Division C: Mid-Season Review

Welcome to Week 6 of the FlagPlus Football Spring Season.

As promised last week, here is my Mid-Season Preview

Enjoy…

Conference A

 

Easy Jake Oven (5-0)

They have the best offense in Conference A, with 180 points scored.

Quarterback Jake Applebaum, has been terrific so far, as the veteran has thrown for 1,008 yards, 23 touchdowns, and only 1 interception, while averaging over twelve yards a pass (12.4). In short, he is the leading candidate for QB if the Year.

The team’s defense has been just as impressive. With the exception of their Week 4 (59-40) win over P.O.P, Easy-Jake-Oven, has held their other four opponents to three touchdowns or less.

Operating as South Harmon Institute of Technology in the Winter Season, the team finished one game short of making the Finals.

This year’s version of the team, pretty much picked up where it left off.

While they did lose two-way threat Jordan Allard, both Kevin Smuda, and Adam Rockman, have picked up the offensive slack, while on the other side of the ball, Yoni Loeub, has performed like the odds on favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, as he leads all players with 7 interceptions and 3 touchdowns, to go along with 11 tackles.

The team’s remaining schedule sees them play the Dream Breakers, Keyport Lock, A-Squad, Junkyard Dogs, and the Game Changers. While finishing the regular season undefeated will be no easy task, Easy-Jake-Oven, have the talent and experience to make it happen.

 

 

Game Changers (5-0)

Given their record, I am stating the obvious here, but this team is a really solid.

They have two of the front runners at both Quarterback and Wide Receiver of the Year in Anton Sakiz, and Jordan Panetta, and one of the best Rushers in the history of FlagPlus Football, in Brian Eudoxie.

This tem also has some key depth pieces in familiar faces like Alvy Mizelle, Louis-Philippe Paquette, Shawn Bant, and Gabriel Marcoux, who returns to FPF, after having not played since the 2013 Winter Season.

The Game Changers remaining schedule is anything but easy, as it sees them play Keyport Lock, Simon Says, GloGang, Dream Breakers, and a must-watch regular season showdown, and potential Conference A Final preview, against Easy-Jake-Oven in Week 10.

Let’s see how this all plays out.

 

 

Keyport Lock (4-1)

Led by Loïc Robidoux, Jad Aridi, Daniel Farag, and Jonathan Lyristis, the strength of Keyport Lock, lies on defense, as they along with Simon Says, have given up a Division C low 85 points.

What makes the point total so impressive, is the fact that it has come against some good offenses in GloGang, and KGP.

As usual, Quarterback Jeff Rosenblatt, has been reliable, and gives him team a chance to win just about every game. The veteran passer and has also done a great job of spreading around the ball to all of his receivers, most notably Raoul Baroudi, Jeremy Anderson, and the aforementioned Lyristis.

The team’s only defeat this season came in Week 5 against the Dream Breakers (35-27). Keeping that one in the loss column will be tough, as they have a tough second half schedule, that sees them play Game Changers, Easy-Jake-Oven, Backyard Bullies, A-Squad, and All Hooks.

Can they handle it?

 

 

Dream Breakers (3-2)

If you have read any of my recent articles, you will recognize the name Pierre-Alexandre Taché. The fourth year veteran, has been a one-man gang for his team.
On offense, Taché, already has two games (KGP and GloGang) where he has scored 3 touchdowns.

If we here at FPF, gave out a Defensive Player of the Week Award, Taché, would have won it in Week 4, as he recorded 3 interceptions including a pick 6, in his team’s (37-25) upset win over Keyport Lock.

At Quarterback, the team appears to have a solid one in Sebastien Dallaire. It will be on him to incorporate his other receivers in the offense, as outside Taché, who has 30 catches for 416 yards and 9 touchdowns the Dream Breakers next top two leading WRs are Youri Bélanger, and Francois Dessureault, who have 10-109-2 and 9-125-2 respectively.

Besides secondary production, I also wonder about how good this team is overall. While they do have a solid victory over Keyport Lock, their other two wins are over non playoff teams in KGP, and The Huffmen.

