Categories: Division 5ADivision 5BWinter

Division 5: The Last of Us and the FPF Regular Season

Alright, we’ve made it to the end of March and the winter is slowly showing us its shadow. That means the highest of FPF’s seasons is coming to a close (at least the regular season). What’s fascinating from 5A is that no team is officially eliminated. That’s insane! With just the Saturday slate of games remaining, all 4 teams that are in the red are still alive. But first, let’s take a look at the teams who have officially clinched:

Division 5A Clinched Playoff Teams ✅

As of 3pm Saturday April 1st

  • Big Fat Bats
  • No Friend Zone
  • Ballers
  • The Process
  • Ice Up
  • Rico Ryders
  • West Island Boys
  • Red “Not” Skins
  • Save The Turftles
  • Menace II Sobriety
  • Practice Squad (5)
  • Backwoods Football Club
  • Clinkers
  • Buffalo Wild Wings

Division 5A Officially Eliminated Teams ❌

It really is crazy that no one is eliminated yet. There are 2 playoff spots up for grabs that 6 teams are fighting for. Let the fun begin!

Division 5A – Week 12 Recaps 🗞️

  • Red “Not” Skins are reeling! After their Week 12 loss to Ice Up, they’ve dropped 3 games in a row after having 0 losses on their record going into Week 11.
  • As one team goes down, another rises, as Ice up stopped their 3-game losing streak and when their final 2 games of the season with James Hamilton under centre. After throwing 1 TD and 4 interceptions in relief of Max Marini, Hamilton came out BALLING, throwing for 443 yards, 12 TDs and just 1 INT in 2 games back-to-back, including one of the games where he ended with a 131.7 QB rating! Damn, good stuff! Do we have a Quarterback controversy in our midst? 👀
  • While one team found their backup QB, Menace II Sobriety were down out of luck finding a QB3, as they gave life to Le Speakeasy, taking the loss to Vincent Richard and the boys. The win can hopefully spark life into Le Speakeasy heading into their do-or-die matchup against Him University.
  • Despite being unable to contain Christophe Marchand of Le Speakeasy, Liam Gilmore lead the team with 2 runs for 40 yards, 4 passing TDs and a pick 6 to clinch their spot in the playoffs.
  • The Tokyo Sandblasters got the big win on Sunday night, but not off the backs of their offense. They got help in a big way from their division 5 counterparts in Nicholas Fon and Matthew Caponi as they both had pick 6’s, scoring as many TDs as the offense. While Justin Goodman didn’t get a pick 6 himself, he did contribute with a 3rd interception for the Tokyo defense, which overall had 5 INTs on the night.
  • Oh boy oh boy, did Rico Ryders put some doubt on the Big Fat Bats? The Zeppetelli boys and the crew hasn’t played in close to 3 weeks, with their last game played on March 8th. I told the guys that at least the loss and rust didn’t come in the first game of the playoffs. Now that they got that out of the way, can they rebound and find their groove again?
  • Leading 14-0 at halftime, Les Petites Carottes were able to stop the Tip Top Shape surge of 20 (even though the score says 18), but the 20 points Tip Top Shape were able to score in the 2nd half for a 26-20 victory (again, 28-18 I believe is the wrong score since after the Pick 6 by Ricard Martelly, the 2 points were given to LPC as if they went for the convert).
  • Oh man, after finally breaking their 4-game losing streak, Sébastien Noël was not feeling it at all against The Process. He threw a season-high 6 INTs to finish the season with a division-high 24 INTs. 🥲😬Not the category you want to be leading QB stats in. It makes me wonder how far this Turftles team can go in the playoffs. They’ve gathered lots of experience now, including Finals experience, but are losers of 5 of their last 6 games. Not the way you wanna go into the playoffs.

