Division 3: We Play Defense Too!

Welcome to Week 4 of the FlagPlus Football season.

In regards to Division 3, as legendary sports broadcaster, and WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross would say, business is picking up.

Last week, I talked about Quarterbacks, and even a couple of offenses that impressed me so far. It looks like some defenses must have got offended, as more than a few teams dealt out some serious performances in Week 3.

A grand total of 14 teams managed to score more than four touchdowns in Week 3. If that number doesn’t sound too bad, keep in mind, that besides the point that there are 26 teams in Div. 3, the games last just a bit less than 50 minutes, and each team normally has the ball between 4-5 times a half, in a league that is so geared towards offense, limiting teams to scoring on just half their possessions, is pretty impressive.

There were seven blowouts in Week 3, and six teams who reached the end zone two times or less.

One of those blowout performances, was delivered by Top Sauce, as they smashed the Cougars (39-16) that included pitching a second half shutout last Sunday in Lachine.

Led by Kenton Lowe, G.M. Kolethras, and Chris Milard, the Top Sauce defense limited the Cougars passing attack, as they took away the deep ball, and forced their offense to have to rely on short passes the majority of the game.

The win, and defensive effort was all the more impressive, considering them gave up a jaw-dropping 43 points to Les Studs the week before.

While it usually takes a team effort to win in football, occasionally, an individual effort, can really make the difference.

This past week was no different, as there were more than a few defensive performances that stood out in Week 3 as well. First and foremost, was Sebastien Thibault of Les Maloudes, who posted 3 sacks in his team’s (37-6) win over LGM.

The former All-Star also contributed on the other side of the ball, as he added a game-high 6 receptions for 79 yards, to go along with a touchdown.

Also helping out the team’s dominant effort on defense, was Marc-André Paradis, who came up with two interceptions.

A week after losing a tight contest to the Alpha-T’s, in which TAT’s was aided by a sketchy at best pass interference call late in the second half, The Commission, finally got their first win of the season last Sunday, with a (19-18) win over Sweat & Beers.

The team was aided in the win, by the performance of Domenico Benevento, who picked up two interceptions, especially a key one in the second half that stopped a long Sweat & Beers drive just outside of the red zone.

With the exception of an early deep ball they gave up for a TD to Rocco Christiano, in the first 10 minutes of the contest the team settled down and took care of business, and helped lift an offense that struggle for parts of the game.

 

After coming off of a (39-31) defeat at the hands of the Jaguars in Week 2, that saw him record 2 sacks, The Crew Rusher Mikael Paiement, had back-to-back solid games, as the rookie registered two more QB takedowns, to go along with an interception that he ran back to the house, as he single-handedly helped his team beat the Big Ballers (30-8).

Another defensive performance that stood out, was that of the Junkyard Dogs’ Jordan Edwards.

 

The fourth year vet, who made his return to FPF, after not having played since the 2015 Spring Season, made an impact, as he recorded two interceptions, and a pass deflection.

He was also impressive on the other side of the ball, as he hauled in two catches for 65 yards, and a pair of touchdowns.

His Junkyard Dogs teammate Rory Semerjian, also had a good Week 3, as he registered an interception, and caught two touchdown passes of his own.

In my pre-season predictions, I picked The BrotherHood and The Alpha-T’s, to go head-to-head in the Finals.

Thanks to Chief, our FPF schedule maker, we only had to wait until Week 3 to see the matchup.

As expected, the game went down to the wire, with The Alpha-T’s, picking up the one point victory (26-25).

TAT’s Anthony Lapointe made the biggest impact for his team, as he intercepted The BrotherHood Quarterback Theo Ojeaha, twice, and added 5 receptions for 48 yards as a receiver.

His teammate Mike Pierrecin, only caught a touchdown on offense, to go along with an interception off of Ojeaha as well.

As a whole, after being dominated by the BrotherHood defense, and kept to a season-low 6 first half points, TAT’s answered back with three second half scores.

Ojeaha, did his part on defense by getting a pick pf his own, but it wasn’t enough, as the aforementioned three INTs he threw, came back to haunt him and his squad.

With the bye before the Super Bowl, there will be no NFL picks this week. In case you’re wondering, no, I am not writing about the Pro Bowl. I love football, but the game is a waste of time.

Let me get the obvious out of the way. The Saints got screwed with the no pass interference call, on Los Angeles Rams Corner Back Nickell Robey-Coleman, plain and simple.

What also did New Orleans in, but is naturally getting less attention, was the Saints play-calling during their final drive of regulation, as well as the fact that they gave up a 13-point first half lead.

Saints Head Coach Sean Payton, decision to call a pass play on first down with 1:58 remaining, instead of running the ball, and forcing the Rams to use one of their final two timeouts, just wasn’t smart coaching.

After stud Running Back Alvin Kamara was stopped for no gain on second down, Brees threw the pass to Wide Receiver Tommy Lee Lewis, that will go down in New Orleans infamy.

