Division 6 Mid-Season Report: Group C

We are finally here, the last Mid-Season Report. This is the third week I have done this, but somehow not every team has played five games. When you have been doing this as long as I have, it comes as no surprise, but it still makes no sense.

With that being said, Group C, you’re up:

Meat Fiddlers (5-1)

They are the top team in Group C, and some would argue the top team in in Division 6. They have a superior offense as only three other teams (Chomedey Chodes, Free Agent Squad, and Demons) have scored more than the 155 points the Meat Fiddlers have put up. The architect behind their offense is Quarterback Manny Bizogias, who sits second in touchdown passes and third in passing yards. The fourth-year player who only started playing QB last winter, has been impressive so far, and it appears that he will only get better with more reps.

The team’s offense revolves around more than just their QB, as Receivers Kevin Scalia, Dario Brown, Jack Tessari, and Leo Diakoumakos have combined for 18 touchdowns. When they are at their best the quartet forces opposing defenses to have to pick their poison. So far, the strategy has worked out well.

On the other side of the ball the team sits in the middle of the pack with 92 points allowed, but they have ballhawks in Bizogias and Scalia, as the dynamic duo have combined for eight interceptions and four touchdowns. If the Meat Fiddlers can tighten things up just a little bit on that side of the ball, they could go all the way.

Team MVP: Manny Bizogias – He is the team’s best player and has been their leader on both offensively and defensively.

Les Super Turbo Navets (4-1)

They currently sit in second place, but their record is a little deceiving, as they have blowouts wins over Nard Dogs and ALLBALL, along with a six-point victory over The Mortadel’s. Since then, Les Super Turbo Navets have suffered a one-sided loss to the Pigeons, but they avenged that defeat by beating the Meat Fiddlers by two-touchdowns. To me that qualifies as a statement win.

The question of course is who is can this team now build on that win? Luckily, Les Super Turbo Navets won’t have long to prove if they can do exactly that as upcoming games against Jurassic Park Rangers, No Fly Zone, and Mutation in the second half of the season will allow them to show us what they are made of.

You can make the argument that they beat the teams they are supposed to beat, but you also can’t ignore the fact that they got blown out and lost two games to a pair of the better teams in Division 6.

Team MVP: Filipe Barros and Vincent Bolullo – I tried to stick with one player the during this three-part series, but I can’t ignore the numbers here. With eight touchdowns, Barros leads his team in that area, and is second in Division 6 in yards and TDs.

With nine sacks, Bolullo, is tied for third in that category and is two behind Division 6 leader in Massimo Rosati, and Brandon Rowen, of the Royals and Towers FT respectively. The two-time All-Star’s six-sack performance in Week 2 versus ALLBALL, stands out as one of the best performances in the 20-year history of FPF. Can he build on it is the question he must answer.

Mutation (4-2)

Their record should be (5-1) but they have a Week 2 forfeit loss to No Fly Zone because they went over the Division 6 cap. The other defeat on their calendar is to the Meat Fiddlers in Week 4, but they were without both of their Quarterbacks in Cédrik Gingras-Dubé and Simon Girard.

On the positive side, all four of their victories have been blowouts, as they beat Les Flags Daddies, Nard Dogs, ALLBALL, and the McGill Swim Team by a combined score of (93-28).

After beating the McGill Swim Team (18-0) last night, they have won three out of their last four games. That momentum will be huge as they have a big showdown next Sunday versus Free Agent Squad, followed by contests against Pigeons, Jurassic Park Rangers, and Les Super Turbo Navets. Can Mutation separate themselves from this group of teams, and take a shot at the top of Group C? We will find out soon.

Team MVP: Dave Jean-Baptiste – This one was easy, as 10 sacks puts him behind only Massimo Rosati and Brandon Rowen, who led Div. 6 with 11 each.

