Division Recaps and Week 2 Highlights from FPF Junior

The second week of FPF Junior action is on the books and just like that, a quarter of the season is already behind us. Most teams have played two games, and everyone is headed into a long bye for the holidays. The schedule for the second half of the season has been released for the D league. Teams in the G league’s divisions will need to wait a bit longer to see their next opponents. Since the next round of games seem to be an eternity away, I will focus on week 2 action instead of discussing previews. Here are some division by division recaps.

Division Recaps:

D League

Sophomore: Despite being only two weeks into the season, the Bulls are already starting to run away with this division. They won their first game in a closely disputed affair against the Panthers and put up an impressive performance this week versus the Colts. If there is any team in this division that will be able to rival them, it is the Panthers. The Panthers have all the raw talent a coach could hope for and with a few more weeks of coaching, they will be a formidable force. Despite the Colts 0-2 record, they have showed signs of promise over the first two weeks. Nicholas Koussaie leads the division in receptions with nine and is also in the top three in terms of yards. If they can solve a few issues at the quarterback position, this team could be set for a playoff push.

G League

Atom: In the Atom division, things are starting to heat up. Yes, Flight School are in first place with a perfect record except there are teams in this division which will definitely be able to challenge them. The main competition should come from the mighty Jaguars. In their week 1 matchup, the Jaguars held FS to only 12 points. The issue was they failed to score any points of their own. Despite that, coach Nim Jenikovsky is convinced his team will challenge FS for the title and I have to agree. The Jaguars have a solid core returning from last year and they added even more talent to that roster with four talented new players. Ultimately, coach Nim explained that he saw the regular season as an 8 weeklong warmup for the playoffs. “These are 8 weeks of practices to get to know how we play and get used to each other” explained the Jaguars coach. He is convinced his team will be able to uncrown Flight School and I have to agree that if this group gels together, they have a real chance.

Mosquito: The Mosquito division is eight teams deep and jampacked with talent. At this point in the season there is very little that separates the top five teams in the league. Flight School 1 is currently sitting in fifth place with a 1-1 record. However, if it weren’t for some last-minute heroics on the part of Flight School 2, they would be first. Between those two teams are three other teams all with the talent to compete for the title. The team that should worry FS the most is the McCaig Gladiators. Whatever advantage FS might have in terms of talent, the Gladiators make up for with superior coaching. The McCaig teams are consistently the most disciplined and well coached teams. Coach Gautama Swaminadhan manages to get the very most out of his players and this makes his Gladiators perennial contenders to win it all.

Pee-Wee: In this division as well, Flight School and the Gladiators appear to be on a collision course. Both teams are undefeated. Despite the rest of the schedule not yet being released, I would expect these two teams to clash in the first game after the break. The winner of that game will be in first place and will be early favorite to win it all. As for the Cougars and Hurricanes, it is definitely not too late for them to turn their seasons around. If they take the time to regroup during this break and fix a few small issues, they will be right back in the mix.

Bantam: Talk about another division loaded with talent. The Flight School team in Bantam is daunting. They are an uber talented squad who look like they can score at will. However, over the first few weeks they have been reliant on the deep ball. When the going gets tough, it will be interesting to see if they can march down the field five yards at a time. Behind Flight School, things are extremely close. Four teams are all within one win of each other. An intriguing team is the Musketeers. This team has been a powerhouse in Pee-Wee for a couple of years and now they are trying to compete in Bantam. They got off to a good start by winning their only game before the break, but there is a long road ahead if they want to keep on winning in Bantam.

Midget: Flight School has ventured into the Midget division for the first time and it is fair to say their venture is paying off. They are 3-0 with an impressive +47 point differential. However, they are not the only undefeated team in the division. The Dusters and La Belle Province also boast perfect records. Somehow, North Shore are winless. This experienced and talented team has fallen victim to two heartbreaking losses. This team could be 2-0 if they were able to close out games. The Raiders, who are the defending champions are currently in fourth place with  a 1-1 record. I will be extremely interested to see how this division plays out. Midget has a rich history of being unpredictable and I don’t see anything changing this year. Realistically, there are four or five teams that I could see winning this division and I cannot even fathom venturing a guess as to which team will come out on top.