With remaining games against top teams in Game Changers, and Easy-Jake-Oven, and veteran squads like Junkyard Dogs, A-Squad, and Stoics, I guess we’ll find out exactly how good the Dream Breakers really are.

 

 

Backyard Bullies (2-3)

Without a doubt, the Backyard Bullies, have been one of the most disappointing teams in Division C.

While the team’s defense lead by Sean Avraam, and Jordan Allard, has kept them in most games, their offense has looked inept, hesitant, and out of whack, as they have scored more than 20 points only once this season.

As I said in last week’s article, Bullies Quarterback Rich Humes, has struggled, while making his way back from a devastating knee injury that kept him out of the 2019 Winter Season.

One sign of the old Humes however, was his performance in his team’s (32-20) win Monday night over the Dream Breakers, where he went 22 of 28 for 168 yards, and 5 touchdowns, in by far what was his best game of the year.

Hopefully the team and their QB, can use the game as a stepping stone, and start their climb back to the top from here.

 

 

 

GloGang (2-3)

This team is fast, athletic, and talented.

The only thing this team is lacking, is quality wins, as the only decent team they have beaten so far, is the Dream Breakers, while they have losses against better ones in Keyport Lock, The Commission, and Easy-Jake-Oven.

There is no questioning the talent on this team, which is highlighted by Arno Desjardins, Alexandre Gravel, Sifax Kaced, and Oliver Suri.

Although the defense needs to tighten up a bit, GloGang, has a fast-paced offense that can score from just about anywhere on the field.

If this team was to be seen as a true contender, the one key issue they will have to clean up, is their ability to close out games, after they lost a heartbreaker to The Commission, on the last play of the game, and came up just short against Keyport Lock.

Remaining games against the likes of the Backyard Bullies, Junkyard Dogs, Game Changers, KGP, and The Huffmen, will if GloGang, can close things out properly.

 

 

A-Squad (1-4)

 
Their only win through five contests, was an ugly (18-13) slugfest over the Backyard Bullies in Week 2.

As I mentioned last week, this team lacks firepower, after the loss of arguably their number one Wide Receiver in Junior Luke.

Adil Ijaz, has tried to pick up some of the slack as he leads the team in catches, yards and touchdowns, with 20, 116, and 5 respectively, but he can’t do it all himself, even with occasional contributions from Rick Cummins, and team Captain Richie Mondesir.

Part of the team’s problems on offense, center around Quarterback Yacoub Telemaque. Always a phenomenal athlete, Telemaque, has routinely struggled with accuracy and consistency on his deep ball. This season is no different, as he is averaging only 6.7 yards per pass.

On the other side of the ball, the lack of a consistent playmaker has hurt them as well, with Riley Pincombe, and the aforementioned duo of Cummins, and Telemaque, contributing anything that really stands out.

Unfortunately for A-Squad, at least through five games, is they have the appearance of a Division D team.

With their next three opponents being KGP and The Huffmen, the A-Squad, will need to complete the sweep if they want to have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, because their last three games will be much harder, as they face in Easy-Jake-Oven, Keyport Lock, and Dream Breakers. Good luck.

 

 

 

Junkyard Dogs (1-4)

While I talked earlier about the Backyard Bullies being a huge letdown so far, as it relates to where they are in the standings, the Junkyard Dogs, without a shadow of a doubt, are the most disappointing team in all of Division C.

This team made the Semi-Finals last Spring Season. So far through 5 games, the 2019 spring version, looks like it will be lucky if it finishes .500.

A lack of depth, a stagnant offense, and a defense that has given up at least 30 points in three out of their last four games, are just a few things working against the Junkyard Dogs.

On a positive note, their aforementioned struggling offense, has showed some signs of life, as they have scored 72 points over the last two weeks.

The Junkyard Dogs, finish the second half of the year with games against The Huffmen, GloGang, Dream Breakers, Easy-Jake-Oven, and Jagerbomb. To realistically have a legitimate shot at making the post-season, JYD, will need to win at least four of those contests.

