Categories: DivisionDivision 3Men'sWinter

Czikk’s Cover 3: 6+R wins 7th straight, The Brotherhood escapes trouble

I write this as my train traverses through the dry, arid (and amazingly picturesque) heart of Texas en route to Austin from Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. I have been on this train for 23 hours straight and plan to make the SXSW conference in Austin. If you ever get the chance to visit Austin, it should be a must. A family walks by me and the pudgy eight-year-old kid is wearing a #21 Zeke Elliot jersey.

Week nine of Division 3’s season was another goodie, with many teams “eating” just like Zeke.

6+R continued to show why it could be considered alongside the unbeatens as one of the league’s finest. Meanwhile the league’s presumed top dog, The Brotherhood, ended up in quite the dog fight with 8 Boys 1 Cup.

Coyotes, Two and a Half Dans and Dad Bod Squad all flexed their muscles to stay unbeaten, while B.D Bandits are running the table, Les Messieurs Chats upset Darksiders and F.O.E edged Top Sauce in a high-scoring thriller.

6+R extends winning streak to seven

6+R (7-1) and Wolfpack (4-4) hit the turf in what was to be a high-value matchup as we near the end of the regular season. Coming into the game 6+R had won six straight, while Wolfpack was coming off a statement win over BearSkins.

But this evening was all about the Veins brothers and their supporting cast. At halftime the score was already 24-13 for 6+R.

6+R soon upped that lead to 38-19 when Marc-Antoine Veins exploded out of nowhere to intercept a Pascal Murray pass. Veins showed incredible speed as he sprinted to the endzone, putting one of many nails into Wolfpack’s coffin. 44-19.

Murray and his offense didn’t quit though – in fact, one could argue they were playing better than previous weeks on offense. Jamal Henry, Hugo Dupuy, Alex Doré and Francis Lapointe all hauled in at least 49 yards receiving.

The problem was 6+R just kept scoring.

Down 25 points, Murray hit Francis Lapointe from nearly 30 yards for a nice TD. The conversion was good to Alex Cavanuagh, making the score 44-26.

6+R came pack with several nice passes, including a couple to Anthony Brisbois, who went over 100 yards (6, 108, 2 TD). Frederic Veins then hit Marc-Antoine for another of his scores on the day, making the score 50-26. Frédéric Viens finished a sterling 21 for 25, 253 yards, 7 TDs and no picks.

We caught up with Marc-Antoine Veins (9 rec, 69 yards, TD) after the game and asked him about his team’s rivalry with the unbeaten Two and a Half Dans, their impressive run down the stretch and where the name 6+R came from:

Coyotes stay perfect, too heavy for Lightweight

After 6+R’s monstrous win it was the unbeaten Coyotes (8-0) facing off against Simon Dagenais and his Lightweight squad (4-5). This was one week after Coyotes “survived a scare,” escaping Jonesers with a 26-24 win (without QB Sammy Feder).

Josh Feder started things off when he picked off Simon Dagenais early in the first half. Dagenais would have a frustrating day in the pocket: 10 for 21, 129 yards, 3 strikes and a pair of INTs.

Sammy Feder hit Kevin Smuda for a short touchdown on the ensuing drive. A slightly unnecessary trick play for the one-point conversion landed in Adam Rockman’s hands (but it was fun to watch). 8-0.

Lightweight got the ball back but turned it over on downs. Sammy Feder was then picked off for only the fourth time this season. Eddy Lee jumped what looked to be an out route by the receiver.

Dagenais immediately went to the air on Lightweight’s next drive, throwing to the endzone. But several times Coyotes players made excellent plays on the ball.

After nice throws to both Francois Hogue and François Raymond, Raymond made a nice play by leaping in the back of the endzone to come down with the ball. He also grabbed the conversion. 8-7.

Sammy Feder hooked up with Kevin Smuda on Coyotes’ next drive when Smuda ran a nice wheel-route, coming down the ball and running the distance to the endzone for nearly 30 yards. Rockman caught a tip-drill ball on the conversion. 16-7.

Dagenais went deep again, but Coyotes’ Andrew Langburt shut it down. The quarterback had a nice connection going with Raymond (4 rec, 24 yards, TD), who made another key reception. Dagenais went deep again and Coyotes shut it down.

But he was seeing something – on his fourth try he hit Hogue on the same deep route, making it 16-13. Hogue grabbed the conversion again, making it 16-15 to end the half.

In the second half the Coyotes began to pour on the offense, outscoring Lightweight 18 to 6. The game ended at 34-21 for the still unbeaten Coyotes.

