Categories: Co-EdCo-Ed 2ComplementaryDivisionWomen's

Changing Landscape in Coed and Women’s Division

Week 2 was a busy one in Coed and the Women’s division. The Coed 1 landscape has already shifted. After the first week, Fast Not Furious were looking like a top team whereas Fitsquad looked doomed to an abysmal season. The division was thrown on its head when Fitsquad upset FnF, but more on that one to come later! In one of the weirder matches of the week, a Jeremy White-less EZFun defeated a Kiss My Outlaws team with more than half of their roster missing. While this was a closely fought game, it does not really represent either of these two teams. Thankfully, they will be facing off again on July 4th in a game that promises plenty of fireworks and will give us a better idea of who the top dog in the division is. With that, let’s get into the recaps from the week that was!

Week 1 Games of the Week

Les P’tites Miettes (19) vs Strangers (20) – Women’s

The biggest upset of the week came in the Women’s division. After the P’tites Miettes crushed Strangers 57-6 in week 1 I was worried about what their week 2 matchup might look like. I was hoping that the Strangers would not get blown out, but was not confident. More than not getting blown out, they somehow found a way to win, beating P’tites Miettes 20-19.

The Strangers’improved play all started with quarterback Jade Mchugh Thibault upping her game. After throwing for just 51 yards and an interception in her first game, she tripled her offensive output in this match. A large part of that increased production was the chemistry she developed with Sarah-Maude Mathieu who caught an impressive eight passes for 74 yards and two scores. Developing chemistry is going to be huge for this team who has never played together before. The fact that Mchugh Thibault and Mathieu are clicking after just one game is a great sign of things to come. 

If there is one thing that the Strangers’ offence can work on, it is improving their ball distribution. Only three players out of a roster of eight caught passes in this game. While that might have been enough for them to eke out a victory, spreading the ball is key to any team’s long-term success in FPF. Spreading the ball not only keeps your receivers happy but also keeps the other team on their toes. If you are only throwing to half your receivers, you can bet that your opponents coverage will take those receivers away first and force you to throw to the others. Forcing the ball into double coverage is a sure-fire way to be picked off.

Defensively there is a lot to like about this Strangers team. Again, their defence starts with the play of Jade Mchugh Thibault. She was an absolute threat in this once and recorded a stupefying three interceptions. Hanine Bahsoun also got in on the fun, recording and interception of her own. If this team can keep on producing turnovers at a rate of four a game, they will be a threat in this division.

As for Les P’tites Miettes, they were obviously missing a key piece in this game. Morgane Cosimano-Valois, who threw for 260 yards and 6 TDs in their week 1 win, was not there. Florence Normand did her best as back-up QB but struggled and turned the ball over four times. It is hard to evaluate this P’tites Miettes’ offence without Cosimano-Valois at the helm, but they are definitely hoping  that she will be back soon.

Fitsquad (20) vs Fast Not Furious (19) – Coed 1

At the start of the season I said that this Fast Not Furious team would go as far as their quarterback Justin Weir would be able to carry them. He let them down in this one, throwing for less than 140 yards and three touchdowns. Weir has the potential to be a great quarterback, but he also has his off nights and the difference is startling. When Weir is on his game and playing to the best of his abilities, FnF are amongst the best teams in the division. On the other hand when Weir fails to perform they are amongst the worst.

I was expecting Weir to excel in this one. Fitsquad does not do anything very special on defence. They run a 4-1 corner lock with Seth Galina playing free safety overtop on a majority of plays. That means they have four defenders in the flats, one free safety overtop and the corners follow any deep vertical routes. An experienced quarterback like Weir should know how to beat a basic 4-1 defence. While Galina does cover a surprising amount of room as the sole safety, this coverage is vulnerable to the deep passing game and that should have played right into FnF’s hands. This team has an embarrassment of deep threats. Quaysie Gordon-Maule might be the fastest player in FPF. James Drysdale and Marvin Steinberg are also amongst the best deep threats in this division. Between the three of them, they should have been able to stretch the field more than they did in this game.

For Fitsquad, this game proves that they can compete at the Coed 1 level and that their low-risk/low-reward style of play can yield results. During the winter season with Felix Goulet at the helm, this Fitsquad team was an interception waiting to happen. Goulet loved going deep a little too much and often paid the price with interceptions. Seth Galina is the exact opposite of that. He rarely throws deep because he does not have the arm to. Instead, he is a master at methodically marching down the field and avoiding turnovers. That is exactly what he did in this game, throwing for 160 yards and two TDs. He added another 35 yards of offence and a score with his legs. Where Galina starts to struggle is playing against man coverage. He does not have the biggest arm and his talents as a passer are all about reading the play and have very little to do with anticipation and ball placement. When you combine that with the fact that Fitsquad are the least athletic team in Coed 1 it is clear why man-to-man coverage is this team’s weakness.

Kiss My End Zone (31) vs Les Princesses (26) – Coed 2

The defending champions in Coed 2, Kiss My End Zone, kicked off their season with a tough matchup against Les Princesses. Coming into this game Les Princesses had beaten a very strong 3HUNNAS team and were averaging 30 points a game after their first two games. Kiss My End Zone on the other hand had added a new quarterback and a few other new pieces. Despite that KMEZ managed to come out of this one with a 31-26 victory.