Let’s see if Jason Rossie’s crew is up to the task.

 

 

KGP (1-4)

It’s a little hard to get a read on KGP, due to the fact that there are so many moving pieces on this team. If the post-season started today, only Quarterback Phil Cutler, and WR/DBs Gabe D’Amico-Mazza, and Derrick Eason, would be playoff eligible.

One of the other things hurting this squad besides not having a consistent roster, is their defense.

With 167 points given up, KGP, has surrendered the fourth most points in all of Division C. One reason for that, is a lack of takeaways, as the team has only recorded a Div. C low 3 interceptions, despite the fact they have been getting an extremely solid effort from Rusher Gabe D’Amico-Mazza, who sits tied for the league lead in sacks with 8.

Despite all the negatives, KGP, has shown that they are a tough out, as with exception of their (26-6) loss to Easy-Jake-Oven this past Wednesday, the team’s biggest loss came by 9 points.

Although they only have one win, a post-season spot isn’t impossible, as KGP, finishes with a light schedule, as they take on A-Squad, Gym Class Heroes, The Huffmen, GloGang, and the Backyard Bullies. Let’s see if Phil Cutler and his squad, can pull it off.

 

 

 

The Huffmen (0-5)

My kingdom for a Quarterback, is a saying Head Coaches, General Managers, players, and fans, have been saying for years.

On the surface for The Huffmen, it appears to be the only thing they are lacking, as they have former All-Stars and championship experience at other spots on the roster.

If you dig a little deeper however, you will notice that even when the team did have an upgrade at Quarterback in veteran Corey Walwaski, in their game versus Keyport Lock, Monday night, The Huffmen, got hammered by a score of (53-6), suggesting that not all of the team’s problems fall at the feet of their regular QB Terry Tam.

While his numbers of 8 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 51.2 completion percentage, and 47.4 QB Rating, don’t exactly scream Quarterback of the Year candidate, to his credit, Tam, has shown the ability to lead his offense, put together some solid drives, and most important of all, he has the support of his teammates, as there appears to be no quit in the squad.

After going through arguably the toughest first half schedule in Div. C, The Huffmen, face a much easier slate over their remaining five contests, as they kickoff the next three weeks with winnable games against the Junkyard Dogs, A-Squad, and KGP, before finishing the year with the Backyard Bullies, and GloGang.

Can The Huffmen, finally get that elusive first win?

 

 

Conference B

 

 

Simon Says (5-0)

They appear to be the class of Division B, as they lead all teams in scoring with 183 points, are tied with Keyport Lock, for the least amount of points allowed, with 85.

On offense, Simon Says, has speed and big play ability to burn with Justin Blanchard, AJ Gomes, Justin Lerner, and the underrated Nicholas Groppini.

On defense, led by Vadim Chernyak among others, the team uses their speed to and athleticism, to generate takeaways, and snuff out drives.

The path to perfection in the regular season, won’t be easy, but it looks more than attainable for this squad, if they can get by tough matchups in the Game Changers, Mercenaries, and P.O.P over the next few weeks.

Getting past all that, the biggest question facing this squad, and in particular their Quarterback in Simon Dagenais, is can he get over the playoff hump?

He has had great Receivers on various teams before, but when the bright lights of the post-season go on, the former All-Star tends to wilt under the pressure.

Will Simon Says play a new tune, or will they be caught moving out of the playoffs, while everybody else is standing still?

 

 

 

Mercenaries (5-0)

Championship experience? Check. A Hall-Of-Fame Quarterback? Check. Weapons on both sides of the ball? Check. Calling up lesser known lower division players, and seeing them make an instant impact? Check. Having a roster nearly a mile long? Check.

Gino Di Fazio getting the last laugh? We’ll obviously have to wait a few more weeks to find out the answer to that one, but at least at the halfway point of the season, the 6-time All-Star star, and his team, are smelling like roses, as his they are undefeated, and posses the second best offense, and third ranked defense in Division C.

