prediction right. FS advanced to the finals with a 20-6 win over the Lakeshore Cougars. While FS threw for only one touchdown, they found other ways to score in this one. Malik Sabourin-Danglade ran twice for 32 yards and one score. Their defence also scored once. Dave Lileka Bolombe returned an interception for a score. Lileka Bolombe had a fantastic game. He picked off the Cougars five times and batted down four more passes. Five interceptions over the course of a season is good, five interceptions in a single game is simply incredible.

In the other semi-final, the AP Hurricanes upset the Gladiators 18-14 to advance to the finals. The Gladiators did everything in this game except win. Kingston Paquet passed for 220 yards. Unfortunately, he only passed for two scores. Had the Gladiators been slightly more efficient in the red zone they might have made the finals. As for the Hurricanes, they were lifted to victory by the strong play of two of their receivers. Liverios Alexander Christodoulopoulos caught three passes for a team high 70 yards and two scores. Joseph Jonathan Baazov led all players with seven receptions for 55 yards.

If the Hurricanes are to have a chance in the finals against Flight School, they will need to slow the game down. They scored the fewest points in the league this season while Flight School led the league in scoring with 261 points. To keep things close, the Hurricanes will need to milk the clock on every single play and hope they can manage a few stops on defence. Cedrick Leroux will play a key role on the Hurricanes defence. He was tied for the division league with 14 sacks. On Flight School’s side of things, they have beaten the Hurricanes before and if they want to beat them again, they will need to take away the Hurricanes top receivers. Liverios Alexander Christodoulopoulos, Cedrick Leroux and Sam Eisenberg have accounted for over 70% of the Hurricanes receiving yards. If they can cover those three receivers, Flight School will cruise to victory.

Bantam: The two finals in Bantam are set. In the Bantam A final, Flight School will take on the LCC Lions while the Bantam B finals will feature the Islanders and the Diablos La Prairie.

Flight School booked their place with a dominant performance against the Musketeers in the semi-finals. They used three different quarterbacks, all of whom passed for a touchdown. They also did a fantastic job spreading the ball, five different receivers finished the game with at least one catch. Their defence also got in on the fun and returned one of their three interceptions for a touchdown.

LCC Lions won a very close battle against North Shore. This game was tied at the end of regulation and overtime was required to decide the match. Over time in FPF takes the form of a shoutout. Each time has three tries to go for a 1 or 2 point convert and the team with the most points at the end of those three tries wins. If things are tied, it goes into sudden death. It is like in the NHL, except you have to score converts not goals. It took eight rounds of overtime, an FPF Junior record, the LCC Lions eventually prevailed. The Lions impressed me in this one because their defence stepped up for the first time this season. All season, this team relied on their dominant offence to win games. In this semi-final, it was their defence that was most impressive. They held North Shore to just two scores and did just enough in overtime to secure the win.

That defensive showing should give the Lions confidence for their match versus Flight School. In their past encounters, the Lions’ defence has not been able to slow FS down. If the Lions defence can hold Flight School to two scores, they may have a chance of winning this one.

Midget: In Midget, only the quarterfinals are on the books. In the first semi-final game, La Belle Province will take on the Unicorns.  The Unicorns upset Flight School in the quarterfinal and are facing an even steeper competition in the semi-finals. La Belle Province finished the season with a perfect 8-0 record. They scored the most points in the league and they conceded the least. Despite the Unicorns upset win last week, I do not think they have enough magic left in them for a second upset.

Raiders and North Shore are playing in the second semi-final. While most expect North Shore to win this one, I think the Raiders will win. They were impressive in the quarters with a 32-20 win over the Dusters. Raiders QB Riley Element had a perfect game. He threw for 160 yards, 4 TD passes and most crucially, he did not turn the ball over once. A similar showing in the semis from Element should be enough to propel his team into the finals. Most importantly, the Raiders are proven playoff contenders. Last winter, they went on to win it all after a mediocre regular season.

I expect the Raiders and La Belle Province to face off in the Midget finals. Even though I have hyped the Raiders as playoff contenders, I do not think they will be able to defeat the mighty La Belle Province. La Belle Province have had one of the best seasons in FPF Junior history. I think it would be fitting for Noah Lachance to cap off his FPF Junior career with a championship.

 

Stay tuned to the FPF site for the Dubois Awards where I will name the top quarterback, receiver, defensive player, rusher and two-way player from each division.

For all the teams who have already completed their season, I hope you enjoyed the FPF Junior experience and I hope to see you all back for the spring season. For those lucky teams who still have something to play for, congratulations and good luck!