Co-ed Finals Preview

After an unpredictable regular season and a slightly tamer playoffs, the Spring 2019 season of co-ed is about to draw to a close. There are only two games left to be played except they are by far the two most important. In the lower bracket, Drunk Again and Looking to Score will be taking on Yin&Yang with the championship on the line. In the higher bracket, 3rd Down for What will play Midtown for all the marbles. For the first time all season, there will be no team of the week. There were only two games last week and that isn’t a large enough sample size to construct a team of the week from. Instead, I will recap the two matches from last week and give an in-depth preview of both finals.

Playoffs Round 2 Games of the Week:

Midtown (35) vs Black Mamba (34)

Remember last article when I asked how Black Mamba could possibly win this game? Well Midtown were without their quarterback and their snapper developed the bad habit of snapping the ball 5 yards over the QB’s head. All that was nearly enough to make Midtown lose. Eventually, they found a way to make do with the pieces they had, and they beat Black Mamba 35-34 to advance to the finals.

While Midtown did not have their usual quarterback, Jean-Christophe Morin-Phaneuf was an excellent backup. He was nearly as good as their usual quarterback, Phillip Enchill. What hurt Midtown more was not having Morin-Phaneuf as a receiver. With him stuck tacking snaps under center, Midtown was forced to spread the ball. The leading beneficiary of their change in tactics was Jordan Rwiyamilira who led all receivers with six catches for 77 yards and two scores. While Rwiyamilira was Morin-Phaneuf’s preferred target for his short passes, Sam Eskander was definitely the deep threat. He caught four passes for 62 yards and was targeted quite a few more times on deep posts. While Eskander did mange to stretch the field, he failed to score a single touchdown. Picking up the slack was the extremely talented Marilou Beland who had three catches for 23 yards and two scores. Midtown’s defence had an interesting night. On one hand, they allowed five touchdowns and 34 points. On the other hand, they also picked off their opponents four times. When they face off against Sara Parker and 3DW in the finals, there is no chance that they will produce four interceptions. They will need to find another way to stop their opponents from scoring if they have any aspirations of winning it all.

As for Black Mamba, they had a great season and they were just a dropped convert away from making it to the finals. For some reason, they think I am out to get them. Really, I am just happy to see another team doing well in co-ed. Last season they were pitifully bad and the way they rebounded in such a short time with just a few additions is really remarkable. It takes some players years to adapt to FPF and this group has managed to both learn and excel in just two seasons. If they keep on improving at this rate, they will be an unstoppable force next season. However, I do feel like I need to take a bit of credit. All the constructive criticism I have given them and that I received so much flak for has really made them a better team. All throughout the winter, I was nagging them to run the ball less. Come the Spring, they are a pass first team and suddenly they start winning games. A few weeks into this season I called them out for not using their girls enough. After that they started passing to them and guess what? They won even more games. All in all, Black Mamba are an extremely promising team and I would love to see them compete for it all in the next co-ed season. Who knows, I might even predict them to win a game or two in the Winter season!

Party Mix (0) vs 3rd Down for What (18)

I was really looking forward to this game. Both of these teams are filled with seasoned veterans and they both have uber talented quarterbacks who move the ball down the field slowly but surely. Boy was I disappointed. Neither team had their full roster. Both teams were missing their quarterback.

3rd Down for What looked like a shell of their former selves. Not only were they missing Sara Parker, but they were also without star receiver Alexis Gaumont. Filling in for Parker was Kevin Lubin. I had heard of Lubin before. He was known as a smart quarterback who was able to buy time in the pocket. Clearly, he was extremely rusty because he struggled mightily against a depleted Party Mix defence. He was only able to throw for 115 yards. While he was able to score thrice, he was intercepted twice in the process. The one receiver Lubin was able to find with consistency was Alex David. He caught six passes for nearly 50 yards. While he was the leading receiver for 3DW he did not find the endzone. In the red zone, Lubin turned his attention to Annie Lagace. She caught four passes for 35 yards and also accounted for two thirds of her teams scores. On defence, 3DW’s ball hawks were feasting. They intercepted Jeff Brown on five occasions. Tristan Mancini managed a hat trick of interceptions while Constance Miller had two of her own. On top of picking Party Mix off five times, they also held them to under 25 yards of net offence and didn’t let them get remotely close to their endzone.