After failing to pick up a first down on the drive, they had to settle for a Will Lutz field goal.

In the AFC, the Chiefs were just the latest team to prove that it is next to impossible to beat both the Patriots, and the refs at the same time.

Kansas City, isn’t innocent in this however, as their defensive play-calling was atrocious down the stretch, and it cost Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton, his job. How do you only rush three against Tom Brady, especially when we’ve seen time and time again, that the way to beat him and the Pats, is to get pressure up the middle?

A lot of people are saying that the Rams don’t deserve to be playing in the Super Bowl. I don’t agree with that. Yes, they received the huge benefit of the aforementioned pass interference, or even unnecessary roughness non call, but Los Angeles, did march down the field near the end of regulation, hit a 48-yard Field Goal to get the contest to overtime, then force a Drew Brees turnover in the extra quarter, and then proceeded to score to win the game.

 

 

Matchups

 

 

Mikael Paiement (The Crew) versus Simon Dagenais (Lightweight)

 

As I mentioned above, Paiement, was a one man wrecking crew (sorry for the pun) against Big Ballets, as he recorded 2 sacks, and a pick-6.

This week, he and The Crew, will be taking on a much better team, in the (2-1) Lightweight, led by former All-Star Quarterback Simon Dagenais, tomorrow night in Lachine.

Everybody here at FPF that is familiar with Simon, knows that he is a threat to run on absolutely nobody, so as you can expect, he is at his best when he gets the ball out quickly.

Obviously with their aggressive defense, The Crew, will just to get in the faces of Lightweight receivers Justin Blanchard, Cory Kennedy, and Hendrick Ambroise, who combined 15 grabs, 137 yards, and 3 TDs, in the upset win over Les Studs.

Unfortunately for Lightweight, they will be without the services of Wide Receiver Kevin Lubin, as he was simply a last minute fill-in versus Les Studs. The former 3-time All-Star, made the one-off performance memorable, as he had a team-high three touchdowns.

Will Dagenais, be able throw freely, and shred The Crew defense like he did to Les Studs, or will the rush of Paiement, get him off his game?

 

 

 

Sahar Cohen (Dirty Dawgs) versus Sweat & Beers defense

 

Cohen, tied for the lead with Div. 3 receivers this past week, as he had 4 touchdowns, (Alex Jubenville of Trinity did the same) to go along with 5 catches and 59 yards in the Dirty Dawgs (41-33) win over the Jaguars.

This week, the seventh year vet goes up against a Sweat & Beers defense that is coming off of a solid performance against The Commission, in which they only gave up 19 points.

Like more than a few teams, Sweat & Beers, like to employ a mix of man and zone. When they elect to go man, will it be Rob Robinson, Rocco Christiano, or Justin Cerantola covering the Dirty Dawgs receiver?

 

 

Vince Nardone (Top Sauce) versus Anthony Beauchamp-Frezza (Les Maloudes)

 

Two of the top Quarterbacks in Division 3 will do battle tomorrow night in Lachine, when Top Sauce takes on Les Maloudes.

Both Quarterbacks have multiple championship, and All-Star nods. They can also run, make all the throws, and have a plethora of weapons to pass the ball to.

With 16 touchdown passes, Beauchamp-Frezza, is tied for second in TD passes, behind only Samuel Caron of Les Studs. Nardone, only has 7, but he missed his team’s Week 2 game versus Les Studs.

Both teams are in the East Division in Conference A, so a win could serve as the potential tie-breaker, should each squad finish with the identical records at the end of the regular season.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow night.

 

After having a chance to see a couple of games the first few weeks, as promised, here is my initial Elite 8 power rankings.

 

Please take note, that while wins and losses play a major role in determining the list, strength of schedule factors in as well.

 

 

Elite 8

 

 

1. The Alpha-T’s

2. Blue Chips

3. Lightweight

4. Les Studs

5. BearSkins

6. Trinity

7. Cougars

8. South Harmon Institute of Technology

 

Picks

 

Freshmen vs Trinity – Trinity

Jaguars vs The Alpha-T’s- Jaguars (Upset Special)

Big Ballers vs The Commission – N/A

Sweat & Beers vs Dirty Dawgs – Dirty Dawgs

Les Maloudes vs Top Sauce – Top Sauce (My pick for Game Of The Week)

Blue Chips vs Olympia Performance – Blue Chips

The Crew vs Lightweight – Lightweight

Cougars vs Les Studs – Les Studs

BearSkins vs Scored your GF – BearSkins

The Magicians vs South Harmon Institute of Technology – South Harmon Institute of Technology

KGP vs Martine et le flag – Martine et le flag

LGM vs The BrotherHood – The BrotherHood

 

Last Week: (9-3)

Season: (25-10)

 

That’s it for this week. With Week 5, the official mid-point of the season just around the corner, I will be switching things up for next week’s article, with my Mid-Season review.

 

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