Week Two Game of the Week:

G League Pee-Wee

AP Hurricanes (14) vs Gladiators (18)

In a season with so many new teams and new faces entering the league, it was fun to see two familiar foes battling it out. The Gladiators, led by the strong armed Kingston Paquet managed a close 18-14 victory over the Hurricanes. In past seasons, I have called Gladiators QB Kingston Paquet a gunslinger. In this game, the talented player did not look quite like himself. Yes, he did have a great game and threw for 140 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, but he didn’t do it with his usual swagger. He missed a few open receivers and his deep ball was lacking its usual precision. I know I am being harsh here, but that is because Kingston Paquet is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the division.

To get back to the game, the Gladiators were missing their top receiver Luca Fonsato. To make up for his absence, Justin Swaminadhan stepped up. He led his team in receptions with six and in receiving yards with 35. The only category he did not lead his team in was touchdown receptions. Noah Swaminadhan led the Gladiators in touchdown catches with two. He also had five catches for 28 yards to go along with his two scores. One of the strengths of the Gladiators has always been their ability to spread the ball and that is exactly what they did last Sunday. Five Gladiators receivers all got their hands on the ball at least twice. This ability to spread the ball keeps their opponents guessing. It forces their opponents to stay honest and pay equal attention to all fives of the Gladiators’ receivers. Talking about defences, the Gladiators defence came up huge in their win. Just when it looked like the Hurricanes were about to run away with this one, Anthony Marziliano came up with two huge plays. He intercepted the Hurricanes twice and I’m not sure which interception was prettier. He perfectly undercut a route and dove to pick off his first and he leaped high into the air to manage his second. Without those two key interceptions, I don’t think the Gladiators would have won this one. Kingston Paquet also left his mark on the defensive side of the ball with an interception of his own.

After watching the Hurricanes play, it is hard to believe that this team is 0-2. They have an all-star quarterback, shifty receivers and a robust defence. Kingston Paquet and Markus D’Alessandro have both climbed the FPF Junior ranks together and put up stellar numbers in the process. On Sunday, Markus D’Alessandro passed for nearly as many yards as his opposing number. He completed 10 passes for 130 yards and a score. However, what hurt were his three interceptions. Markus D’Alessandro really liked throwing the deep ball down the left side of the field and once the Gladiators clued into that tendency, they were able to pick him off a few times. If Markus D’Alessandro would stay patient and methodically march the ball down the field, I think he would have more success. Especially with receivers as elusive as Joseph Jonathan Baazov, the Hurricanes do not need to air it out on every other play. A short drag route to Joseph Jonathan Baazov can very easily turn into a 15 or 20 yard gain. Markus D’Alessandro’s favorite target was Liverios Alexander Christodoulopoulos. He caught two passes for 43 yards and singlehandedly accounted for a third of the Hurricane’s passing attack. With receivers like Liverios Alexander Christodoulopoulos and Joseph Jonathan Baazov, I am confident that the Hurricanes will be able to turn things around in a hurry.

Despite having to defend a short field on numerous occasions, the Hurricanes’ defence did a remarkable job holding one of the divisions most experienced offence to only three scores. That defensive effort was spearheaded by the fantastic rushing of Cedrick Leroux. Kingston Paquet is an extremely difficult quarterback to rush. He can easily sidestep even the best rushers and you need to respect his ability to run the ball. Despite all of that, Cedrick Leroux hurried the Gladiators’ quarterback on just about every play and held him to three rush attempts. Remarkably, he managed four sacks. When Kingston Paquet did mange to throw, the sure tackling Anthony Barrette was marauding the flats. He finished the game with four tackles and two defended passes.

All in all, the Hurricanes have all the elements to be a championship level team. With a few small modifications from their coaches and with a bit more experience, I am sure this team will be a force to be reckoned with.

With that, FPF Junior is officially on break for the Holidays. Teams have two weeks to recuperate, eat some turkey and enjoy a well-deserved vacation from both school and football.

I hope everyone has a great festive period with their friends and family and I cannot wait to see all of you back on the sidelines when the season resumes in January. As always, if you have any comments or critiques please feel free to contact me at [email protected].