Week 13 Previews / Game Picks 🔮

  • First off, I am editing this on Saturday because damn! There are about 3-4 teams are reaching out the FB group for some last minute subs. Glory Boyz, Les Petites Carrotes, Tip Top Shape are just some of the teams looking for some help.
  • Alright, this is how I see the games going:
  • Saturday night in 5A begins with a pick em’ game. Two teams that have significantly underperformed relative to their Spring 2022 successes. LPC face Glory Boyz. Both teams have athleticism to make plays, but I think the depth of that goes to Glory Boyz. QB play has been spotty from both sides, but at least Glory Boyz have their man and it’s do or die with their guy while LPC I feel still believe they don’t know who’s going to start each game. Advantage GB. Defensively, Glory Boyz were known for being aggressive in the flats and lost that identity, perhaps getting beat deep more often this season. Either way, both defenses can equally create turnovers, like they allow points. No advantage. Looking at receivers, the Big 3 for GB of Antonio Venturino, Lucas Crivello and double-tap snapper Massimo Moniz will need be on top of their game and that depth can create problems for LPC. For the little carrots, their go-to guys of Gabriel Jobin and Xavier Brault can equally create matchup problems for the Glory Boyz, even though guys like Peter Cote, James Masciotra and Lucas Crivello have the height to contest BrauIt on jumpballs. I prefer the extra guy to lean on in Glory Boyz’ case, so give me a 26-25 victory for the Boys.
  • I then see WIB beating Tip Top Shape pretty handedly, sorry my guy! (David De Andrade)
  • Red ”Not” Skins vs. Clinkers is VERYYYYY interesting now. I know Moe and Peeze both went Red “Not” Skins, but Mat Kieljan has been on a cold streak, throwing 17 interceptions in his last 5 games, when he had thrown just 2 in his first 3. Those kind of numbers have lead them to a 3-game losing streak and Kris Verreault is much safer with the ball and has been throwing at roughly a 5:1 TD-to-INT ratio on all the teams he’s thrown for this year. He’s also catapulted Luis Begin to a WR1 form. Gimme Clinkers in this one, as they have scored 38 or more points in 3 straight games.
  • Him University will narrowly defeat Le Speakeasy to end Speakeasy’s run at coming back. A 19-18 defeat for Speaks.
  • Menace II Sobriety vs. Buffalo Wild Wings is another interesting one. Ryan Dobbs Garnett is confident his team can come away with the victory, and after having seen the latest performance from Vincent Guillette, I’d have to agree. I’ve seen the good and the bad from Guillette, so when he gets hot it looks good, but against an above average defense in MIIS, I give the edge to Menace, 31-19.
  • And then finally, Glory Boyz on the final set of games in FPF’s Winter season, play against Backwoods Football Club. I say, they get the victory, pull up to 6 points, and do the UNTHINKABLE and clinch a playoff spot after being down and out all season.
  • Good luck to everyone tonight! May your playoff dreams come to fruition.

Week 12 – Team of the Week 💪

Let’s see who stood out during Week 11 in FPF, as the games get closer, tighter and more important.

QBs of the Week (2)

QB1 – Mathew Yanakoulias (Rico Ryders): 17/28 (60.7% completion), 227 Passing Yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs, 1 Rushing Attempt, 7 Rushing Yards

QB2 – James Hamilton (Ice Up – Game 1): 16/235 (64% completion), 220 Passing Yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receivers of the Week (5)

WR1 – AJ Zeppetelli (Big Fat Bats): 8 receptions, 15 targets, 100 yards, 2 TDs

WR2 – Ariel Librati (The Process): 7 receptions, 7 targets, 90 yards, 2 TDs

WR3 – Aidan McMullan (Ice Up – Game 2): 6 receptions, 7 targets, 73 yards, 2 TDs, 1x XP1

WR4 – Daryus Lattimore (Ice Up – Game 2): 4 receptions, 5 targets, 47 yards, 3 TDs

WR5 – Christophe Marchand (Le Speakeasy – Game 2): 6 receptions, 6 targets, 84 yards, 1 TD

Defensive Players of the Week (5) + 1 Rusher

DB1 – Ariel Librati (The Process): 3 INTs, 1 Def TD

DB2 – Nicholas Fon (The Tokyo Sandblasters): 5 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 Def TD

