Division C: 20 Questions

Welcome to Week 5 of the FlagPlus Football Spring Season.

In last week’s article, I said that I would be revealing my annual Mid-Season Report. I decided to do it next week, because it makes more sense to put it out after everyone has played five games each, and would then have the same number of contests remaining. My apologies.

To change things up a bit, I will be giving you the top 20 Division C questions.

 

Who would win in a fight, Moe Khan, or a wet paper bag?

I put my money on the bag ALL DAY!!!!

 

Just kidding, here we go…

 

Will anyone go undefeated?

Right now, the candidates are Game Changers, Easy-Jake-Oven, Simon Says, and the Mercenaries.

Looking at all four Remaining schedules, Easy-Jake-Oven have the easiest, while the Mercenaries have the hardest. All four squads play at least one of the teams in the group as well, so unless we see a couple of ties, somebody will be getting an L.

 

Will anyone go winless?

We have three teams in this group, with Sweat & Beers, The Huffmen, and Gym Class Heroes.

Two teams are rolling with inexperienced Quarterbacks, while another team is struggling just to find enough healthy bodies to play a game up so far this year.

Looking at the schedules, Gym Class Heroes, definitely have the toughest hill to climb. They do however, take on Sweat & Beers in Week 8. Will both teams still be winless heading into that matchup? Let’s wait and see.

 

Will any Quarterback throw for more than 2,100 yards?

Last year, the answer was no, as Gino Di Fazio (Strangers), came the closest with 1884 yards.

Fast forward to this season, and the current passing leader, is Simon Duchesne of Jagerbomb, with 899 yards.

In second place, is Chris Olson of Pineapple Express with 835 yards, followed by Jake Applebaum of Easy-Jake-Oven, with 789 yards.

The top three Quarterbacks would not only need to keep up their current pace, but they would also need to each pass for more than 330 yards over their final two contests to surpass the mark. The number is doable, but certainly not a given.

 

Will the Backyard Bullies turn to Jordan Allard at Quarterback?

Rich Humes, has routinely been one of the top passers no matter what division he puts the Bullies in.

So far this season however, the veteran QB, has struggled to say the least, with only 11 touchdown passes, a career-low yards per pass with 7.2, and an offense that has scored only 73 points, which is the third worst in all of Div. C.

The dual-threat QB has also been sacked 11 times so far, and he is on pace to break his career-worst mark of 20, that he set in the 2017 Spring Season.

In Humes’ defense, he is making his way back from a right knee injury, that kept him out of action the entire Winter Season.

The question of course, is how much longer can the team wait for their QB and Captain to find his game, especially when they have a solid option already on the roster in Jordan Allard?

 

Although the veteran has never thrown higher than Division D1 (he currently throws there for the Super Saiyans), Allard, has thrown 194 touchdowns, to 51 interceptions.

More importantly, the Bullies core have been together seemingly forever, and Allard, currently plays with Derrick Fontana, and Jonathan McQueen on both teams, so chemistry shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Finally, Allard, like Humes, can make plays with his arm and his legs, so the playbook shouldn’t change much, if at all.

 

What’s wrong with the Junkyard Dogs?

Always a team that is usually guaranteed to at the very least advance past the second round of the playoffs, (they made the Semi-Finals last year), the Junkyard Dogs, have looked like anything but a contender so far, with a (1-3) record.

On the surface, it looks like offense is the team’s biggest problem, as they are ranked sixth worst in Div. C, with 88 points scored.

The team’s problems appear bigger than that when you dig a little deeper, as they are extremely top heavy, and their defense has folded like a chair against teams with competent offenses, like Keyport Lock, and KGP (79) points combined.

To get back to where they are used to being, JYD, will need to answer some questions on both sides on the ball.

 

Which team will finish with the most points scored?

As of this morning, the candidates are:

Mercenaries – 157 points

Easy-Jake-Oven – 154 points

Simon Says – 144 points

Clearly, all three teams have solid Quarterbacks, and tons of firepower.

The Mercenaries and Simon Says, do battle in a must-watch Week 9 affair. Where will all three teams be at that point?

Perhaps another team like The Commission, P.O.P, or Jagerbomb put their name into the conversation.

 

Who has been the biggest addition to a veteran team this year?

So far the candidates are:

AJ Gomes – Simon Says

Marc-André Lapointe – The Commission

Kevin Marcil – Backyard Bullies

Marvin Steinberg – Junkyard Dogs

Kendal Mayers – Mercenaries

Kevin Donnet – The Commission

AJ Gomes, simply makes Quarterbacks better. The 1-time champion, also has the same effect on defenses that he plays on.

 

Who has been the biggest loss on a veteran team this year?

So far the candidates are:

Alex Moreau – Backyard Bullies

Jonathan Williams – Junkyard Dogs

AJ Gomes – The Commission

Junior Luke – A-Squad

Cédric Nuckle – Jagerbomb

Nicolas Schaefer – All Hooks

While AJ Gomes, was a big loss for The Commission, the additions of Marc-André Lapointe, and Nicolas Gendron-Vallée definitely have made up for it.

