Div. 4 Midseason Report Cards Part 2!

What’s going on guys thanks for tuning in to another Div 4 article. If you didn’t get a chance to read last weeks article heres a little breakdown on how these reports work. Each team will receive a letter grade, based on their production so far this season in contrast to their preseason expectations. In other words, its very possible for a 5-0 team to receive a B or C and a 2-3 team receive an A. One thing that I’d like to point out is an error I have made previously when talking about playoff qualifications. The bottom 8 (NOT 5) teams in division 4 will be eliminated and wont partake in this years playoffs. To reiterate, 24 of 32 will make the playoffs.

As Iggy perfectly outlined in his Division 5 article the letter grades correspond as such;

A – You’ve exceeded pre-season expectations.  I never would have thought the team in question would have performed this well.

B – The team is surpassing the expectations that I placed on them ahead of the season, or perhaps you meeting expectations with your record, but have won close matchups against tough opponents.

C – I was right, and the team is performing exactly as expected.

D- Your team has underperformed in comparison to pre-season expectations. You’ve probably lost matchups which your squad was favoured to win.

If your team was featured last week, I hope you take everything said with a grain of salt and want to either prove me wrong or prove me right based on how I think your team will finish the season. Although you may not be featured this week, reading up on the divisions other squads can help create a game plan for any up coming key matchups you might have. Lets get to It!

Wide Open Bar (5-1)

Wide Open Bar have potentially been the most pleasant surprise of the division. I have played against this team in the past and they KNOW how to football. However, my pre season record prediction for this team was probably around 6-7 wins. WOB have the opportunity to reach that total in as little as 5 days with another win if they can keep up this consistent high level play against Bandits. Their only loss against Cunning Stunts dates back to week two. If there is an aspect of WOB’s game to critique it’s got to be their defence. In their first 3 games they have up about 30 points per game against some less talented offensive teams such as the Sheriff and Friends with Danny and have only snagged 3 INT’s through their first 5 games. They have however tighten it up on D since week 3 and i’m sure they hope to continue doing so for the rest of the season. The only loss I can see coming their way is week 10 against top team Martine et Le Flag. That will be their biggest test of the season just in time to tweak what needs to be tweaked before playoffs.

Grade: B+

Key Players: Édouard Leroux, Louis Lussier

Prediction Record: 8-2

Martine et Le Flag (5-0)

An A grade for this undefeated unit. Granted I didn’t know many of these players but even if I did, its very rare to expect a team to be undefeated through 5 games. Lead by QB Jérémy Deschamps, this squad has been on a tear on both sides of the ball scoring 174 points for and allowing less than 100 against. They have been spreading the ball well as it seems like everyone gets to eat on this offence. Reginald Prophete, Antoine Authier and Guillaume Ranger all tie each other as team TD leader with 5. Their biggest test comes this weekend which would have easily been the Spotlight Game of The Week against other undefeated team Kiss My Inlaws. This is the only game of their remaining 5 that I think they have a chance to lose. A win this weekend against this league bully will skyrocket them in the power rankings and as finals favourites. Very impressed with this team and I look forward to watching them dominate in the post-season!

Grade: A

Key Players: Guillaume Ranger,Antoine Authier

Prediction Record: 9-1

Cunning Stunts (2-2-2)

I expected a 3-3 record but in my opinion 2-2-2 is basically the same thing. Unfortunately for Cunning Stunts their record and plus-minus could look wayyy better if they didn’t have to forfeit their week 1 game against Nomads. The stats are a little whack when looking at this team, No uniforms = No stats. Regardless, Stephen Casey has looked good as anticipated only turning the ball over once this season. I expected Dom Manno to be more impactful on offence but his absence the last two weeks had Casey Shifting attention and targets to Corey Williams. Luckily for them a playoff spot seems more then reasonable as they only face 1 team out of the next 4 with a strong record. Apart from Martine et Le flag this team shouldn’t have many issues coming out of the midpoint of the season. I believe Zach Graveson is their rusher and he’s got to get more pressure on opposing QB’s to get them off rhythm. Only 1 sack on the season (only 1 recorded at least) is not a recipe for defensive success.