DB3 – Vincent Cheung (Save The Turftles): 5 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 Def TD

DB4 – Matthew Caponi (The Tokyo Sandblasters): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB5 – Liam Gilmore (Backwoods Football Club): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

Honourable Mention: Ricard Martelly (Tip Top Shape) 2 tackles 1 INT, 1 Def TD

Rusher – Dylan Scattolon (Rico Ryders): 3 sacks

Division 5B

First of all, Vincent Bolullo did it! With his 2 sacks against Justin Goodman of the purple Penetrators, he reached 24 sacks on the season, which is tied for 5th most in a regular season. And he did it in 9 games! Damn, congrats! His name is now etched in the record books.

Alright, as we’ve been doing the past weeks, let’s take a look at the playoff picture to kick things off.

Division 5B Clinched Playoff Teams ✅

  • Killer Rays
  • The Penetrators
  • Warriors
  • Green Monster
  • Primal
  • Vick in a Box
  • Les Bleue Dry
  • Red Dragons
  • Primetime
  • Bulldogs
  • Team Sexy
  • Pocket Rockets
  • What Could Have Beens
  • No Punt Intended

Division 5B Officially Eliminated Teams ❌

  • Stormers
  • Ball So Hard U
  • Cover 3

That leaves 2 playoff spots still open which 4 teams are battling for: Brewers, blues, HimU and Wolf. In fact, now that I review the standings, it appears that Wolf are eliminated, since they can only, at best, get into a 3 way tie with Blues and HimU with 6 points. So here it is. They are NOT officially eliminated, but would need to score at least 73 points and win 73-0 over the Blues, to have an equal number of points against, since they are tied with a 1-3 divisional record. Seeing as Wolf have scored a season high 34 points, it’s highly, highly unlikely they score 73, but at least they know they need to take their timeouts to make sure they make the most of every play and pour on the points. Also, that’s automatically a no-huddle offense, just saying. The clock is just as much an enemy as the Blues are to Wolf. I would even ask the refs to let you know when the clock is started since every second is crucial.

Division 5B – A Look Back on Week 12 🔍

  • The Team Sexy vs HimU was a chippy affair, which started off pretty terribly for a HimU team that was fighting for their playoff lives. I spoke about this game a bit in last week’s article, outlining more about what HimU needed to go their way to make the playoffs, but I truly forgot how quickly they let this game slip away from them. On HimU’s 2nd play of the game, pick 6 by Andrew Steinberg. 3rd offensive play for HimU? Picked off by Miky Baril which was punched in for 6 two plays later. 3rd drive for HimU? 4-and-out. Another turnover that Team Sexy capitalized on and before you knew it, it was 20-2.
  • Pocket Rockets secured their playoff spot with the 33-18 win over BSHU.
  • What the bleep is this score?
  • Before opening the game, I took a guess that the 2 points from Green Monster were not from a successful convert…. ✅…. Defenses had a day, totaling 4 picks, 5 sacks, 1 safety… not a game for the offenses 🤦
  • Ummmm… is this a good stat line from Daniel Spina ? 7/22, 103 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs. Let’s see what the QB rating says…. 87.7. So he had a better game when he went 12/19, 173 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs (92.7 QBR)… interesting..
  • Even without Fred Juneau there, Bulldogs more than doubling-up on Les Bleue Dry is an eye-raiser. Jordan Schwartz had his best outing of the season, completing 76% of his passes and ending the night with a 134.2 QBR. Now that’s the way you want to go into the playoffs!
  • The Penetrators vs. Red Dragons was A GAME; a potential Semi-Finals or perhaps Finals preview. Red Dragons hopefully learned a lesson in this one. They had a chance to ice the game, after entering the redzone on offense and coming away with 0 points after Jared Boidman’s INT. Red Dragons probably felt like all the calls were going against them at the end, and while they were in astonished disagreement with the calls (in the “I can’t believe it” sense) they didn’t threaten or curse the refs. That said, there was a DPI call that was thrown by the deep ref. What I liked about it was that the refs took the time to talk it out and ruled there was Pass Interference in the endzone which brought the ball to the 1 with 2 plays remaining. After Nehma-Lacasse PD’d a ball intended for Josh Ginsberg, Justin Goodman would hit Mat Caponi for the game-winning TD. Lesson learned for Red Dragons, that when you have the chance to put an equally veteran team as themselves, away, you can’t slip up and give them a chance back in it. The Penetrators showed that Tier 4 finals resiliency once again, getting the stop and the score to complete the comeback over Red Dragons.
  • Tied 21-21 at the half, Wolf couldn’t keep up with the scoring of the Warriors, en route to a 46-28 loss at the hands of Mitch Fergenbaum and Adam Lieblein.
  • Tylar Bianchi did well to avoid the “Madden Glitch”, Max Burah, as Bianchi threw 0 interceptions and 4 Touchdowns, 3 of which went Curtis Ryan‘s way. On the other side, I mentioned this would be a good test for Jeff Tayeh and against a more experienced team, I’d grade his 2 TD, 3 INT performance in the range of C+/B-

