From 16 to 8.

FlagPlus Football playoffs is an amazing thing. Games become so emotional and we see truly great things. Sure, we get to witness some less-fortunate turn of events, but it comes with the territory.

I was extremely pleased with how Division C turned out this week and I hope it remains alike for the rest of the way.

Please note that in the upcoming week, we will have a game on Sunday, winners WILL PLAY Tuesday night at Brossard, Press Conferences for the Finales will be on Thursday night and the BIG Finale is the following Sunday.

Basically, once you line up on Sunday night for your game, FPF will only have 7 days left. No time to take it easy now.

Let’s get started.

 

Week 11

 

What a week, once again. A great upset, some amazing matchups and some astonishing finishes. Basically FPF playoffs at its finest. I’m glad I was around for most of it and I’m even happier with the fact that I’ll witness every single game from now on.

Time to step up or shut down.

 

Thoughts of the Week

 

• Back to back rounds with forfeit. This is getting problematic.
• Luckily, Coyotes didn’t get two forfeits; I mean, they’re lucky enough as it is.
• Our divisional round was a great one with many amazing matchups across the board; I expect yet another beautiful round of playoffs.
• I’ll be around for all the games so step it up, you might get some love if you make ridiculous plays!
• We’re so close to the end of the Spring season and I’m still sitting here thinking we got SO much left ahead of us… Smh.
• I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming. Unless we see a major upset in the upcoming weeks, I’m a predicting genius.
• FPF made players feel like their 14 again. Yes, I meant you, Vince. It’s awesome.
• The level of play in Division C is really impressive; well done boys.

 

Recaps

 

Honey Badgers played Eskimo Brothers in a heck of a battle. I heard noise, I heard rumors, I kept getting messages from players, but I wasn’t able to watch the game myself as I scorekept another field, but let me tell you this: these guys came out to play and they did just that. For yet another night, Doug McKernan looked nothing like the Doug McKernan we’ve grown used to know and his team made some plays. To quote Vince Nardone “Honey Badgers pulled a miracle to go up by 1”. Corey Oliver had NO catches in a game (which never happens) and Shawn Steen was kept out of the endzone the entire night. Regardless, both teams made some plays and some guys stepped up as others, well, didn’t really. Alex Ganter emerged as a top receiver for HB next to Jeremy Anderson and Trevor Ruffner had a good game offensively. Overall, I’d have to say it’s a disappointing finish for Eskimo Brothers and Honey Badgers can walk away proud of the rally and way they finished. Hopefully, neither of these performances will be repeated in the weeks to come.

Top Sauce took the field against 69ers on Sunday afternoon and GOSH was it a shit show. Some guys made some plays, some guys simply did not. Dean Demetriou looked good defensively (if you bat the ball down and the receiver dove to catch it in the endzone, it’s just bad luck. Also, if you are to touch the rock, just come down with it), Maxime Verna-Gagné made some plays on both sides of the ball, Justin McLean was legit fighting off 2 guys on most catches, Chris Milard was as good a rusher as it gets, Shane Hughes kept his offense alive and Craig O’Brien looked good at QB late in the 2nd half, but overall, both teams had a disappointing game. Vince Nardone couldn’t get anything going after his first drive (it was a good drive) and got “lucky” on that 2nd TD to Justin McLean. Dean Demetriou had SO many incompletes I was starting to wonder whether he believed the curtains counted as inbounds. I gotta give love to Sam Hansen for sealing the deal for his team on a good interception on, probably, O’Brien’s only bad throw of the night as the ball was placed slightly too inwards and Hansen had the better body placement for it. Top Sauce won, yes, but they can’t keep playing like this. Step up, boys.

Broccasion’s defense showed up BIG time against Show me Your TDs as Mike Addona looked uncomfortable for most of the night and a few brainfarts killed his team’s hope of running for a championship this Spring. Let’s be real for a second and say how Kristian Cerantola was far from perfect most of the night. He had trouble connecting with his receivers, throw some question marks and turned the ball over one too many times, but when the game was on the line, down by 4, he made some magic and ran like a stallion. With 4 plays left, he managed to run for 10 yards, pass for 15 and run it in after a miss tackle from George Elie-Voyer and Anthony Addona to go up by 2. Justin Cerantola’s and Johnathon Louis’ pick-sixes kept Broccasion in contention and, on the last play of the night, Mike Addona threw a pick on a hail mary (he also didn’t wear flags, so yeah) to seal the deal. A frustrating way to go, but Broccasion was the better team overall as their defense seemed too good to lose. Kudos to SMYTDs for putting up 34 and creating THAT many turnovers though.

I wasn’t around for No Name’s victory over Tomahawk Nightmare, but I’ve heard more than one comment about it and Tomahawk Nightmare’s James Goulet didn’t look like the QB we’ve grown to know recently. In fact, I’ve been praising No Name’s defense most of the season and they showed up to play. There’s still question marks about their offense (18 points is still a weak number) but they finished strong, got the W and get to play yet another week so who cares. Jonathan Grizzley and Robert White made some plays on both sides of the ball to keep their team alive and frustrate their opponents as Former Tomahawk lose in the playoff yet another time. With, probably, their toughest matchup coming up, No Name will need to be firing on all cylinders and get everything they do best working.