Alexandre Noel got off to a great start to his Coed career, throwing for 181 yards and five touchdowns while only turning the ball over once. He added 20 rushing yards to that total to finish the game with over 200 yards of offensive production. Not too shabby considering this was the first time he was playing with any of these receivers. While Noel’s success was great to see, it was also bittersweet for Kiss My End Zone. Noel injured his collarbone playing in Division C a few days later and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. Something that should give KMEZ hope is the depth of their receiving corps. Four different players caught touchdowns in this one and five receivers finished with 20 or more receiving yards. We all know that James Drysdale is an absolute burner but the likes of Lory Ouellette and Jules Fortin are also looking like they could be difference makers for this team. As long as their backup quarterback, Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo, is surrounded by a strong cast of receivers he should be able to steward this team until Noel returns.

For Les Princesses, the future is definitely looking bright. They went score for score against the defending champions in just their second week. While there is a lot to be proud of for this team, there are also quite a few questions that they need to answer, the first of which is who their quarterback will be. In each of their first three games they have used a different quarterback. Dimitri Melsbach and Jean-Emmanuelle Barthelemy each quarterbacked a game in week 1 while Mikael Arseneau was under center against KMEZ. Judging from the stats, all of these quarterbacks seem capable of leading this offence. The key will be selecting one and letting them develop chemistry with their receiving corps. FPF is all about building a connection with your receivers. As a general rule, it takes a season or two for elite level chemistry to develop between a quarterback and their receivers. To achieve even decent chemistry within a season is difficult. If Les Princesses keep on dividing their quarterback snaps between three players, you have to wonder how it will impact the development of QB/WR cohesion.

Week 2 Team of the Week

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. The team of the week will be compromised of players from Coed 1, Coed 2 and the Women’s division. Only stats will be considered when choosing players for the team of the week. That means 100 receiving yards in Coed 1 is equivalent to 100 receiving yards in Coed 2. In the spirit of the Coed division, every team of the week will have a minimum of two female players on the offensive and defensive team.

Offence

Quarterback: Sara Parker (The Justice League) 25 completions, 253 passing yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Mikael Arseneau (EZFun) 7 receptions, 90 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Nykolas Pierre-Masse (3HUNNAS) 4 receptions, 73 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Sarah-Maude Mathieu (Les P’tites Miettes) 8 receptions, 74 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Alexandra Falcon-Korb (Fitsquad) 5 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Serge Pilon (The Justice League) 8 receptions, 101 yards, 3 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Carlo Costa (3HUNNAS) 5 sacks

Defensive Back: Elodie Lachapelle (Villa) 4 tackles, 3 INTs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Rachelle Vallieres (Red Nation) 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 PDs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Abigaelle Perrault (Villa) 4 tackle, 2 INTs   

Defensive Back: Jonathan Cantin (Blue Wave) 2 tackles, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Jade Mchugh Thibault (Les P’tites Miettes) 3 INTs

Week 2 Predictions:

EZFun (2-0) vs The Justice League (1-2) – Coed 1

EZFun are currently in first place with a perfect 2-0 record while The Justice League are sitting in last place so you might be wondering why I am previewing this game. Simply put, The Justice League have more experience and athleticism than any other team in Coed 1. Sara Parker also looks to be hitting her stride after a rocky outing in week 1. She threw for 7 touchdowns and over 250 yards on her way to earning QB of the week honors in week 2. On the other hand, EZFun have been easy W’s all season. They managed to beat Kiss My Outlaws with their third string quarterback.

This matchup is going to be an explosive offensive affair where a single defensive stop should be enough to win the game. Essentially this prediction comes down to who I think will record an interception and my money is on the superior athletes of The Justice League.

Prediction: The Justice League

Gorillas (1-1) vs Sneaky Snakes (1-1) – Coed 2

Both of these teams have struggled with quarterback play to start the season. The Gorillas have already thrown six interceptions in just two games and the Sneaky Snakes are not much better, having thrown five in just as many matches. Long story short, do not expect to see a lot of offensive fireworks out of this one.

Making life even harder for whoever plays QB for Sneaky Snakes will be David Tsatsoulis, the rusher for Gorillas. He already has three sacks in this young season and will be pouring on loads of pressure. If there is anything that makes a struggling QB worse, it is pressure from a rusher. Gorillas also win the name recognition battle. Emilie Pfeiffer-Badoux is a proven difference maker in Coed and Jeff Brown is a savvy veteran FPF defender. When you combine the pressure that Tsatsoulis will bring as a rusher, the speed of Pfeiffer-Badoux and the intelligence of Brown, this Gorillas team will be too much for the Sneaky Snakes to handle.

Prediction: Gorillas

Villas (1-0) vs Les P’tites Miettes (1-1)

This game will be interesting as long as Les P’tites Miettes have Morgane Cosimano-Valois back under center. They looked unstoppable with her at the reins of their offence in week 1 as she led them to scoring over 50 points. Crucially, Cosimano-Valois is yet to throw an interception.

On the other hand, the Villa defence has been the best in the league at producing turnovers. In their first game they recorded six interceptions, half of which came courtesy of Elodie Lachapelle. While their defence might have been otherworldly, their offence was nothing to write home about. QB Laurianne Lapointe only passed for 115 yards and four touchdowns on her way to recording a 82.6 QB rating. If Villa hope to beat Les P’tites Miettes, they will need to clean things up offensively. They will not have six interceptions to set them up with ideal field position on every drive. In the end, I think Villa will be able to drive the field on Les P’tites Miettes, but this will be a closely fought game that will come down to the wire.

Prediction: Villa

With just a few yours to spare before this third week of action gets underway, there is your week 2 article for the Coed and Women’s division. As always, feel free to email me at [email protected] with any comment or concerns about the article.

Good luck to everyone in week 3 and see you at the field!