A Look into Week 13 / Game Picks 🔮

With the ups and downs that Blues have had offensively, I have a tough time predicting which Blues will come out; the one who put up 6 points against Green Monster (which I totally understand how good that defense is, so I don’t blame them for putting up 6 – but they have put up 12 or less points 5 times already) or the Blues that put up 28 and 26 in back-to-back weeks. I feel a bit more confident in the Wolf offense, led by Jules Fortin, who has taken over the QB position since February. With the Blues inconsistency, I have to go Wolf here.

Prediction: Wolf 26 – 18 Blues

Brewers, oh Brewers. Please be ready to finish 48 cans. I think they lose this one to Warriors… and we will have to see what the rest of the games have in store for them. Warriors and their offense will once again be too much for their opponents.

Prediction: Brewers 12 – 46 Warriors

Team Sexy vs. Green Monster is actually a nice little matchup for both squads entering the playoffs. I liked what I saw from Team Sexy. Still raw from an FPF stand-point to play in the middle divisions, but they get the basics, and have athleticism to keep them in most games and are a fun bunch. This will be their toughest test for their offense, going up against an incredibly strong defense.

Prediction: Team Sexy 18 – Green Monster 12

Can Cover 3 get their first win of the season? No.

Prediction: Cover 3 6 – 39 Primal

Week 12 – Team of the Week 💪

QBs of the Week (2)

QB1 – Mitch Fergenbaum (Warriors): 13/20 (65% completion), 211 Passing Yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT, 4 Rushing Attempts, 41 Rushing Yards

QB2 – Jordan Schwartz (Bulldogs): 19/25 (76% completion), 175 Passing Yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs

Receivers of the Week (5)

WR1 – Adam Lieblein (Warriors): 6 receptions, 8 targets, 94 yards, 3 TDs

WR2 – Matthew Caponi (The Penetrators): 4 receptions, 4 targets, 77 yards, 3 TDs

WR3 – Joe Morgese (Ball So Hard U – Game 1): 8 receptions, 12 targets, 73 yards, 3 TDs

WR4 – Curtis Ryan (Killer Rays): 5 receptions, 7 targets, 66 yards, 3 TDs

WR5 – Timoté Nehma-Lacasse (Red Dragons): 8 receptions, 10 targets, 60 yards, 3 TDs

Defensive Players of the Week (5) + 1 Rusher

DB1 – Mano Manolopoulos (Warriors): 3 tackles, 1 sack, 3 INTs

DB2 – Peter Berts (Team Sexy): 8 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB3 – Andrew Steinberg (Team Sexy): 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB4 – Victor Davis (Pocket Rockets): 3 tackles, 2 INTs

DB5 – Tylar Bianchi (Killer Rays): 2 INTs,

Rusher – Kevin Paul-Emile (Green Monster): 4 sacks

Epilogue 👋

Alright Div 5, that does it to recap Week 12. If you want more content, there’s always more! Here’s our podcast, Calling The Audible from this past Friday with Moe Khan, Peeze and Eagle at Master Control: