Division 3: Quarter-Finals Preview

Welcome to the Quarter-Final Round of the FlagPlus Football Winter Season playoffs.

The post-season kicked off with a bang last Sunday. We were treated to upsets, blowouts, tons of offense, and a lot of good defense as well.

All of the action, has set up what should be a fantastic four Quarter-Final games tomorrow night.

 

Conference A

(1) Les Studs versus (5) The BrotherHood

Previous Meeting: Les Studs (32-26) Week 6

The first game between both teams, might as well have been called the Emmanuel Kerfella Show, as the rookie two-way player, had 4 receptions for 104 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. Talk about a breakout performance.

This contest was also a tale of two halves, as Les Studs, jumped out to a (20-7) first half lead, on the strength of touchdown catches by Felix Laflamme, and the aforementioned Kerfella.

The BrotherHood, turned the tables in the second stanza, as they staged a furious comeback, scoring 19 points, and putting Les Studs on the ropes.

As you can tell by the final score, Les Studs, were able to survive the flurry, and escape with a six point win.
More importantly, both squads answered a serious question that hung over their heads for the last few weeks.

For Les Studs, it was whether this team, who made the jump from Division 4B, without winning the championship (they lost in the Quarter-Finals last winter), could not only make the jump to Div. 3, but would be able to sustain the numbers that they put up in the lower division, where they scored points 422, and averaged 35 points a game.

Not only did the team do that, but Samuel Caron and his offense, surpassed their totals with 469 and 43 PPG through 11 games so far.

Thirty eight of those points came last Sunday against the Junkyard Dogs, as Caron threw 6 touchdown passes, three of which went to third-year Receiver Raphael Dagenais.

The Les Studs defense was just as impressive. They smothered the Junkyard Dogs offense. Three different defenders forced 4 interceptions of QB Jason Rossie. The trio of William Nkaye, Mathieu Blier, and Dagenais twice, and that side of the ball in general, was helped by the performance of Rusher Félix Laflamme, who registered 3 sacks.

After having to shuffle the deck multiple times this season partly due to injuries, the main question The BrotherHood had to answer, was how would they do once the playoffs started, with so much roster turnover.

The BrotherHood, answered the question, and then some, as they dominated Lightweight (32-12).
Quarterback Theo Ojeaha, who had missed several games this season, had a solid outing, as he completed a season-high 15 of 24 passes, for 189 yards, and 4 touchdowns.

Rubbing a little salt in the wound, was the fact that former Lightweight two-way player Jamal Gittens, went off on his old squad, as he recorded a game-high 5 catches for 100 yards, 3 touchdowns, to go along with 3 interceptions.

Fast forward to the rematch, both teams come into tomorrow’s game firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball.

For Les Studs to win, Samuel Caron, will have to keep The BrotherHood defense guessing, by spreading around the ball to all of his receivers, and try to take advantage of mismatches when they happen.

Defensively, Les Studs, they must find a way to take away the deep ball, force Ojeaha, to have to settle for the short game, and be aggressive on those passes.

For The BrotherHood to win, they will need to first and foremost protect the ball.

Despite only throwing in six games for his squad, Ojeaha, has thrown 12 interceptions. The math would suggest the All-Star throws two INTs a game, his stats are actually worse than that, as with the exception of last week’s playoff game where he tossed one pick against Lightweight, Ojeaha, has thrown 3 INTs in four games this year.

On defense, whether it is Khalil Kerr, or somebody else at Rusher, they must disrupt the flow of the Les Studs offense, and force Caron to get rid of the ball quickly.

The BrotherHood, and Les Studs, looked great in the opening round of the playoffs. Both teams however, will have much tougher tests in each other this week.

Despite having the best offense in all of Division 3, with weapons like Laflamme, Dagenais, Blier, and Kerfella, The BrotherHood has just as many in Kerr, Gittens, Ahmed Majid, and Quaysie Gordon-Maule. More importantly, the latter have more playoff experience than their opponents, and that’s why I am going with them.

Prediction: The BrotherHood (32-30).

 

 

(2) KGP versus (3) Les Maloudes

Previous Meeting: N/A

Two veteran teams, with championship experience.