No Big Deal shutout The Commission on Sunday night after Sean Avraam’s career night week 10 and made them look bad. I hate to say it, but watching/hearing Jake Applebaum tear his ACL was probably one of the worst thing I’ve witnessed in a long time. Sure, e, Dustin White played well to finish the game, but it goes without saying that this team isn’t the same without Jake Applebaum at center and it’s a serious tragedy. Speedy recovery man. No Big Deal’s defense was special on Sunday night as they frustrated TC’s offense to the highest point and made it an obvious game from the get-go. Sadly, due to injuries and vacations, this will be the last game No Big Deal plays this season, but HEY, at least they get to remember just how dominant they really were for 11 weeks.

No Fly Zone manhandled MVE in a crushing win 40-6 as Gabriel Côté couldn’t get anything going and Vincent Lauzon was simply not opened most of the night. Sure, Côté got a chuck of yardage using his legs, but 96 yards will not win you FPF games and their defense didn’t do him any favors neither as Rich Humes only needed 8 passes to put up 5 TDs. NFZ’s defense came to play and showed us all just how much of a wrecking ball they really are as Vinny Gualano nudged 2 interceptions (one for six) and Rich Humes added himself to the mix with one himself. Overall, NFZ’s defense won the game (regardless of their QB’s efficiency) and get to move on to the Final 8. A night to forget for MVE who’ll be back for more next Winter.

The final game of the night was a great one as Stockton Slap managed to pull away with the W over BearSkins who gave them a heck of a fight. Joey Taylor was back to his usual self as he connected with Matthew Rupcic for 112 yards and 3 TDs (Gosh, Matt, leave some for others) and made Foti Evangelista look good as usual. Without tossing any interception, he made it that much harder for Neil Etinson to keep up with him and Stockton Slap’s defense showed up big when it really mattered (like they have all season, must I add) as Sami Beg came down with the only interception of the night to push his team further down the stretch. BearSkins played well overall, but going up in the playoffs, a single mistake might be one too many and it was exactly that on Sunday. Props to Chris Smith for showing up big and having a great impact offensively with 2 TDs, but sadly it wasn’t enough to propel his team into the Final 8.

 

Playoffs Standings

 

Names in bold: Teams that clinched a playoff berth.

Names strikethrough: Already eliminated from the playoff race

*next to name: Clinched division title.

 

1	Top Sauce	10	17	8	[4-1-1]	216		1	No Fly Zone	10	18	9	[51-0]	196
2	Honey Badgers	10	15	7	[3-1-1]	248		2	Former Tomahawk	10	16	8	[4-1-0]	232
3	Coyotes	10	16	8	[4-2-0]	250		3	No Big Deal	10	17	8	[6-0-0]	195
4	Broccasion	10	13	6	[3-1-1]	200		4	Stockton Slap	10	12	6	[4-1-0]	291
5	Show me Your TDs	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	197		5	BearSkins	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	220
6	Jagerbomb	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	282		6	The Commission	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	230
7	Eskimo Brothers	10	11	5	[4-1-1]	254		7	No Name	10	12	6	[3-3-0]	243
8	69ers	10	11	5	[3-2-0]	295		8	MVE	10	10	5	[2-3-0]	263
9	La Sauce	10	10	5	[3-3-0]	261		9	Varennes	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	246
10	Gotham Knights	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	241		10	Brunch Buddies	10	8	4	[1-5-0]	295
11	TOPSZN	10	4	2	[1-5-0]	344		11	Keyport Lock	10	4	2	[2-4-0]	321
12	Killa Beez	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	341		12	Les Blues Branleurs	10	2	1	[0-6-0]	365
13	Evolution	10	0	0	[0-6-0]	346		13	Warhawks	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	384

 

Quick notes:

• Kind of funny to see the entire top 4 in conference A remains whereas we’ve got ourselves a handful of upsets in Conference B.
• Props to No Name for pulling said upset.
• It’ll be a tight race ‘till the end, lemme tell you that much.

 

Playoff Matchups

 

• Top Sauce (1st) Broccasion (4th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Top Sauce emerged on my radar early in the 2nd half of the season as a serious contender and they’ve only improved since. With guys like Maxime Verna-Gagné, Justin McLean, Vince Nardone, Maxime Giroux (if he comes back from injury) and even Sam Hansen, it’s tough to know who to pick on and who to cover. With no flagrant flaw, Top Sauce is really meant like, well, the best sauce there is. Unless there’s another breakdown, these guys have the roster to push for a title.

Broccasion surprised more than one team this season via their ridiculous defenses and just how serious these guys can be when it’s game time. With players like Johnathon Louis, Justin Cerantola, Kyle Lebofsky, Mark Provost and Kristian Cerantola, there’s very little doubt that these guys can be ball hawks. On the nights that their offense isn’t on-point, their defense makes up for it in more than one way; on the nights the offense IS on par, these guys look unstoppable.