I am going with Cédric Nuckle here. Last summer, Jagerbomb made the Finals, with the 5-time All-Star, finishing second in receptions and touchdowns with 27 and 9 respectively, and first on the team with nine interceptions.

While Jagerbomb are currently on a 2-game winning streak, those victories came against a .500 All Hooks squad, and a winless The Huffmen crew.

 

Who will win the Division C sack title?

Right now, Brian Eudoxie of Game Changers, leads the way with 9.

Sitting right behind him, are Julian McLaren-Thompson of Pineapple Express with 8, Gabe D’Amico-Mazza of KGP, who has 7, and the Dream Breakers Vincent Laganiere, with 6.

After that, there are a slew of players who are tied with 5, in Kevin Marcil (Backyard Bullies), Francois Dessureault (Dream Breakers), Nicholas Groppini (Simon Says), and Jonathan Chevalier (Stoics).

Let’s see how this plays out.

 

Who will win Two-Way Player of the Year?

Marc-André Lapointe (The Commission)

Justin Blanchard (Simon Says)

Phil Cutler (KGP)

Pierre-Alexandre Taché (Dream Breakers)

AJ Gomes (Simon Says)

Jonathan Lyristis (Keyport Lock)

Jordan Allard (Backyard Bullies)

Gabe D’Amico-Mazza (KGP)

Matt Kirouac (P.O.P)

Jonathan Chevalier (Stoics)

Right now, I have to go with Pierre-Alexandre Taché, as the fourth year player has been rock solid at both Wide Receiver and Defensive Back, and is the main reason the (3-1) Dream Breakers, have been as successful as they are so far.

 

Can the A-Squad score enough points to be considered a true contender?

If the playoffs started today, the A-Squad, would be the lowest scoring team, with a meager 68 points scored.

While the team’s defense has been impressive with only 75 points allowed, the team will have to score more, if they want make a deep playoff run.

The question of course, is can they?

Dual-threat QB Yacoub Telemaque, is usually dangerous with both his arm and his feet. This year however, he has only thrown 10 TD passes, 473 yards, and is averaging a lowly 6.7 yards per pass.

As a whole, the offense has yet to score 20 points this season.

In Telemaque’s defense, the team only has one real game-changer at receiver, in Riley Pincombe.

Adil Ijaz, has made big plays for the team, and leads them in touchdowns with 5, but the veteran WR, hasn’t shown that he can consistently take over games, in his 9 FPF seasons, like the way former A-Squad teammate and Wide Receiver Junior Luke did.

As the saying goes, defense does indeed championships, but unless a team can score on multiple pick 6’s, (A-Squad) has one, they will need their offense to score more than 16 points a game.

 

Which team has been the most surprising so far?

If I had to choose, I would say the Dream Breakers.

Currently sitting at (3-1), the Dream Breakers, are coming off of a two touchdown win (37-25) over a solid and veteran Keyport Lock squad, Wednesday night at Bois-de-Boulogne.

The team’s two other wins, have come against teams they should beat, in The Huffmen, and KGP.

Their only loss so far, came against GloGang back in Week 3 (31-22), when they were missing their starting Quarterback Sebastien Dallaire.

What makes the Dream Breakers start so impressive, is the fact that they are beating teams veteran teams, and multiple time All-Stars, with a squad who was playing Div. D2 this time last year, went one and done in the playoffs, and doesn’t have a single player rated higher than 69. That is impressive.

 

Who will win Quarterback of the Year?

Gino Di Fazio (Mercenaries), Simon Duchesne (Jagerbomb), and Anton Sakiz (Game Changers) lead all QBs with 20 TD passes.

Nipping at their heels, are Jake Applebaum (Easy-Jake-Oven), and Simon Dagenais (Simon Says) who both have 18.

Three other passers are tied with 16 apiece.

The race is tight, and it will definitely go down to the wire.

 

Which team has been the most disappointing?

Unfortunately, there are more than a few teams that fall into this category. If I had to choose one, it would be the Backyard Bullies. Before the season started, I picked this team to make the Finals.

 

I talked earlier about their offensive struggles, but the team’s defense, despite being a little overworked, deserves some of the blame as well. 

 

Over the last two weeks, the Bullies defense has given up 25 and 19 second half points respectively, to Easy-Jake-Oven, and the Game Changers.

 

While having their offense pick up the slack consistently would be nice, the Bullies, have ton of championship experience, and have been in do or die situations before. Someone needs to step up and make a play.

Of course, there’s still time for them to turn things around, but the clock is ticking.

 

Who is a dark horse team from Conference A?

Glogang. They currently sit at (1-3). They are a young team, made up of guys who have mostly played together in lower divisions.

They are taking their lumps now, and are in the process of learning how to win in a higher division.