The annual Gino Di Fazio “I Told You So” tour is in full effect. Frankly, can you blame him?

The two biggest questions facing this team in the second half of the season, is can they keep up their winning ways, as they have potentially tough matchups left in Jagerbomb, Pineapple Express, All Hooks, Simon Says, and The Commission.

Secondly, can they do it in the post-season?

We will find out shortly.

 

 

 

Pineapple Express (4-1)

As I said in the season preview article, Pineapple Express Quarterback Chris Olson, is the Ryan Fitzpatrick of FPF.

To his credit, besides an ugly season opener versus Simon Says, Olson, has been Fitzmagic so far this year, with 20 touchdown passes, a 108.6 QB Rating, all while completing 66.7% of his passes.

His solid play hasn’t stopped there. When called into action on defense, Olson, has helped his team win on the other side of the ball as well, with 2 interceptions, and a pair of sacks, including a huge one against the Stoics, last Sunday night, which earned Pineapple Express, a hard-fought (24-18) victory.

Despite challenging teams like Sweat & Beers, and the Mercenaries for who has the most amount of subs, this team has a solid core with Olson, Eddy Lee, and Joel Malkin.

While they have yet to beat a good, or winning team, it is clear as day that this squad will go as far as Olson will take them. As long as Chirsmagic shows up, they have the potential to go pretty far.

 

 

 

P.O.P (3-2)

With the exception of Matt Kirouac, and Patrick Jazon, this team lacks elite speed, but it doesn’t matter, as they have smarts, championship experience, and a ton of guys who have the ability to make a play in the clutch.

Having played these guys just last week, I came away impressed with how their offense operates.

 

While most teams tend to pepper the ball to their best Receiver (they have the frontrunner for WR of the Year in Kirouac), the team’s Quarterback Craig O’Brien, does a masterful job at getting all of his receivers involved, and more importantly, putting them in position to succeed, but calling routes that play to their skill and attributes. You don’t see that too often.

On defense, despite only generating four interceptions, and being as they claim, past their prime, Jazon, Kirouac, Tony Lalla, Angelo Kalaidopoulos, Tanner Burell, Corey Cook, and O’Brien, have been getting it done.

In the overall picture, this team has shown some versatility, as they beat teams in shootouts, and have also emerged victorious in a defensive slugfest.

The key will be keeping that up, as the second half of the schedule sees them play Sweat & Beers, All Hooks, Simon Says, Stoics, and Pineapple Express.

 

 

The Commission (3-2)

This team has as much talent as anyone in Division C. Their problem at least in the first half of the season, has been injuries, a lack of execution on defense, and a less than impressive redzone.

As has been the case with a number of teams this year, the injury bug has hit TC too, as the team has only had their original starting lineup on the field for one game this season Week 1.

On defense, the team has many big names and solid players in Marc-André Lapointe, Nicolas Gendron-Vallée, Alexandre Jubenville, and Kenny Boutilier.

The problem however with this unit, is with so many guys playing different positions, or missing due to injury, a breakdown in coverage can occur, as was the case in their (26-20) loss to P.O.P, in which The Commission, allowed their opponents to pick a first down on third and long despite the fact that they were pinned down inside their 5-yard line.

On offense, while Quarterback Jean-Félix Marquis, will occasionally throw a bad interception, he has the confidence of the team, and he routinely makes a number of big throws that either gives his squad the win, or at the very least, puts them in position to do so.

After missing a game due to a leg injury, the former 2-time All-Star, has shown that the time away has paid off, as he has registered an impressive 14 carries for 115 yards since his return.

The emergence of Receivers Kristian Cerantola, and Kevin Donnet, has been crucial to the offense too, as the duo has come up with a number of key plays.

Donnet, also provides even more speed, but not the same mouth, and lack of physicality that former TC Snapper Domenico Benevento, suffers from.

As I said earlier, this team is definitely talented. As we all have seen before however, it takes more than just that to get to the top.

In order for The Commission to get there, they will need to first and foremost, tighten up their defense, and improve on a dreadful showing in the redzone recently, that has seen them go 3 for 12 over their last three games, that has coincidentally seen them go (1-2) in the process.