Josh Feder emerged as the man of the match, bringing in three of Sammy Feder’s five scores for 57 yards. Josh also picked off Dagenais twice on defense.

The Brotherhood faces adversity

Elsewhere in the league we saw the three other unbeatens stay perfect. But for the second consecutive week, keeping that squeaky-clean record proved difficult for one team.

This week it was the mighty Brotherhood (8-0), who edged out 8 Boys 1 Cup (3-5) in an unexpected 25-24 game.

The Brotherhood signal-caller Theo Ojeaha threw two picks for the first time all season, doubling up on his previous two. It seemed to be an uncharacteristic performance, no doubt against a hungry and opportunistic 8 Boys 1 Cup squad with little to lose. Ojeaha went 17 for 30, 217 yards, 4 TDs and the pair of interceptions.

But in typical Ojeaha fashion, he also forced an interception on defense, upping his lead league to 10.

8 Boys 1 Cup QB Jesse Dupuis put up nearly identical numbers as his counterpart, going 18 for 30 for 218 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs. Domenic Benevento (4 rec, 59 yards, TD), Nicolas Gendron-Vallée (4 rec, 53 yards, TD, INT on defense), Gabriel Wiseman (5 rec, 44 yards, INT on defense) and Marc-André Lapointe (3 rec, 40 yards, 2 TD) all chipped in for the ‘Boys.

For the winners, Khalil Kerr grabbed four balls for 78 yards and a score, Jamal Gittens caught six for 63 and picked off Dupuis on defense, Kevin Kaya caught two for 40 yards and a score and Quaysie Gordon-Maule hauled in two TDs on five catches.

B.D Bandits are actually running the table

B.D Bandits QB and WR duo Mark Belvedere and Casey Cook told the league they had to “run the table” after a game two weeks ago, winning the rest of the season in order to make the playoffs.

After an 0-4 start, the Bandits now stand at 4-4 after taking out the winless Heismans (0-8) 34-19.

Belvedere went 22 for 28, 166 yards, five TDs and a pick. Chris Smith (6 rec, 67 yards, TD, INT) and Steve Sanner (6 rec, 37 yards, 2 TD, INT) both had great games all over the field.

For the Heismans, Danny Guarna played well in the losing effort, hauling in a TD and picking off Belvedere.

Around the League

Two and Half Dans (8-0) stayed perfect on the season, but to get there they had to eliminate Les Eudists (2-7) by six points, 37-31.

QB Joey Taylor threw five scores on 19 completions for 225 yards. Adam Bailey caught all five of the touchdowns, getting  a monster 10 catches for 103 yards. Bailey and Matthew Rupcic intercepted Hugo Henderson, who also threw for 5 TDS.

Four of Henderson’s scores went to Louis-Christophe Lafontaine (7 rec, 114 yards).

Dad Bod Squad (8-0) thoroughly handled Les Buddays (0-8) 33-12. QB Sean Avraam threw for five TDs and no picks, dishing out respect to Vinny Gualano (2), Rich Humes, Matthew Petrone and Ryan Aridi.

One of the five games to watch outlined last week was F.O.E vs. Top Sauce, with both teams coming into the game with a respectable three losses each. Top Sauce had an extra fifth win from playing an extra game, with F.O.E at 4-3.

In what ended up being an incredible offensive game, F.O.E (5-3) came on top with the 40-39 win, a victory that put must have been massive for their morale. It was a tight game that was tied 20-20 heading into the intermission.

Both Alex Holowach and Vince Nardone threw for six TDs each, with Nardone throwing a pick to Jeremy Anderson. Jordan Moses had an especially strong game for F.O.E, bringing in three scores on five catches for 105 yards. Jeremy Anderson (6, 54, 2 TD) also chipped in.

Nardone threw strikes to Jean-Daniel Chevalier (2), Justin McLean, Carl Nardone, Chris Millard and G.M. Kolethras in the losing effort.

Les Messieurs (1-7) Chats upset Darksiders (4-4) 25-23 to earn their first win of the season. David Centomo was 20 for 27 for 143 yards, four TDs and no picks. Jean-François Marquis caught seven passes for 44 yards and three of Centomo’s TDs.

After five straight losses, Jonesers (3-6) beat Mongoose (4-4) 33-25 in what can only be described as a sigh of relief the a group that was Jonesing for a “W” (wow – the pun game is extra cheesy today). Receiver Dave Chitayat caught seven passes for 74 yards and two scores. He leads the league in yards (761) and TDs (20).