In Phil Cutler, and Anthony Beauchamp-Frezza, both teams have solid Quarterbacks, who can make all the throws, and have demonstrated all season, that they can hurt opposing defenses with their arms and feet.
Both squads also have a plethora of playmakers on offense and defense, that can change the outcome of a game at a moment’s notice.

If you had to check off a list, it would be safe to say that Les Maloudes, are the better team defensively, while KGP, can claim the opposite on the other side of the ball.

 

Need more proof? Look no further than Les Maloudes (25-20) Divisional Round victory over the Cougars.
For the second time in four weeks, they held the speedy team to three touchdowns.

The key to doing that, was forcing an interception off of QB Erminio Iadeluca, by Defensive Back Marc-André Paradis, but also by limiting the production of Wide Receiver AJ Gomes.

After the All-Star Wide Receiver had 4catches for 53 yards, and a touchdown in their Week 9 meeting, the Les Maloudes defense limited to 3 catches for 33 yards last Sunday.

KGP, had an impressive playoff debut too, as they used a dominant second half, to beat Martine et le flag (39-27).

KGP Quarterback Phil Cutler, threw 6 touchdown passes, and shredded the Martine et le flag defense, that came into the post-season ranked third overall. Cutler, even helped out on the other side of the ball, as he picked off opposing QB Samuel Bédard.

KGP Wide Receivers Matt Kirouac, and Jeremy Anderson, came through as well for their team, as both had two touchdowns apiece. Jonathan Garfinkle, also had a big game as well, with 6 receptions for 38 yards and a TD.

In order for Les Maloudes to get the win, they will need use their Division 3 best defense, to come up with another spectacular performance. They are the faster and more athletic team in this matchup, and they will have to use those traits to disrupt the KGP offense.

In order to get the win, KGP, will need to find a way to take the Les Maloudes defense out of their comfort zone.

Phil Cutler, will also have to find a way to extend plays with his legs, and avoid the rush of Rusher Sebastien Thibault, who had 14 sacks in the regular season, and another 2 last week.

On the other side of the ball, since they are taking on a defense that has allowed more than 20 points, just three times this year, KGP, will need their defense to create some turnovers to get their offense extra possessions.

Despite having a lot of proven playoff performers, in Anderson , Kirouac, and Jeff Rosenblatt, I just don’t think that they will be able to keep up with arguably the most balanced team in Div. 3.

Prediction: Les Maloudes (27-20).

 

 

Conference B

 

 

(1) The Alpha-T’s versus (7) South Harmon Institute of Technology

Previous Meeting: The Alpha-T’s (36-33) Week 7

The previous meeting, was an instant classic, that we t back and forth, while coming down to the wire, with The Alpha-T’s getting a three point victory.

 

This game was also a tale of two halves, as the South Harmon Institute of Technology, led (21-12) at the half.

The Alpha-T’s, stormed back in the second half, as they scored 3 touchdowns, converted all of three of their 2 point conversions, and were able to generate a stop on defense, via an interception off of S.H.I.T Quarterback Jake Applebaum, by Defensive Back Julien Bellavance.

All that, led to TAT’s outscoring their opponents (24-12) in the second half, and the aforementioned three point win.

To get to the rematch, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, hung on to knock off Blue Chips, (33-27) last Sunday.

The dynamic duo of Adam Rockman, and Jordan led the way on both sides of the ball, as the former had a game-high 3 touchdowns, and an interception, while the latter added 4 catches for 51 yards, a TD, and an INT of his own.

This game was a lot closer than many, including yours truly, thought it would be, as the Blue Chips, were without their starting Quarterback, in former All-Star Jordan Mitchell, who missed the game due to suspension. In his place, the team used his brother Marcus Mitchell.

In his first full game as a starter, the Snapper turned QB, had a more than respectable outing, as he threw 4 TDs, and 2 INTs. Props to him.

The Alpha-T’s, got to this point, by beating Sweat & Beers (43-25).

TAT’s QB Jesse Dupuis, went only 9 of 14 passing, but 5 of those completions went for touchdowns, including two to Alexis Gaumont, who would finish the game with only the pair of grabs. Talk about efficiency by both players.