 

 

 

Jagerbomb (2-3)

Clearly, this is not the same team that made the Division C Finals last summer.

Quarterback Simon Duchesne, has remained his usual air the ball out self, as he leads all QBs in yardage with 1,058 yards, but the success that followed them last season, hasn’t really come back around this year, as they have lost tight games to both P.O.P, and Pineapple Express.

To make matters worse, their only two victories this year, have come against a two win All Hooks squad, and the winless Gym Class Heroes. Needless to say, if Jagerbomb wants some respect, they will need to beat tougher opponents than that.

Luckily for them, they will have the chance to do just that as, they have games against the Mercenaries, and a Semi-Finals rematch from last season with The Commission, over the next two weeks.

Can Jagerbomb find some of their old magic?

 

 

 

(2-3) All Hooks

With two wins, All Hooks, are in the thick of the playoff race.

Unfortunately for this squad, their two victories have come against the one win Stoics, and the winless Gym Class Heroes.

On the flipside, All Hooks, got blown out by 20 points in their game against Simon Says, and then lost heartbreakers to both Jagerbomb, and Sweat & Beers, by a combined 7 points.

With Jeremy White at Quarterback, weapons at Receiver in Jean-Christophe Ferland, Samuel Emilio Pelchat, and Alexis Cartier, and a ball-hawking defense, that leads Div. C in interceptions and touchdowns, with a jaw-dropping 13 and 10 respectively, it goes without saying that this team should be a lo better than what their record indicates.

Unfortunately for All Hooks, they finish with a tough second half schedule, that sees them play The Commission tonight, followed by P.O.P, Mercenaries, Pineapple Express, and Keyport Lock.

Needless to say, if All Hooks wants to be taken seriously, and qualify for the playoffs, they are going to need to win at least three of those contests.

 

 

 

Stoics (1-4)

Before the season began I noted in my preview article, that Quarterback and team Captain Chris Rivest, had assembled this team at nearly the last second.

As expected, chemistry and timing have been the key elements that have held this team back during the first half of the season, especially in close losses to The Commission, and Pineapple Express.

In the aforementioned article, I picked the Stoics, to finish with a (3-7) record. While they are currently on pace to finish to finish even worse than that, there is definitely enough talent on this team with players like Rivest, Will Power, Justin Cerantola, Jonathan Chevalier, and Meïs N’Garane, among others, to prevent that from happening.

With games against Jagerbomb, Sweat & Beers, and Dream Breakers, mixed in with P.O.P, and a matchup with Simon Says tonight, the Stoics, have a good opportunity to add at least one or two more notches in the win column before it is all said and done.

Let’s see if they can.

 

 

 

Sweat & Beers (1-4)

Simply put, this team has been killed by injuries, a more than generous defense, and the growing pains of a young Quarterback, who for the first time on his FPF career, is throwing in a higher division on a consistent basis.

Injuries happen, as my team can attest to, but no team had suffered more than Sweat & Beers. From struggling to find enough guys to field a 6-man roster, to having a rotating door at just about every position, the inability to get the same core group out on a consistent basis, has really hurt this team.

The position affected the most by the fluctuation on the roster, is Quarterback Rocco Christiano. Besides missing a game of his own due to injury (The Commission Week 2), the young passer, has struggled this year with timing and accuracy, as he has thrown at least two interceptions in all but of his games this season.

Inexperience at a higher Division like Div. C, could be another reason to explain the QB’s struggles.

While he did fill in for the team’s former starting QB in Rob Robinson, in Division 3, this past Winter Season, going 46 of 79 for 492 yards, 11 TDs, 4 INTs, and a 58.2 completion percentage, that was a small sample size, as it was over the course of four games. He also threw at least one interception in three of those contests.

Given a bit more time however, it appears Christiano, will have a bright future as a higher Division passer. He has already earned an All-Star nod, in the 2018 Winter Season with Norfolk In Chance, in Div. 4B, where he threw 1,312 yards, 43 TDs 6 INTS, and ran for 516 yards, and another 4 scores.

