Div E Week 5 Recap

Happy Monday to everyone! This article is particularly late because this past weekend was my brother’s birthday and we celebrated by getting supremely hammered. If you played Sunday night in Lachine and I looked absolutely terrible, now you know why. 

My observation of the week is the word ‘trips’. I meant to speak about this in last week’s article but my ADHD brain forgot to write it down at the field and it totally slipped my mind. — I find it absolutely hilarious that no mater which division im watching, if three receivers line up on one side of the ball every single defender on the field screams trips at least like four times. I understand that they see ‘trips’ and they want everyone on their team to be aware of the ‘trips’ but honestly they never change anything. I see trips, I hear people yelling trips, but I’ve never actually seen any defensive adjustment to adapt to the trips. I would say that I could be missing something, but I’ve played in this league before and admittedly I have been the guy yelling trips… It never changed anything… On another note, I’m beginning to question how many Div E players actually read these articles. I feel like I provide some decent pointers, (free of charge I might add) but nobody seems to take my advice so I’m just going to keep chugging along. 

Sundays are finally back on the FPF calendar after a few weeks off, so this article is going to incorporate the usual thursday games but also a couple sunday ones which are fresh on my mind. 

Games of the Week 

Penetrators 25 – 28 Vick in a Box 

I was excited for this matchup because in my opinion these are two of the stronger teams in Div E. I’ve seen the majority of the Penetrators’ games, but this was just the second time I’ve had the pleasure of watching Vick in a Box. This game was pretty intense. VIAB started with the ball and ran an eight play drive which resulted in a 3 yard touchdown pass from Nick Richard to Craig Browning for Browning’s lone touchdown of the game. The Pens opening drive had a much different tone. On his third attempt of the game Justin Goodman was picked off by Max Burah and gave VIAB a chance to widen the gap early. The Pens defense kept them in the game, they forced an incompletion on fourth to turn the ball over on downs with solid field position. It proved to be a crucial stop, just three plays later Goodman found Josh Jacobson for a 16 yard score to tie up the game. The tie was short lived. On the ensuing drive VIAB drove the field in 7 plays and Max Burah scored his first touchdown of the game on a 12 yard pass from Nick Richard. This is when they took control. The Pens got the ball back but their drive was cut short by Craig Browning who picked off one of Goodman’s throws. It was a doubly whammy though, Jared Boidman got frustrated and deflagged Browning, then maliciously threw the flag as hard as he could to the sideline (rookie move). He was called for Objectionable conduct and was forced to miss the next 10 plays. Although the Pens did outscore VIAB in the second half it never felt like they were really in the game. It was not their best showing, but it should be noted they were without receiver Nicholas Fon, who is ~pretty good~. 

Players of the game: 

Nick Richard: 140 Yds, 4 TD, 58% completion, 43 rush Yds. 

Max Burah: 59 Yds, 3 TD, INT. 

Craig Browning: 32 Yds, TD, INT.

Rocco Christiano: 67 Yds, 2 TD, PD. (Stole a man’s ankles) 

Additionally, from my perspective it seems like the Penetrators could use more QB runs from Justin Goodman. He is pretty damn quick and could probably benefit the team a lot more if half of his check-downs were scrambles instead. But who am I.

Also, Wessam Tayeh’s dad has permission to sit in my chair whenever he pleases. 

Magnetos 21 – 14 Sule Fesss 

The one word I have to describe this matchup… Circus. Both teams were missing a bunch of players so I’d guess there were at least six subs playing in total. Magnetos were without their usual quarterback for the first half and it was obvious. Matthew Leutner tried to fill Adam Malinoff’s shoes until he arrived but it did not go too well. He was 0/4 on passes and the Magnetos went 3 and out three times, punting three times. I’ve never seen a team play so conservatively in Flag Plus. The Bucket-hat man David Daoust led two early touchdown drives to get his team a 14-0 lead, one of the scores was set up by one of the nicest spin-moves i’ve seen in amateur sports. Just as the Magnetos spirits seemed to be fading Adam Malinoff showed up and the team regained their confidence. They had the ball to start the second half and quickly began chipping away the gap. They ran five plays, ending in a 17 yard touchdown pass to Adam Lieblein. On the very next play from scrimmage Lewis Epstein intercepted Daoust and suddenly the Magnetos were back. Malinoff and Leutner connected for a two yard touchdown and the comeback was complete. The drama was not even close to over though. Again the first play of Sulé Fesss’ drive was tipped and intercepted, giving Magnetos a short field and again they capitalized with a two yard score from Lewis Epstein. Just as I began to think they would ride off happily into the sunset, Adam Malinoff hurt his knee running for the pylon and stayed down for a very long time. Both teams were convinced he’d torn his ACL, and the game was delayed for a while after that. Matthew Leutner told me that his MRI came back negative, so best of luck to him and the Magnetos in the future. 