I really do not want to talk too much about Party Mix. The team that played on Sunday was a shadow of their true team. So many players were missing that they had to turn to Jeff Brown at quarterback. To give you an idea of how desperate they were, Jeff Brown has played in nearly 400 FPF games and out of all those games, he has only attempted four passes. As if missing their quarterback wasn’t enough, Party Mix only had five players. On offence, they barely moved the ball. On defence, they somehow managed two interceptions and only gave up 18 points. The fact that they only gave up three scores is honestly an impressive feat. For Party Mix, this is just a disappointing way to end a very strong season. I really hope they will be back for the winter season and that they will actually show up for their playoff game.

Finals Preview:

Drunk Again and Looking to Score (3-5) vs Yin&Yang (2-5-1)

Gino Di Fazio has once again pulled a Gino. He has found a way to finagle the team with the highest overall rating and one of the highest rated QBs into the finals of the lower division. When I saw him starting a whole slew of different quarterbacks, I had a feeling that this was his goal. Well, he is now in his tier 2 finals, but winning it will not be an easy task. They are facing off against the red hot Drunk Again and Looking to Score. Their quarterback, Rocco Christiano has been on fire as of late. He has finally started using all of his weapons. He spreads the ball and isn’t scared to tuck the ball and run. That being said, his preferred weapon is still Chris Milard. Unless Yin&Yang can find a way to keep a lid on Milard, they have very little hope of winning. That is why I think this game will be decided by one key matchup. Y&Y will try to man someone up on Chris. At first Justin Weir will probably be assigned to cover him and when doesn’t work, one of their big names will step in on defence. Either Kendal Mayers or Isiah Allard will be tasked with covering him. If they can manage to limit him then Y&Y will win. It is as simple as that. What isn’t so simple is covering Chris Milard.

Prediction: Drunk Again and Looking to Score

Midtown (6-2) vs 3rd Down for What (6-2)

The real question in this game is who will bother showing up. Both of these teams were without their quarterback in the semi-finals. While they somehow found a way to win those semi-finals, things will not be as easy in the finals. It would be best if either both of the quarterbacks show up, or neither do. At least that way we will have an even game. While these two teams may have identical records, they approach the game very differently. Midtown is all about the deep ball. They live and die off passes of over 20 yards. If you find a way to take away that deep ball, they will not have the patience to drive the field 5 yards at a time. By now, everyone in co-ed knows that Midtown will throw it deep. The real problem is finding a way to try to cover that deep pass. On the other hand, 3DW approach the game very differently. They are a methodical team that are perfectly content to march down the field five yards at a time. They love to throw the short crossing routes and the hooks. They don’t depend on brute athleticism as much as they do on football IQ. This final will be the confrontation of two schools of thought and I have to choose the slow methodical one. Finals are all about avoiding turnovers and 3DW plays a much lower risk game than Midtown.

Prediction: 3rd Down for What

And there you have it, the last article for the co-ed season. I really hope you enjoyed reading these articles as much as I enjoyed writing them. Each week you all gave me some great headlines and upsets to write about. With so much going on in the division, the articles essentially wrote themselves.

I will say it one last time, if anyone has any feedback (yes, even you Black Mamba), please let me know by email at [email protected] These articles are ultimately for you so if there is anything you would like to see for next season, please let me know.

With that, all that is left is the finals. Good luck to all, and remember that if you cannot make it to Brossard to watch the finals, the games will be streamed live on the FPF YouTube channel.