Although Sweat & Beers, can’t do anything about the lack of experience of their QB, they can do something about a defense that has given up 200 points, which is the most in the league.

While injuries and absences have been a factor, this squad still has enough talent, in names like Andrew Carruthers, Chris Williams, Dan Dick, and the duo of Robinson and Christiano, that they should be able to generate at least a couple of stops.

On the positive note, the team just earned their first win of the season Tuesday night, when they knocked off All Hooks, in a (40-39) thriller down in Brossard, where Christiano, threw for a season-high 6 touchdown passes, and his top WR on the evening was Carruthers, who caught a game-high 4 TDs.

Let’s see if the team can get reenergized by the win.

 

 

 

Gym Class Heroes (0-5)

Records can be deceiving, and I think that might be the case with Gym Class Heroes.

While they did suffer beat downs at the hands of both the Stoics (33-0) and Jagerbomb (32-6) not exactly juggernauts, they also only lost to solid squads in the P.O.P, and the Mercenaries, by 6 and 7 points respectively.

Just like The Huffmen, Gym Class Heroes, have a talented roster with a lot of speed, athleticism, and even some championship pedigree. Unfortunately, they too are playing with an inexperienced Quarterback, in James Donald.

This is also a team that is light in higher division experience too, as a number of players have only played in lower divisions.

In talking with WR/CB/Rusher Mike Zenobi, he felt that his team was getting better each week, and he said that the team’s goal for the remainder of the season was to finish .500.

While that goal might be a little too optimistic, the team has a few winnable games left on their schedule, in KGP, and Sweat & Beers.

The second half of the season begins tonight against Pineapple Express, let’s see in Gym Class Heroes, can get kickoff this part of the schedule with a huge upset win.

 

In none FPF news…

What a choke job by my Bruins. Game 7 in your own rink, after playing amazing in 6, to force the do or die situation, and to not even show up is inexcusable!!!!

 

The fans deserve better than that. As you can probably tell, I am still pissed off about it. Congrats to the St. Louis Blues. Jordan Binnington was phenomenal, and the better team won.

More importantly, congrats to the TORONTO RAPTORS!!!!!!! What an amazing series, and phenomenal game.

 

Yes, they got arguably the best player in the world in Kawhi Leonard, but the Raps, won as team, with great defense, and timely and balanced scoring, especially from their bench.

Can’t help but feel bad for Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson, but they’ll be back.

I think it’s a little premature to say the Golden State Warriors dynasty is over. Next year, will most likely see somebody else represent the Western Conference in NBA Finals, but I wouldn’t count out the dubs just yet.

Either way, whatever happens to them, and Kawhi (I hope he re-signs), will happen. For right now, I am happy for the Raptors, especially Kyle Lowry, and Serge Ibaka, and I am SUPER proud to be a Canadian.

 

To my dad, and all the other dads out there, happy Father’s Day. Enjoy your day/night!

 

Picks

The Commission vs All Hooks – N/A

Gym Class Heroes vs Pineapple Express – Pineapple Express

Simon Says vs Stoics – Simon Says

Jagerbomb vs Mercenaries – Mercenaries

Backyard Bullies vs GloGang – Backyard Bullies (My pick for Game of the Week)

The Huffmen vs Junkyard Dogs – The Huffmen (Upset Special #1)

KGP vs A-Squad – KGP

Game Changers vs Keyport Lock – Keyport Lock (Upset Special #2)

Sweat & Beers vs P.O.P – Sweat & Beers (Upset Special #3)

Easy-Jake-Oven vs Dream Breakers – Easy-Jake-Oven

Last Week: (4-5) DAMN!!!!

Season: (31-15)

 

That’s it for this week. It took me a solid day and a half to write this, so I hope you enjoy it.

As always, everything here is subject to change, so if you didn’t like what I wrote, prove me wrong. If you did, feel free to make me look like a genius.

Good luck to everybody in their games tonight, and this week!

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

Cheers!