Each team was scoreless in one half of the game, not something you see everyday. 

Players of the game: 

Lewis Epstein: 47 Yds, TD, INT. 

Adam Malinoff: 64 Yds, 3 TD, INT, 52 Yds Rush, XP2. 

Julien Wilson: 33 Yds, 2 TD, TKL. 

The Pillow Talkers 28 – 26 Scranton Stranglers 

This was the second Pillow Talkers’ game that I watched in the past week, and although this matchup was technically in week 6, I think this game is a lot more interesting than their 46-0 wiping of TB Elite. There was a ton of athleticism on both sides of this game and it was extremely entertaining to watch. 

The Stranglers had the ball first and they ran a ridiculously long, 12-play drive resulting in a 1 yard touchdown from Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo (Iggy) to Alexandre Blais. The Pillow Talkers first drive was much, much shorter. Pranav Sharma started with an incompletion, followed by an interception to Lucas Quennenville which handed the Stranglers a short-field. Three plays later Iggy and Brandon Bagley connected for a 21 yard score, making it a two-possession game. Pillow Talkers responded with a short drive, not a great one though. Sharma was intercepted again, this time by Samuel Aerts. It proved to be inconsequential though, a couple plays later Iggy threw a Redzone pick to Mohammad Shaheer Bilal. This seemed to spark the Talkers. Their next possession was once again short, only this time it ended positively. Sharma connected with Bilal for a 21 yard touchdown to remove the 0 from the scoreboard. The Stranglers responded instantly with a 37 yard touchdown from Lucas Quennenville, giving them a 19-8 lead going into the half. 

The Talkers began the second with a 40 yard touchdown from Michael Benson, reducing the deficit to 5. The Stranglers got the ball back and ran their standard 8 plays ending with a 1 yard TD from Alexandre Blais. The tides began to turn here, and the Talkers’ explosiveness began to rear its head. They ran another one-play drive. A 40 yard bomb to Michael Benson again, a ball which I was certain would touch the roof. They proceeded to stop the Stranglers on four consecutive plays, turning the ball over on downs and taking possession at the opposing 10-yard line. They scored two plays later, with a 10 yard pass from Sharma to Shamar Joassaint who absolutely Mossed his defender to tie the game. He then did it again for the 2-point conversion. When I say Mossed, I mean it with zero exaggeration. It was nuts. The Stranglers had one last chance to get back in the game, but Joassaint picked-off Iggy to Ice the game for the Pillow Talkers and cement the comeback. 

Players of the game: 

Michael Benson: 101 Yds, 2 TD, 34 Yds/ Rec. 

Shamar Joassaint: 24 Yds, TD, INT, PD. 

Lucas Quennenville: 64 Yds, TD, INT, 2 PD.

Samuel Aerts: 60 Yds, INt, 2 TKL, XP. 

Alexandre Blais: 23 Yds, 2 TD, PD, XP. 

Power Rankings: Week 5 

1. The Praetorian Guard: 6-0

Honestly I don’t have much to say about these guys because I still haven’t seen them play. However, that doesn’t mean I can just leave them out of my power-rankings because they are one of three teams in Div E who are yet to lose a game. They have the 3rd best +/- in the Div and I will finally get to watch them this coming week in Laval, so that’ll be cool. 

2. Vick in a Box: 5-0 

These guys are very good. The Penetrators were in my top 3 last week and Vick in a Box beat them handedly. They’ve got a stud on offense in Max Burah, and Nicholas Sanche is probably the best tackler I’ve seen in this division. They are +91 point differential, and are overall very athletic despite not being one of the younger squads. 

3. Magnetos: 5-0 

I debated whether or not this team should be in the top 3, but given that they are also yet to lose I thought it would be kinda rude of me to leave them out. On one hand they had an impressive comeback win over Sulé Fesss while they were missing most of their regular players, but on the other hand, their success seems to hinge on their quarterback play. However, this is football, and Qb is undoubtedly the most important position. Just take a look at the Dallas Cowboys whenever Dak Prescott gets injured. They will remain in my top 3 until they lose… I think it’s pretty fair. 

Honorable mentions: 

Both Minchia FT and Les Petites Carottes are very strong teams but I have not seen enough of them to warrant being ahead of an undefeated team. They are 1st and 2nd in the division in +/- respectively, and both teams’ losses have came at the hands of solid teams. As we approach the final weeks of the summer season, I am certain that my top 3 will change drastically and I am very excited for that.