Div E Divisional Round Recap: Down goes #1

Good morning to all and welcome to the quarterfinals! This article is going to be a recap of the divisional round, as well as my prediction for next week’s semi-final. Before I get into this article I’d like to give a word of advice for Div E next season, which is make sure to check the schedule frequently, especially near playoff time. Two teams did not show up to their first round matchups and the working theory is that these two teams did not know that they even made the playoffs. The Cavalier du Rohan and Sulé Fesss both forfeited their games after failing to show up, which is super unfortunate given how much each team pays to be in the league and it turned out to be a big waste of time for everyone involved. Next year if your team is pretty bad, but maybe not the absolute worst, just confirm with the website that you are actually out before you call it quits on the season. 

Divisional Round Results: 

Les Petites Carottes 60 – 0 Cavalier du Rohan. 

Vick in a Box 30 – 0 Sulé Fesss.

Those two are pretty self explanatory as they were forfeits. I am not sure why LPC were credited with 60 while Vick in a Box were only given 30 points, but to be fair I don’t really think it matters. 

Minchia FT 19 – 13 QB Roulette 

This game was pretty back-and-forth. Each team’s opening drive ended in an interception, and QB Roulette had a chance to win the game late but could not convert in the RedZone. QB Roulette’s quarterback Kenny Boutilier is one of the shiftier Qbs i’ve seen in the league, he rushed 10 times for 95 yard and a touchdown. To be honest it felt like much more in the moment. For Minchia, John-Anthony Neemeh was the star on both sides of the ball. He caught a 40 yard bomb for a touchdown, and he was stout on defense with 2 interceptions, 2 PDs, and a game-high 6 tackles. Minchia ran a super unconventional offense for an FPF game, they had Anthony Mirarchi lined-up as a tailback and handed the ball off to him multiple times. It was interesting the first couple times but I feel like Qb roulette began to catch on pretty quickly. Minchia are pretty good but I have trouble picking them in the next round, to me it seems like they have minimal confidence on offense which leads to turnovers. 

The Penetrators 27 – 25 Big Fat Bats 

I’d like to give myself a pat on the back here because I predicted this game would be close. Big Fat Bats took the ball to start the game but turned the ball over on downs, handing the Penetrators a short field to work with. Three completions later, Justin Goodman and Jared Boidman connected for a 10 yard touchdown to open the scoring. BFB Qb Matthew Zeppetelli seemed to have had a fire lit under his ass because the next drive was literally just him. He first rushed for 30 yards on first down, then two plays later he finished off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown run, adding the 2 point conversion to take the lead. The next and only other touchdown of the first half was another rush by Matthew Zeppetlli, a 9 yard score to put his team up 13-7. The Second half had a much different tone. The Penetrators began the half by running 6 plays, capped off by a Noah Asayag 1 yard score to bring the penetrators back in the game. Jonah Koifman caught the next score of the game to give his team the lead, but  Zeppetelli responded with a four yard throwing touchdown to Michael Cristofano. Jonah Koifman scored again late in the game to put the penetrators up, but BFB responded with a Matthew Zeppetelli to A.J Zeppetelli 26 yard touchdown with less than five plays left to nearly tie it up. It all came down to a 2 point convert to send the game to overtime… And it was batted down by none other than the giraffe Jared Boidman. Matthew Zeppetelli had a tremendous game with 184 throwing yards and 2 touchdowns, along with 59 rushing yards and another two scores. Unfortunately it was not enough to win the game for Big Fat Bats, the Penetrators are moving on.

Black Label 24 – 18 The Pillow Talkers 

I must say this is surprising to me. The Pillow Talkers did not have the best regular season but I really thought they would be able to figure it out in the playoffs. The game was tied going into the half, and the Pillow Talkers took the lead with a 19 yard touchdown from Shamar Joassaint to Corey Williams. It was short lived. The next play from scrimmage Frederic Juneau delivered a 40 yard bomb to Raphaël Chapdelaine for a touchdown, Chapdelaine’s only catch of the game. The next play from scrimmage, Joassaint was intercepted by Felix Cossette, setting up another Black Label touchdown this time by Samuel Sicard. The rest of the game would remain scoreless, sending Blavk Label to the quarter final. Frederic Juneau was fantastic at Qb for Black Label. He completed 66% of his throws for 157 yards, 4 touchdowns and just 1 interception. 

Magnetos 14 – 24 Tsizzle

This game threw me off big time. Obviously the first week that I decide to put Magnetos as my #1 overall seed they show up late and undermanned to a playoff game. Luckily for them, the game before them ended late so rather than starting 18-0 it was only 6. A 6 point lead is not much and Magnetos could have easily gotten back into the game, if they had the proper number of players. Starting the game in a hole while also being a man short is a pretty impossible comeback to pull off. Each time Tsizzle ran a play they were almost guaranteed to have a man open downfield, and on defense they simply needed to double cover any receiver for Magnetos. The First half ended 12-0 for Tsizzle, and they never looked back. Joe Morgese was a stud for Tsizzle, he caught all 7 of his targets for 87 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also led his team with 4 tackles. Carmelo Di Giovanni was also stellar in the win. The Tsizzle Qb completed over 70% of his throws for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns, also adding 3 tackles and a PD on defense. 

Scranton Stranglers 32 – 38 Win Diesel 

This matchup had some stellar Qb play. Both Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo and William Sebag threw over 200 yards and each of them threw 5+ touchdowns. The undoing for the Scranton Stranglers was the 2 interceptions. The first one being at the end of the first half while they were driving, and the other at the beginning of the second half, also when they had solid field position. The Stranglers could not stop Win Diesel and with both teams converting 100% of the time in the RedZone, it feels like without the picks this game could’ve gone to overtime. Unfortunately I was not there to see it so this is based purely on speculation and the play-by-play of the game. So if I am wrong I apologize. Before this game I did not have Win Diesel pegged as a team who’d go far in the playoffs, but their offensive numbers in this game were so good they may have swayed me.

The Praetorian Guard 34 – 12 Brewers 

The Praetorian Guard were by 1 seed before last week, and they have absolutely returned to the top spot after handedly beating the Brewers. They were in control most of the game, giving up a touchdown on Brewers opening drive but shutting them down for the rest of the first half. In the second half Brewers did not score until their final drive of the game, a 19 yard connection between Jeffery Lefebvre and Steve Lawrusik. Mederic Lauzon was fantastic in every facet of the game for the Praetorian Guard. On offense he completed 16/21 throws for 152 yards and 4 touchdowns, while on defense he recorded a pick-six, a PD, and 3 tackles. Jared Buck was also solid for TPG, he caught 5 passes for 71 yards and a score, he also had an interception. 

Quarterfinals 

7pm: The Praetorian Guard vs Tsizzle 

8pm: Minicha FT vs Black Label 

9pm: Les Petites Carottes vs Win Diesel 

10pm: VIck in a Box vs The Penetrators 

I am going to refrain from making any predictions, although I will say that I am quite excited to see Les Petites Carottes take on Win Diesel and also Vick in a Box vs the Penetrators. We are finally in the thick of playoff football, so enjoy it all while it lasts folks.