Division E Week 2 Recap: Rained Out

Hello everyone and welcome to the week 2 recap. Unfortunately this recap will be slightly different than last week’s, simply because I did not scorekeep for a single Div E game. I missed Sunday evening because I was out of town, and on Thursday the Laval games were canceled because of the rain so I did Div D and C instead. 

While watching these higher divisions, the biggest difference I noticed between them and us in Div E is their experience in the league, which shows through their knowledge of the rules. For example, I learnt that on defense you should always choose a loss of down, rather than to replay it with penalty yardage added on. Everyone in this league can throw the ball the majority of the length of the field, so it’s much more worthwhile to take away a down. 

Another smart play I saw was a runner kneeling to avoid a tackle. In FPF a ball-carrier is not allowed to jump to avoid a tackle, they are also not allowed to flag-guard. So naturally, Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo figured out how to IRL slide-cancel Warzone style. It’s definitely not pretty, and perhaps a little jarring, but hey man it works. 

And lastly, possibly the most important takeaway, is that new players must build a solid rapport with the referees. In the Div C game one of the quarterbacks got into a bit of a spat with one of the refs. The ref threw a flag for objectionable conduct but quickly picked it up, (kinda like a warning but also puffing out his chest… you know?) Anyway, I asked the other official why he rescinded the flag, and he told me it’s because this guy has been in the league forever and this was a rare outburst for him. Basically, if you’re respectful to the refs most of the time, even in a disagreement, they will likely give you the benefit of the doubt in many situations. Keep in mind that most of your games are officiated by the same refs, so a working relationship is likely in your respective teams’ best interest. 

Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for: my Div E games of the week! As I mentioned before I did not see any of these games so these will be mostly (totally) stat-based. (Sorry).

(1-1) Scranton Stranglers 31 – 25 Minchia FT (2-1)*  

This was a tight one, and also very interesting because of how different these two teams ran their offense. Minchia FT started with the ball and four plays in, Adam Antel hit Matthew Neiss for a 33 yard touchdown. Now for contrast. The Scranton Stranglers ran twice as many plays on their opening drive, which resulted in Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo finding Samuel Aerts for a 7 yard score. This trend continued to the end of the first half. Minchia took three plays to score on their next possession, which came by way of a 12 yard score from Antel to Anthony Mirarchi. The Stranglers scored on their ensuing drive, taking five plays, capped off with a 7 yard pass to Alexandre Blais. 

Coming out of halftime, the Stranglers upped the pace. They broke the tie in only two plays; a 15 yard reception from Samuel Aerts, followed by a 27 yard touchdown reception from also by Samuel Aerts, which opened the flood gates. Minchia threw a pick on their next play, which led to a one-play 45 yard touchdown by Scranton’s Emile Demers, his only catch of the game. Minchia would not recover from this blow and are now 1-1, while the stranglers also improved to 1-1.

Players of the game: 

Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo: 285 yds, 5 td, 74% comp, INT

Samuel Aerts: 107 yds, 2 td, 9/10 rec

Matthew Neiss: 80 yds, 2 td, 4/5 rec 

(0-2) Penetrators 23 – 34 Magnetos (2-0)

This is a matchup I would have loved to have seen because I know most of the players in the game in some capacity, and many of the players know each other. I must say, its gotta be tough for the Pens to take an L like this to a bunch of kids three years younger than them, but I digress. 

The game started with a bad snap by the Magnetos resulting in a safety. It proved to be inconsequential as a fourth down throw from Justin Goodman was intercepted by Evan Shiveck, giving the Magnetos a short field. Two plays later Jack Mclernon found James Wiseman for an 8 yard touchdown, his first of the year. The Penetrators rebounded quickly with a two play drive ending in a 31 yard score from Josh Ginsberg. Magnetos scored again quickly on their ensuing drive with a 7 yard catch from Jordy Melnik. The drive was set up by a 38 yard reception from James Wiseman who finished the game with 51 yards and a touchdown. Evan Shiveck quickly got the ball back for his team, picking up his second interception of the game on the second play of the next drive. Jack Mclernon ran into the endzone to put the Magnetos up two possessions. The Penetrators were outscored 28-6 in the first half, and did not complete the comeback in the second. 

It was a tough outing for Qb Justin Goodman, completing 13/18 throws for 74 yards and 3 touchdowns, all five incompletions were interceptions. On the other hand, the Magnetos were very impressive considering they were missing usual quarterback Adam Malinoff. 

Players of the game: 

Jack Mclernon: 116 yds, 3 td, 47% comp, INT, 29 yds rushing, rush td

James Wiseman: 51 yds, td, 3/4 rec 

Evan Shiveck: 3 INT, 5 tkl, 2 XP1

(1-1) Les Petites Carottes 26 – 31 The Praetorian Guard (3-0)

Les Petites Carottes kicked off the game with a four-play touchdown drive, finished off with a Jason Reyes and Laurent Beauchamp connection for a 6 yard touchdown. The Praetorian Guard responded with a 21 yard touchdown pass from Mederic Lauzon to Benjamin Bourque, his first of the spring season. The Carottes were in a bit of a pickle on their next drive, a 9 yard loss on third down brought up fourth and long. Jason Reyes then found Xavier Brault for a 44 yard completion, leading to a 1 yard score from Brault. The Guards turned the ball over on downs, then regained possession with an interception by Etienne de Blois. The pic set up an eight play scoring drive ending with a 1 yard touchdown from de Blois, ending the half tied. The second half saw the Guards lead another scoring drive, capped off with another touchdown from de Blois, this one from 18 yards. The Carottes responded with a 39 yard bomb to Julien Morin, then punched in the ball with a completion to Alexandre Manes. The Guards remained undeterred and took ten plays to drive down the field, scoring another 1 yard touchdown by Michael Timmins. Stellar defense form the Guards resulted in a turnover on downs, which left the door open for them to take a commanding lead. Lauzon found Jeremy Laplante for a 35 yard gain, setting up a second touchdown for Michael Timmins. Les Petites Carottes scored in garbage time, Xavier Brault scored a 40 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 7. Final score was 31-26 for the Praetorian Guard. 

Players of the Game: 

Mederic Lauzon: 193 yds, 5td, 80% comp

Etienne de Blois: 26 yds, 2 td, 3/3 rec, INT

Benjamin Bourque: 69 yds, TD, 7/7 rec

Xavier Brault: 101 yds, 2 td, 5/8 rec

Team of the Week 

QB: Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo: 285 yds, 5 td, 74% comp, INT (1 game) 

WR: Matthew Neiss: 182 yds, 6 td, 10 rec, 18.2 yds/rec (2 games)

WR: Samuel Aerts: 107 yds, 2 td, 9 rec, 11.9 yds/rec (1 game)

WR: Xavier Brault: 101 yds, 2 td, 5 rec, 20.2 yds/rec (1 game) 

Defense: Evan Shiveck: 3 INT, 5 tkl (1 game) 

Defense: Max Burah: 2 INT, tkl, (1 game) 

Defense: Gabriel Jobin: 5 tkl (1 game) 

And there you have it! The week 2 Div E recap. My apologies for the late post, I usually do all my writing on Friday, but seeing as F1 is back in Canada for the first time in a few years I thought it necessary to see at least a practice session. Also if I may go totally off-topic for a moment, if Fernando Alonso gets a podium in this Grand Prix I may have to buy one of those ridiculously overpriced Alpine shirts. 

Anyway, as always please let me know if you have any ideas, comments, concerns, or general hatred for my style of writing… I hope to actually see you all at the field this week, and enjoy the Grand Prix weekend!