Pigeons (3-1)

Their only blemish on the season is a seven-point loss to the Meat Fiddlers in Week 1. Since that defeat, they have enjoyed a three-game win streak, with victories over No Fly Zone, and blowout wins over Flag Daddies and Les Super Turbo Navets by a combined score of (81-6). That’s impressive.

Looking at their second half schedule, the Pigeons have marquee matchups in three out of their next four games as they will take on Jurassic Park Rangers, Mutation, and ALLBALL. They have a couple of soft spots as well with games against the McGill Swim Team and Nard Dogs. Going at least (4-1) over that stretch would go a long way to show that they can fly their way into the true contender conversation.

Team MVP: Anthony Del Peschio – The QB has 14 touchdown passes and only four interceptions, with a 93.9 QB Rating, as well as an average of 14 yards per pass. If that wasn’t enough, he is tied for the team lead in INTs with three as a defender, to go along with a pick-six.

Jurassic Park Rangers (3-1)

They have wins over the teams they should beat in Flag Dealers, McGill Swim Team, and Nard Dogs. Their only loss of the season came in Week 1 against ALLBALL (22-18) where three second half interceptions by Quarterback Cam Chaput and an offensive that only produced six points after halftime made the hill too high to climb for the Jurassic Park Rangers.

When you look closer at their record so far you will see some cracks in it. They beat a one-win Flag Dealers squad by two points, and they gave up 24 to a Nard Dogs offense that has only scored more than one touchdown one other time this season. That (3-1) record doesn’t look all that great now, although as the saying goes, you can only play who is on your schedule.

Business starts to pick up this Wednesday, as they have a big matchup with the Pigeons, followed by showdowns with Les Super Turbo Navets, Meat Fiddlers, and Mutation the next three weeks. Getting a victory over one or more of those opponents will prove that the Jurassic Park Rangers are better than their strength of competition.

Team MVP:   Rémy Paré – I have watched the former All-Star play the last few seasons, and I have seen him dominate at times as he uses his size and underrated speed to create separation from defenders. So far this season, he has been the dominant player for his team on both sides of the ball as he leads his squad in both touchdown receptions with five, and interceptions with four.

No Fly Zone (3-2)

Their record should have an asterisk beside it as they have a forfeit win over Mutation. Their other victories came against two teams I will be talking about shortly in Les Flags Daddies and the McGill Swim Team. Not exactly inspiring.

Their losses include a 20-pooint defeat to the Meat Fiddlers, and an eight-point loss to the Pigeons. I was the scorekeeper for the latter game. I came away thinking that No Fly Zone has talent and weapons, they just need to play smarter on offense.  What I mean by that is avoiding drops, and taking what the defense gives them instead of trying to force passes deep and over the middle.

No Fly Zone has a chance to build momentum and stack victories in the second half of the season as their schedule isn’t too daunting with games against the Nard Dogs and Winded Warriors. Those matchups should help them navigate tougher waters when they take on Les Super Turbo Navets, ALLBALL, and Jurassic Park Rangers as well. Let’s see how they do.

Team MVP: Adam Ouici – He holds the power to make this a successful season for his team, as he has a lot of the tools you are looking for in a flag football Quarterback. He has strong arm, is fairly accurate, and can even do some damage with his legs when he needs to. He just needs to work on his decision-making, and play-calling. Both of those should come as the fourth-year passer gets more reps.

ALLBALL (3-3)

They started off the season with wins over Jurassic Park Rangers and the McGill Swim Team. Since then, the wheels have started to come off as they have suffered three defeats in their last four games, falling to the Meat Fiddlers, Les Super Turbo Navets, and Mutation, with their only win coming against Les Flags Daddies. If you add all their victories up, they have one victory over a team that has more than one win.

ALLBALL has the look of a team that can only beat the weaker ones on their schedule. Luckily for them, they have a chance to prove that statement wrong as they have important games coming up versus No Fly Zone, Salt’s n a Pepper, and Pigeons, before closing out the regular season with a showdown against the Nard Dogs. If ALLBLL wants to be taken seriously, they will need to win at least two of those games.

