Division 2 Quarterfinals Preview

Welcome to the Division 2 Quartefinals.

After a bye week, we are down to the elite eight of the division. Let’s get straight to business.

(4) Braves 2.0 versus (5) Moretti Crime Family

Previous Meeting: Braves 2.0 (56-48) Week 11

In the first meeting, the Braves pulled out the win with a four play 14-point swing to end the game that started with a an eight-yard touchdown pass from William Trottier to Sébastien Crisi-Lauzon, then a pick-six from Quarterback Joey Taylor to FPF Hall-of-Famer and Braves 2.0 Defensive Back Mike Pierrecin.

Lost in all that, is the fact that the Braves 2.0 put up nearly 60 point and pulled out the win without their regular starting QB in Jonathan Maheu. Credit goes to Trottier, who was phenomenal, going 22 of 27 for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.

To get the win tonight, the Braves 2.0 defense will have to confuse and pressure Taylor into turnovers. For as good as he has been over the course of his career and even this season with 56 touchdown passes, he has a penchant for throwing wayward passes. His has 13 interceptions this year, which is good for more than one per game, and he has thrown two INTs in five contests.

On offense, the Braves 2.0, despite putting up nearly 60 points in the first meeting will need to be better in the redzone. They were a combined 1 for 8 on conversions, including a shocking 0 for 6 on 2-point convos which is the team’s bread and butter.

For the Moretti Crime Family to get the win, they will need to protect the football on offense, not just with the turnovers, but with untimely drops as well. On defense, they must find a way to stop the bleeding. In their last three games, they have given up 57, 56, and 49 points. Even with a backup QB the Braves are still an offensive juggernaut, but the other two teams MCF faced were a pair of three-win teams in Got Skills and KGP. That’s not exactly the Chiefs and Eagles.

These are two good teams who have the talent to win it all, but on some nights don’t appear as dominant as they should be. That was not the case in their previous meeting as the Braves 2.0 put up 56 points without Maheu. He will be in the lineup tonight.  

Prediction: Braves 2.0 (48-32)

(1) Vengeance versus (9) Party Crashers Blue

Previous Meeting: Vengeance (44-38) Week 2

In the first meeting, Vengeance who was down by four at halftime needed a second half comeback that saw them outscore their opponents (24-14) to pull off the victory.

A lot of things have changed since mid January. Spring is officially here, the Chiefs won a nother Super Bowl, the Habs missed the playoffs again. Ok, so maybe not everything has changed, but one thing that has is the presence of Rory and Sean Semerjian in Vengeance’s lineup. As you must heard by now both brothers are suspended for the playoffs. The team has gone (1-1) in their absence. Tonight, represents their first real test.

To get the win, Vengeance will need to spread the ball around as the GOAT Kevin Wyeth will need to get all of his Receivers involved in the offense. The team won’t need to put a want ad in The Gazette to look for other options, as they have James Drysdale, Matt Kirouac, Antonio Lanni, and Quaid Johnson among others to throw the ball to. The team will miss the length of the Semerjian brothers, but they should still be fine.

On the other side of the ball is where they will miss them the most, and the duo provide sticky coverage and have a penchant for batting down passes over the middle if the field. The team will have to rely that much more of Drysdale, the Lanni brothers, and Michael Khazaka.

For the Party Crashers to get the win, they will need to protect the ball. Their Quarterback Frédéric Dupuis threw two interceptions in their previous (one was on the final play of the game) and is coming off a first round playoff win over Touch Foot 450, where he threw three INTs. Dupuis must avoid giving extra possession to Vengeance and take advantage of the team that doesn’t have as much depth.

The Party Crashers Blue will also need to tighten up their redzone defense, as five of the seven touchdowns they allowed to Vengeance were scored in that area.     

I don’t see Dupuis cutting down on the turnovers, and I can’t envision Vengeance going home after their first playoff game.

Prediction: Vengeance (38-24)

(2) Run It Once versus (7) Terror Squad

Previous Meeting: Run It Once (40-21) Week 2

In the previous showdown, Run It Once Quarterback Jeff Rosenblatt flirted with perfection as he had only five incompletions and six touchdown passes. The always dangerous Anthony Brisebois led the team with two TD catches. After being down (15-14) at the half, Run It Once roared back to outscore the opponents (26-6) the rest of the way.

The first meeting was a blowout, there’s no way to ignore that. What also can’t be overlooked, is the fact that Terror Squad were missing more than a few key players from their lineup that evening, as Charles Verreault, FPF Hall-of-Famer Patrick Jérome, and Fritzgerald Cenatus (who had not joined the team yet) didn’t play.

Add those three to the lineup, and maybe Terror Squad still loses, but they are not getting blown out by 19 points.

To complete the two-game sweep, Run It Once who come into the game winners of two straight including closing out the regular season by giving Vengenace their first real loss of the season, must continue their hot play offensively, as the team has averaged 36 points a game over the last month. To do that, Rosenblatt will need to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers in Anthony Brisebois, James Ohayon, Jonathan Lyristis, Matt Bond, and Sanders Armand, and Adam Rockman, early and often. Moving them around throughout the formation and taking advantage of matchups will be helpful.

For Terror Squad to get he win, they will need to find consistency. Are they the team that lost to the Killa Bees but then smashed Got Skills, or are they the team who lost to Touch Foot 450, but turned around and defeated Blessed one week later? Captain Tam Vilaydeth has a talented team, and I expect the rematch to be much closer, but will Terror Squad will show up?

I think the Dr, Jekyll version of the Terror Squad will show up tonight.

Prediction: Terror Squad (38-36)

(3) Urgence Medic versus (6) Blessed

Previous Meeting: Blessed (38-18) Week 7

In the first meeting, Blessed took advantage of three interceptions thrown by Quarterback Jesse Dupuis, one of which was returned for a touchdown by the underrated Rory Kelly, and a near-perfect five TD performance from their signal caller Stephen Harripersaud, to roll to a 20-point win.

Tonight, in Lachine, Blessed, will be without the services of Rusher Isiah Allard, who had a dominant three sack performance in the game. That loss is huge, especially as they take on a QB in Dupuis who despite not doing it as much in the higher divisions, has been known to take over games with his legs.

I have played with Harripersaud, and against Dupuis numerous times. Both QBs are at their best when they make opposing defenses play the guessing game. They will throw the same pass repeatedly until the defense thinks they know what the passer is doing, and then they will exploit the weakness and open area on the field for big plays.  

Blessed comes into the game with only one win in their last four games, while Urgence Medic has one more win during that span.

Truth be told, this is my favorite matchup of the weekend. Two smart Quarterbacks, ballhawks on defense, and explosive playmakers on offense.

This is a tough one, but I am going with the upset special here.

Prediction: Blessed (35-32)

That’s it for this week. Good luck to everyone in their games tonight. I will have my Division 1 article out tomorrow by the early afternoon.

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt that I left something out, please feel free to reach me at [email protected]