In a clash of veterans, we’ll get to enjoy a fantastic FlagPlus Football game. These guys know too well that playoffs are another kind of beast and there’s no freebies when it comes down to it. Vince Nardone cannot drop another egg as Broccasion’s defense is too good to let one slide and Kristian Cerantola will need to have a career-night if he wants to get by such defense. It’ll come down to the wire as both defenses will keep their teams in the game and converts will be matched, but Broccasion will have the last possession once again, they simply won’t complete this time around. Maxime Verna-Gagné with the bat down to seal the deal.

Key matchups: Chris Milard vs Kristian Cerantola, Kyle Lebofsky vs Justin McLean

 Prediction: 32 – 26 Top Sauce

 

• Honey Badgers (2nd) vs Coyotes (3rd)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Coyotes are fresh off from a forfeit and there will be no excuse for them not to come in guns blazing into this matchup. With the return of both Andrew Langburt and Josh Feder to the lineup, we’ll get to see the best of Sammy Feder and how he can use all of his now-ridiculous weapons. It’s easy to overshadow guys like AJ Rashkovan in teams like these, but do not underestimate how well this guy plays when Sammy really needs him.

Honey Badgers started the season as one of the top contenders this season before having mind boggling games and dropping what was considered easy Ws. Regardless, they’ve clinched the 2nd seed due to help from monster players like Alex Ganter, Jeremy Anderson, Liam Gilmore, Jordan Moses and Dilan Daoust. Offensively, any given player can break a game open and there’s very little doubt in their abilities to make plays defensively. This team is extremely well built.

Coyotes are all about their offense, but we can’t overlook how well their defense has been playing this season and how many turnovers they’ve created to take a lead into halftime. Honey Badgers are a more balanced team, but when Doug McKernan is on, they’re as dangerous as it gets. This game will be loud, vocal and emotional so it’ll be a matter of who gets into who’s head the best as trash talking might escalate quite early in the game. If Honey Badgers can keep their cool, they might fluster Coyotes in the 2nd half just enough to make plays and turn tides around. Otherwise, they’ll be packing their bags well before the final whistle.

Key matchups: Jeremy Anderson vs Kevin Smuda, Andrew Langburt vs Jordan Moses

Prediction: 40 – 34  Coyotes

 

• No Fly Zone (1st) vs No Name (7th)

Previous matchup: Week 10: 33 – 25 No Fly Zone

Analysis:  No Fly Zone showed their true colors last week in an absolute defensive dominance and there’s no slowing down for these guys from here on out. With guys like Eddy Martinez, Vinny Gualano, Rich Humes, Steve Sanner, Kevin St-Pierre and Derrick Fontana playing defense, I ignore who to pick on. Offensively, Rich Humes continues to improve as his players make ridiculous plays week-in and week-out. If this team isn’t built for a championship, I ignore the initial purpose of said superteam.

No Name proved doubters wrong yet again as they made it to the Final 8 after a great upset and their defense continues to turn heads. With guys like Jonathan Grizzley, Robert White, Paul Dodd and Andrew Denis Lynch back there, it’s tough to find holes to exploit. Nonetheless, their offense finds ways to put up points and turn tides as No Name seeks to upset yet another team to push themselves into the Final 4.

Both teams are now known for their impressive defensive abilities, but question marks remain about how their offense will perform when everything is on the line. Last time these two teams faced, both QBs struggled to move the chains a few times and their defense bailed them out to push either over the top. I foresee a similar outcome as neither QBs will go out perfect and turnovers will be handed out. There will be stops, there will be interceptions, but this will come down to how both teams handle the 2nd half of the game.

Key matchups: Vinny Gualano vs Jonathan Grizzley, Steve Sanner vs Robert White

Prediction: 38 – 25 No Fly Zone

 

• No Big Deal (3rd) vs Stockton Slap (4th)

Previous matchup: Week 7: 25 – 6  No Big Deal

Analysis: I’ll be honest, this was bound to be the best game on the docket, but I guess we’ll never know. It’s unfortunate to see how things turned out for No Big Deal (no one can foresee injuries), but people leaving on Vacation is predictable.

Anyhow, congrats to Stockton Slap for making it into the Final 4. I won’t speculate on how this game would’ve played out as it was a pure coin toss in my opinion, but it would’ve been amazing to watch unfoil.

Key matchups: —-

Prediction: 30 – 0 Stockton Slap

 

That sums it for this week’s article. It’s always a pleasure to write and hear back from you guys. After all, the content is meant 99% for you. I keep a percent for me; ranting here and there is fun after all. You can always reach me via twitter @DagenaisFPF or via email ([email protected]). I’ll be at Lachine every Sunday night scorekeeping/playing and at the new Stade on Mondays so you can stop by and chat. Don’t hesitate. It was intentional. Also, I’m curious to see if Eagle will notice this one NOW.