The team will also need to tighten things up defensively, as there are only 10 other teams in all of Division 6 who have given up more than the 118 points they have surrendered.

Team MVP: Sajeth Manoranjan – He leads his team in targets, yards, and touchdowns with 33, 231, and seven respectively. On defense he ranks second in both interceptions and pass deflections with three apiece. I wanted to go with Quarterback Viren Patel who has 16 TD passes, but Manoranjan’s impact on both sides of the ball gives him the edge.

McGill Swim Team (1-4)

Outside of the 27 points they put up in their (27-6) Week 4 win over the Nard Dogs (their only victory of the season) they have failed to crack the 20-point plateau in any of their other four games this year. Through five contests they have scored a grand total of 64 points, which averages out to 16 PPG. Unless you have the Baltimore Ravens defense, you’re not going to be winning too many games with that type of offensive output.

To give the unit some buzz, they will need to create more than the three interceptions and 15 turnovers on downs they have forced so far. The team must also get more creative on offense, as they have only generated 10 trips to the redzone, and zero last night in their (18-0) loss to Mutation.

Team MVP:  Jackson Veinot – He leads the team in offensive touchdowns and sacks with three apiece. He is the team’s only consistent weapon on offense. When looking at his production on the other side of the ball, he has recorded a sack in two out of his last three games, and he along with teammate Keyon Cyrus, represent the best opportunity to give their offense more possessions with the ball.

Les Flags Daddies (1-4)

They laid a (24-6) beatdown on the Nard Dogs for their only win of the season in Week 5. The good times ended shortly thereafter as they lost (50-0) to the Pigeons. How does that happen?

Not all hope is lost however, as looking at their second half schedule, they have winnable games against the McGill Swim Team and QUEENS. Can Les Flag Daddies pull out a win? We shall see.

Team MVP: Vincent Demers – He is tied for first on his team in touchdowns with three, and he has been a jack of all trades on defense, as he leads Les Flag Daddies in tackles and sacks with 13 and four respectively.

Nard Dogs (0-5)

They are one of only two winless teams remaining in Division 6, as the Nard Dogs and Wined Warriors are the only two teams who have yet to taste victory. The biggest cause of their problems has been their offense, as they have only scored more than one touchdown once this year. Both Quarterbacks in Simon Leblanc and Renaud Hamet-Belisle, have combined to throw six touchdowns and 15 interceptions. That simply won’t get it done.

Looking at the glass half full, the team did put up a season-high in points when they lost (37-24) to Jurassic Park Rangers last Saturday. Let’s see if the Nard Dogs can build on that effort and develop some bite as they are set to take on No Fly Zone, Chomedey Chodes, Meat Fiddlers, ALLBALL, and Pigeons.

Team MVP:  Simon Imbach – He leads his team in receptions, targets, and yards and it’s not even close. He is also tied with teammate Émile Glorieux for the team lead in touchdowns with two.

Picks

The Mortadel’s vs SKOL – SKOL

DG Shootas vs Royals – DG Shootas (Upset Special #1)

Salt’s n a Pepper vs WYD Step Bro’s? – Salt’s n a Pepper

Cheat Squad vs Free Agent Squad – Free Agent Squad (My pick for Game of the Week)

Fire & Blood vs Flag Dealers – Fire & Blood

Les Super Turbo Navets vs No Fly Zone – Les Super Turbo Navets

Jurassic Park Rangers vs Pigeons – Jurassic Park Rangers (Upset Special #2)

Last Week: (3-2)

Season: (24-15)

Finally, the Mid-Season Report is done. Thanks to everyone for their patience. Thirty teams is a lot of squads to write about, so that’s why I decided to do it in a three-part format. I hope you enjoyed it. Good luck to everyone in their games tonight and this week.

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, please feel free to contact me at [email protected], or on the FPF Facebook page.