Grade: C+

Key Players: Stephen Casey, Corey Williams

Prediction Record: 5-3-2

Les Jets Plien (1-5)

Not much expected here so an average C grade is given. There isn’t too much to be excited with this team. The only game this offence has scored more than 20 points was week 2 in their only win against Nomads. Their defence hasn’t been great either as they let 0-3 bandits score 4 TD’s. Remi Lussier has been their top target of the season and has put up decent numbers scoring 8 TD’s and 350 yards receiving. At first glance this looks great but I question weather Remi is beating defenders or if Hugo Lussier is forcing him the ball. Sadly for Les Jets Plien their schedule doesn’t get much easier as I for see them only winning one more game this season. They join the bottom 8 to miss playoffs. Better Luck next year boys!!

Grade: C

Key Players: Remi Lussier, William Nkaye

Prediction Record: 2-8

Trapstars (4-2)

Before the season began, I envisioned Trapstars being somewhere around the top 15 teams in the league. Im not sure if their roster is one of the top 10 in the league but their 4-2 record is! Despite loses to football stars Chaz Kidder-Alexander and Juwan Edghill who seemingly vanished from the team since week 3 they have been quite alright without them. Early on I predicted them to be in tight matchups many times this season and truth be told 5 of their 6 games were decided by 1 score. Trapstars do a great job of buckling down on defence and make plays on offence in the clutch. If it wasn’t for an onside kick from Blue Dreamers, this squad would be 5-1 and looking to hold on to a bye week spot. Last weeks offensive outburst is what they need this upcoming week if they plan on hanging with the undefeated R.E.E.T. Cooper Young can sling it at QB but he also plays extremely well as a receiver hauling in 30 passes and 8 TD’s so far.

Grade: C

Key Players: Ryan Garber, Cooper Young

Prediction Record: 6-4

Ballz Deep (3-1-1)

I would say my pre-season analysis of Ballz Deep was pretty accurate. They are one of the better teams in the division with Justin Weir leading the way. Weir has had a underwhelming season throwing for only 12 TD’s and 8 INT’s. The reason for the D grade is simply because I expect this offence to be performing at a much higher level. They rank 31st in the division in passing yards and are tied for 1st in punts. Their O hasn’t been clicking but their record doesn’t show it. A big reason for that would be their top tier defence. 13 total interceptions for this team and a whopping 5 of them have been taken back to the house for 6!! This obviously translates to Ballz Deep having the highest scoring defence in the division. I can’t wait to see this scary unit in week 9 where they face one of the divisions top offences, 4th & Shlong. Their only surprise of the season for me was their week 2 tie against heart break kids. It’s not that I think Ballz Deep should have handled HBK with ease but after holding them to just 13 points, Its a little disappointing to see them lose that one. Anyways, Ballz Deep seem to be cruising and if Weir can tidy up that Offence this will not be a team you wish to face in April.

Grade: D+

Key Players: Johnathan Weir, Matthew Peacock

Predicted Record: 7-2-1

Blue Dreamers (2-4)

By Paolo Della Rocca

This one is a little more difficult to assess than it may appear at first sight.  Roster issues, an awaited return to the pivot and some truly great performances cloud this season for Blue Dreamers.  An Injury to Nicky Farrinaccio takes would could have been an overwhelmingly athletic roster and makes them just one of the more athletic groups.  Alessandro Barrazoni has returned to play quarterback and at moments, he has looked the part but much of the time it looks like he’s thisssssssssssss close (my fingers are positioned really closely to each other).  Defensively, the team remains stout. They adjust their positioning on the fly to adapt to the offense and they play a variable style of defense which requires QBs to work through their progressions and they’ve allowed more than 20 points only once. The anchor of this defense is Raff Morelli (rusher and div.4 columnist). He’s already won a DPOY as rusher and is closing in on his second such honor.  The remaining schedule looks to be a touch easier for them to close out the season so we’ll see if Blue Dreamers can close out on the close games they’ve been playing.

Grade: D+

Key Players: Nicholas Groppini, Raffaele Morelli

Predicted Record: 5-5

Ball Don’t Lie (2-4)

This is the first time Ball Don’t lie as a team have appeared in FPF unlike many other teams which made a pre-season expectation difficult. In my weekly predictions I have selected them to win only once so they get a C grade as a winning record wasn’t envisioned. Wildly different results from this team make them hard to analyze and myself very conflicted. Giving up 30 in week 2 loss to Top G’s (their only win of the season) and then proceed to score 39 in a win vs. Vultures (a very athletic team) leaves me with the idea that consistency might be their biggest issue. Charles William Tremblay has been under center for the team since week 1 and has had an average season throwing 800 yards, 17 TD’s and only 5 INT’s. What worries me about this squad is that the front half of their schedule was much lighter then the back end so Ball Don’t Lie might have run out of wins. I predict this team to have an abrupt ending as they join the bottom 8.

Grade: C-

Key Players: David Polynice, Olivier Dzomo

Predicted Record: 2-8

Heart Break Kids (3-2-1)

Before the season began I certainly didn’t have huge expectations for this team. Apart from their 2 5x all stars Devin Daoust and Zackary Alberts-Gill their roster didn’t jump off the page and I left them off my top 10 power rankings. I would say they have proved me wrong as their only 2 loses came to arguably the best 2 teams in the division. On top of it, their starting Q, Evan Ely Nolet, was absent from last weeks big matchup against Kiss My inlaws. Nolet has had a mediocre season so far with 700 yards and a 2-1 TD-INT ratio. He’s completed more than 60% of his passes but its clear that 20 PPG won’t win games against tougher opponents. Their D has been fairly stout racking in 5 INT’s and 11 team sacks which ties them for 4th in the division. As expected Devin Daoust has been their top receiver with almost 12 yards shy of 300 and 5 TD’s. He dominates targets with 46 so it might benefit Nolet to distribute the ball a little more just so opposing defences can move their attention away from Daoust to potentially open some deeper concepts. Their remaining schedule is not easy whatsoever as almost every team has a winning record. I for-see them to close out the season at least 2-2.

Grade: B

Key Players: Zackary Alberts-Gill, Devin Daoust

Predicted Record: 5-4-1

Dime and Bougie (3-2)

This team landed at #6 in my pre-season rankings so 3-2 is a little disappointing with the idea that they had the potential to lose 2-3 games ALL season. Their most recent loss is what surprised me the most. Vultures haven’t been playing their best football and Dime and Bougie’s defence has been fire all season but they still give up 39 and took an L. They still have to play the divisions top Offences against The R.E.E.T and 4th & Shlong. These games will allow them to measure themselves against the div’s top talents. A D grade is given to them simply because after making the finals in tier 3, we have high expectations. This young core still has a lot to learn but something they have continued to build is chemistry. 8 of their 9 players who have played for Dime and Bougie scored at least 1 TD. If Jules Regimbald can pick up the offensive pace this still could be a great team and a team to fear in the playoffs. Im hoping they can pull off an upset against what probably will still be an undefeated R.E.E.T and get back to dominating.

Grade: D+

Key Players: Felix Boutet, Arthur Doyon

Predicted Record: 6-4

Golden Eagles (2-4)

Kevin Lubin and 2 way player Alex David has played over 400 FPF games, if thats not a certified vet….Idk what is. I had higher hopes for Golden Eagles this season then 2-4. They have a great group of athletes who love to compete and have been playing in the league for awhile now. However they had been struggling to find their footing. After six games, their record stands at 2-4, after expecting this team to have at least a .500 record, their midseason grade is a D+. This team has a lot of work to do if they want to turn things around and make a run at the playoffs. The team’s quarterback, Kevin Lubin, hasn’t thrown for a full season since 2018 and hopefully has shaken the rust of. Lubin has thrown eight interceptions in six games, which is not up to his usual standards as he usually averages only 7-8 INT’s a season. WR Frederique Brunette is the clear #1 as he’s been targeted more then anyone on the squad and with good reason. On only 20 catches Brunette has scored 8 times and received over 300 yards. Im not sure if a 4-6 record is enough to sneak into the playoffs with all these ties occurring so early in the season, but I think that will be their record after the regular season comes to a close

Grade: D+

Key Players: Felix Boutet, Arthur Doyon

Predicted Record: 4-6

Vultures (2-2)

My pre-season prediction of this team was probably to high considering I didn’t notice Benjamin McMahon would bust the QB cap. Either way with this amount of talent on a team you should be close to undefeated. They have multiple FPF D1 players and they struggled to score points in week 1 & 2. Unsure of why everyone else has played 5 and 6 games and this team is at 4. Either way its good news for them since they have played much better in weeks 3 & 4 and hopefully Phil Roberts has had time to settle in under center and will keep improving week after week. Benjamin McMahon has done well at contributing on both sides of the ball with 4 TD’s and 3 INT’s. I expect a little more from James Drysdale as he’s only caught 11 passes so far. Granted he’s leading the team with 6 TD’s, 11 catches means he’s either only being used in the red-zone or as a deep threat. These aren’t bad options but I personally would involve him any way I can. I placed this team in my top 10 so a D grade is to be expected. But Vultures shouldn’t worry too much seeing that they still have 6 games left and an offence that has scored more points week after week. This is a playoff team and I truly think this team can make a deep Dark horse run in the playoffs.

Grade: D+

Key Players: Benjamin McMahon, James Drysdale

Predicted Record: 6-4

Kiss My Inlaws (6-0)

In life, theres somethings you like to be right about and some things you hate. In this scenario i’m in right smack in the middle. It’s great to see Iggy have such an incredible season at QB and continue to evolve his game. But at the same time, it always sucks just a little to watch the team that kicked you out of the playoffs and win a championship in the previous season keep on bulldozing teams and still be undefeated the following season. A C grade is given due to my prediction of them being the #1 team in the division and apart from The R.E.E.T they are the team to beat. Iggy Manzanedo continues his QB of the year campaign with 28 TD’s to ZERO interceptions. He just knows how to read defences and find the open man and keep the ball out from harms way. Although, Iggy may not be the only one on this team in the yearly award discussion. WR-DB Jerome Hovington has had a fantastic year so far catching 9 TD’s and leads the league in INT’s with 6. At this pace, I don’t think there’s anyone not named Dawson Pierre with stats remotely close to his. I don’t see this team losing any time soon, if gambling was FPF approved they would absolutely one of my favourites to win it all this season in Div 4.

Grade: C

Key Players: Iggy Manzanedo, Jerome Hovington

Predicted Record: 10-0

MOFOS (3-3)

I don’t know if an official QB change has been made for MOFOS but in the last 2 weeks Tiemoko Sanogo has been absent and Rakim Charles has taken his place. Definitely something to keep an eye out for. This team is performing like I assumed they would after 5 weeks. They had a chance to make a splash in this division after holding their ground against #1 team Kiss My Inlaws and back to back week 2 & 3 wins but as of late the team has come back down to earth and lost against good teams. Julian Nelson, who has played all 6 games for MOFOS has scored 10 times already. His after the catch running and ability to make people miss is what gives him his edge and his quarterbacks confidence in him. Their one area to improve on has to be creating turnovers. Only 3 total team INT’s is lower then what I expect from D1 University players. I still like many of the players and with the talent and football knowledge the team posses I expect them to end the season with a winning record.

Grade: C+

Key Players:

Predicted Record: 6-4

Friends With Danny (2-5)

Their last season as Friends without Danny wasn’t sucessful by any means as they finished 2-6 and were booted in the first round back in the Fall. This led me to believe they couldn’t have a season with may wins considering the amount of talent and great teams in division 4. The team is performing exactly as expected, only winning against teams with worse records then their own. I cant pinpoint this squads problems as they have a capable QB, good athletes and veteran players. They should be winning games, especially close ones like a 2 point loss to Wide Open Bar and last weeks 1 point loss to Team Ethnik. If their able to close out those ones, we would be having an extremely different conversation right now. Jared Buck has been doing his thing under center throwing for 1300 yards 29 Touchdowns and 7 INT’s. Very odd to see a Qb atop the season leaders in TD’s have a 2-5 record. Tomorrows game agaisnt the Sheriff is a must win if they want to stay in playoff contention. A loss plus Kiss My Inlaws the following week could be their death sentence.

Grade: C

Key Players: Jordan Allard, Jared Buck

Predicted Record: 3-7

LES BÉBÉS MAGIQUES (2-3)

This is a team full of newbies and after seeing all the talent there was in Div 4 I actually expected worse then 2-3. If i’m being honest I didn’t think this team would win more then 2 or 3 games this season and they have the opportunity to surpass that total in the next 2 weeks. They still have some serious opponents lined up like The R.E.E.T and Wide Open Bar so the main thing to remember even if they lose big in these matchups is to keep learning and building. One piece of advice I will give this squad is to use the onside kick rule more often. It’s clear that their defence hasn’t been great allowing the most points against in the division. If you get a second half score, use it. The advantage of successfully hitting on an onside kick outweighs heavily the con fo you opponents starting on your end. That way, even if they score, significantly less time will be wasted on the clock. If this team can find a way to win 2 more out of their remaining 4 they could be in a spot to make playoffs. Either way, to my standards, they’ve had a successful season already.

Grade: B+

Key Players: Alexandre Barros, Émile Bolullo

Predicted Record: 3-7