They already have speed, athleticism, and one of biggest up and coming Quarterbacks in all of FPF, in Arno Desjardins.

Their remaining schedule only sees them one team with a winning record. Once Glogang learns how to consistently close out games, watch out.

 

Who is a dark horse team from Conference B?

Mercenaries. At first glance, it looks kind of stupid putting a (4-0) team as a dark horse, but hear me out.

Heading into the season, I predicted that the Mercenaries, would finish with a (4-6) record. While that still is a possibility, I would most like have a better chance winning this week’s Loto Max. I was wrong.

Quarterback Gino Di Fazio, has been terrific, as he is tied for the Div. C lead in TDs with 20, and his offense has scored more points than anybody else, with 157.

 

More importantly, Di Fazio, has been smart with the ball, as he has only thrown 3 INTs.
On the other side of the ball, the Mercenaries have a Division C high six different players who have recorded an interception, including a combined seven by Isiah Allard, and Justin Weir.

Obviously, there is a lot of season left, but the Mercenaries, are definitely on the rise.

 

Who will win Receiver of the Year.

Justin Blanchard (Simon Says)

Marvin Steinberg (Junkyard Dogs)

Adam Rockman (Easy-Jake-Oven)

Joel Malkin (Pineapple Express)

Pierre-Alexandre Taché (Dream Breakers)

Gabriel Moreau-Paquette (Jagerbomb)

Matt Kirouac (P.O.P)

Isiah Allard (Mercenaries)

Kevin Donnet (The Commission)

Alexandre Gravel (GloGang)

Rory Semerjian (Junkyard Dogs)

Kevin Smuda (Easy-Jake-Oven)

Jordan Panetta (Game Changers)

There is a ton of football left, but I think the award is Matt Kirouac’s to lose.

 

Which team will finish with the number one defense?

As of this writing, Simon Says, leads all teams with 65 points allowed. You have to imagine that number would be even better, had ball-hawk extraordinaire AJ Gomes, not missed the team’s Week 1 game against Pineapple Express.

Not far behind them are the Game Changers, and Keyport Lock, who have given up 75 and 79 respectively.

In total, there are nine teams who have yet to give up 100 points. In all honesty, I think the difference at the end of the season, will come down to less than 10 points.

 

Will my Boston Bruins force a Game 7?

Yes, if the Perfection Line of Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastranak show up tonight during 5 on 5 play. Step it up!!!!

 

Will the Raptors win the NBA title?

Hell yeah! Durant, or no Durant.

As I have been saying throughout the Finals, when the Raptors play tight defense (they have been the top defensive team in the playoffs), and get secondary scoring, they are pretty much unbeatable. Look at Game 4. They had a mostly ugly first half. In the second stanza, they started hitting shots, and played great defense. Throw in an amazing third quarter from Kawhi Leonard , and Toronto sits one win away from winning it all.

Obviously, the Warriors are the Warriors, and nothing is certain, but you have to love the odds of the Raptors making history, and becoming the first Canadian team to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

I am not really a fan of the city of Toronto. I think they have always tried too hard to be New York. Housing is ridiculously expensive (just like NY), everything is so spread out, and alcohol is overpriced for no reason.

Also, I HATE the Leafs, although their mostly delusional fans make me laugh.

The Blue Jays have become a joke, after Rogers decided to go cheap, and hire Mark Shapiro, and his yes man Ross Atkins, and let go of Alex Anthopoulos in 2015, despite the fact that former General Manager, had just ended a twenty-two year playoff drought, and had the team not just in the post-season, but in World Series contention. Pan to Rob Campana sighing.

As a Knicks fan, I’ve grown accustomed to my team being on vacation come playoff time, so I always cheer for the Raptors.

Hopefully the Raps can it all tomorrow night in Toronto. It would be great for the country, and God knows the Leafs won’t be winning the Stanley Cup anytime soon lol.

We The North!!!!

 

Picks

Stoics vs Pineapple Express – Pineapple Express

Gym Class Heroes vs Mercenaries – Mercenaries

The Commission vs P.O.P – N/A (My choice for Game of the Week, and apparently yours too. Thank you)

Dream Breakers vs Backyard Bullies – Dream Breakers

The Huffmen vs Keyport Lock – The Huffmen (Upset Special #1)

Simon Says vs Jagerbomb – Jagerbomb (Upset Special #2)

Junkyard Dogs vs Game Changers – Junkyard Dogs (Upset Special #3)

All Hooks vs Sweat & Beers – All Hooks

A-Squad vs GloGang – GloGang

Easy-Jake-Oven vs KGP – Easy-Jake-Oven

 

Last Week: (9-1)

 

Season: (27-10)

That’s it for this week.

As I said at the top, I promise next week, I will release my Mid-Season Review.

Good luck to everybody in their games tonight, and in the upcoming days.

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!

AND…Let’s GO RAPTORS and BRUINS!!!!