Show Me Your TDs (4-4) upset Brocassion (5-3) in one of my games to watch last week, 25-24. What a win it must have been for the TDs, who jump back to .500 football. Anthony and Danio Addona each caught four passes and a touchdown from QB Kevin Lubin.

In the losing effort, Kristian Cerantola threw four touchdowns to Marco Masciotra (6 rec, 89 yards). Masciotra also picked off Lubin on defense.

BearSkins (6-2) totally manhandled the Red Raiders (2-6), who could have used a win this week. The ‘Skins came out laughing, 47-6, but it was no laughing matter for Red Raiders, who have now dropped six of their last seven. Neil Etinson threw for 235 yards and seven TDs, including three to Marco Bertoldi (5 rec, 116 yards), two to Connor O’Brien (2 rec, 41 yards) and to Ryan Etinson and Sasha Papich.

OTF (2-6) won a comically low-scoring affair with Gros Chefs Bandits (2-6), 12-6. All told there were five interceptions to be thrown, with four different quarterbacks throwing the pigskin. For OTF it was just their second win of the season, and I assume they’ll take it anyway they can.

Power Rankings

  1. The Brotherhood (8-0): It’ll take more than a narrow victory to keep these guys out of the number one spot. But it’s been a while since the ‘Hood has scrapped it out with a legit contender. That could change this week as they play the (6-2) Laval’s Finest.
  2. Two and a Half Dans (8-0): I know Coyotes just won convincingly (and the Dans not so much) but I do think the Dans are the second-best team in this league right now. But it’s really close. Nothing will be a given this week when they take on a 4-4 Mongoose team.
  3. Coyotes (8-0): Coyotes played convincing football again this past week, especially delivering the kill shot in the second half. They’ll face off against a likely fired-up Show Me Your TDs (4-4) team that upset Brocassion last week.
  4. Dad Bod Squad (8-0): Another legitimate win by the Dads, this time against Les Buddays, who aren’t the best. The Dads face OTF this week.
  5. 6+R (7-1): 6+R is a scary team to play, particularly when a large man like Marc-Antoine Veins is sprinting in a pick-six to the endzone to crush your hopes. A dream matchup would be to see these guys throw down with one of the unbeatens, but it won’t happen in the regular season. These guys end the season against Les Eudists (2-7) and F.O.E (5-3).
  6. Laval’s Finest (6-2): They’ve put up a very healthy 277 points on the season. They’ve won six of the last seven after dropping their first game of the season, and they’ve won two in a row. But Laval’s Finest plays the Brotherhood (8-0) this week, which could end up being the game of the year. Justin Lavallee has thrown for a fine season since taking over at QB, throwing for 31 TDs, 5 picks and just one sack.
  7. BearSkins (6-2): After a disappointing, 13-point losing effort two weeks ago, the ‘Skins have won two straight. Their final two opponents have a combined two wins all season. I’d argue the ‘Skins likely have one of the best receiving corps in the entire league.
  8. Brocassion (5-3): Brocassion has gone 2-2 over the past four weeks, including a real nail-biter loss last week against Show Me Your Tds. They’ve benefitted from a 3-1 start. It should be an easy time this week against Prestige World Wide, and their last game against Laval’s Finest should be a dandy.
  9. F.O.E (5-3): After getting blown out by the Dans, these guys just delivered a huge one-point win against Top Sauce this week. Five different receivers have hauled in at least five TDs, including Jordan Moses, who has 10. It won’t be an easy end to the season with games against Wolfpack (4-4) and 6+R (7-1).
  10. Top Sauce (5-4): After two straight losses, Top Sauce has dropped down to 5-4 after a promising 5-2 start. It’s been an up-and-down past month for these guys, who gave up at least 33 points for four weeks. But putting up offense? No problem. Vince Nardone has thrown lots of TDs to Justin McLean (14), Jean-Daniel Chevalier (11) and Chris Milard (9).

Six Games to Watch

  1. Joseners (3-6) vs. 8 Boys 1 Cup (3-5), Saturday at 7:00 PM
  2. Wolfpack (4-4) vs. F.O.E (5-3), Saturday at 10:00 PM
  3. Show Me Your TDs (4-4) vs. Coyotes (8-0), Saturday at 11:00 PM
  4. The Brotherhood (8-0) vs. Laval’s Finest (6-2), Sunday at 8:00 PM
  5. Darksiders (4-4) vs. B.D Bandits (4-4), Sunday at 10:00 PM
  6. Two and a Half Dans (8-0) vs. Mongoose (4-4), Sunday at 11:00 PM