Despite the performance by the TAT’s offense, and the final score, this game was actually closer than it appears, as Sweat & Beers, shot themselves in the foot on several occasions, as multiple dropped passes by the team’s receivers, and an interception by QB Rob Robinson, by Defensive Back Emile Beaudoin, were too much for the underdogs to handle.

For the rematch tomorrow night, the questions will be, can the South Harmon Institute of Technology, get enough stops to prevent The Alpha-T’s offense, from doing their thing, and more importantly, can they play mistake free football on both sides of the ball for an entire game?

For The Alpha-T’s, will they learn from the mistake they made last time, and show up in the first half of the game?

I think contest will be another tight one, but I can’t ignore the fact that the South Harmon Institute of Technology, struggled to beat a backup Quarterback, and to be honest, would most likely be done, had Jordan Mitchell been able to play.

Also, why they did benefit from Mitchell’s absence, it might have hindered them as they didn’t get a great warmup in playing another dangerous duo-threat QB. Yeah, they already played Dupuis once, but as the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

Prediction: The Alpha-T’s (32-26).

 

 

(5) BearSkins versus (6) Scored your GF

Previous Meeting: BearSkins (37-6) Week 4

Plain and simple, the first match was a blowout. The BearSkins, cruised to an (18-0) halftime lead, and that was pretty much it.

BearSkins Quarterback Neil Etinson, was solid on the evening, as he went 19 for 25, for 214 yards, and 5 touchdowns, to four different receivers, in Vinny Gualano, Sasha Papich (twice), Marco Bertoldi, and Ryan Etinson.

On the other side of the ball, Kevin Libman, added to the onslaught, as he recorded pick six off of Scored your GF QB Arno Desjardins.

Speaking of Desjardins, the third year QB, had his worse outing of the year, as he threw 1 TD, 3 INTs, and only completed 9 passes.

To get to this point, the BearSkins relied on their stifling defense, last Sunday, in their (25-13) win over The Crew.

While QB Neil Etinson, had another good outing, BearSkins Wide Receiver Sasha Papich, was the offensive star of the show, as he had 4 catches for a game-high 83 yards and 3 touchdowns.

After fighting their way to a playoff spot, after winning two games the final week of the season, Scored your GF, showed why they had the second best offense in Division 3, as they scored a D3 high 59 points, in their (59-52) shootout win over the Dirty Dawgs.

The aforementioned Arno Desjardins, had the best game of any D3 Quarterback, as he threw for 308 yards, and 8 touchdowns, to 5 different receivers.

Two of those receivers were Bruno Provencher, and Antoine Epstein, who combined for 5 of those touchdowns. Epstein, would add another TD via a pick six on defense.

For the Dirty Dawgs, their QB, in Ryan Lelinowski was phenomenal as well, as he tossed 8 TDs of his own, put that one aforementioned INT proved to be huge.

Unfortunately, for the Dirty Dawgs, the loss also wasted a performance by Dave Chitayat, as the 4-time All-Star, had a game-high 5 TDs.

To win the rematch tomorrow night, Scored your GF, will need to hope they have a bit more firepower left in the tank, after last week.

On the other side of the ball, they will need players like Charles-Antoine Lessard-Tremblay, along with Provencher, and Dagenais, to use their speed advantage to get in the passing lanes and disrupt the BearSkins’ attack.

For the Bearskins, they will need to continue their stellar play on both sides of the ball. To do so, they need to have slow methodical drives, that keep Arno Desjardins, and his offense on the sideline for extended periods.

On defense, they will need to take away the deep ball, which is a favourite of Desjardins, and force the QB to settle for the short passing game.

While I am pretty confident Scored your GF, will score more than the 6 points they posted last time out, I don’t think they will put up enough to knock off the BearSkins.

Prediction: BearSkins (28-20).

 

 

Picks

Les Studs vs The BrotherHood – The BrotherHood (Upset Special #1 and My pick for Game of the Week)

KGP vs Les Maloudes – Les Maloudes (Upset Special #2)

The Alpha-T’s vs South Harmon Institute of Technology – The Alpha-T’s

BearSkins vs Scored your GF – BearSkins

Playoffs: (6-2)

 

 

That’s it for this week, I’ll be back next time out, with a Quarter-Final review, and a Semi-Final preview.
Good luck to everybody tomorrow night.

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter@BADNEWSB51

Cheers!