Divisional Round recap and a look at the Conference Finals

Final 4.

Oh, what an eventful week. So many amazing games, so much hype and so many heartbreaks. Division D really panned out well in the playoffs and I’m really happy with the result.

Regardless of winners, we’re treated to amazing football and it’s definitely worth coming down to Lachine or Brossard for. Hell, Alpha T’s brought their entire families (Kudos to them, it makes for a pretty nice ambiance).

Let’s be real for a moment, I’d like to thank every single player and team that played this season in Division D; not only the four that remains, but everyone of you guys. You made this possible, you made this division and, well, every single one of you contributed to this hype. Couldn’t be possible without you, you know.

Let’s get to it.

 

Playoffs – Conference Finals

What have I learn this week?

• Funny how Conference A has their top 2 seed and how Conference B has 5th and 8th. Hrmmph.
• Division D was the host of some of the best playoffs games of the season. Well played.
• I’m THRILLED for this week’s matchups. I expect better football this Sunday than next Sunday.
• Covering this division is actually quite fun.
• The heat and the rain of this week made me realize I’m happy FPF is indoors.
• Cereals twice in the same day is a bit of an overdose.
• I haven’t heard a single person say they miss Peeze’s articles, so, thank you.
• Also, no one cares about Peeze anyways.
• Tweet me your predictions for this week’s games @DagenaisFPF. I’m intrigued to figure out who’s cheering for who.

 

Recaps

• The Alpha T’s came down by against Backyard Bullies in one of the best upsets of the week when the 8th seed took down the 1st In fact, the game can be summed up as “Backyard Bullies couldn’t stop Jean Lussier’s offense”. Both teams played hard ball and it was quite impressive to watch, but TAT’s came up with a stop while Bullies simply couldn’t. I was cheering for both of these guys, suck of them had to go, but TAT’s deserved it more and they sent the first seed Bullies home with a bitter taste in their mouth.
• Les Affreux pulled a very surprising upset against D’s Nuts on Sunday night and the game didn’t go quite as planned. In fact, Les Affreux’s defensive play to reduce Joel Malkin’s numbers played out great as he was more likely shutout, but Jonathan Lemieux went down with what looked like a bad cramp early in the first half and backup Mathieu Domon had to take over and he did quite an impressive job at it. In fact, with the game on the line, Domon used his legs to run in a 10 yard TD to seal the win and move Affreux into the next round. I was the first to doubt Domon’s ability to lead his team, but he showed me and everyone watching how wrong we could be.
• In one of the best games of the playoffs so far, Jagerbomb took down Warhawks in what we call a pure barnburner. The game went back and forth most of the night as both QBs exchanged scores, but also exchanged interceptions. Mallette’s receivers were having quite a night, but Duchesne’s kept answering back without hesitation and the game was on the line, 33-33 with very few plays left; balls in Duchesne hands. Warhawks decides to play prevent and played it well, but gave up one too many plays and Jagerbomb were at the doors, one play left. Duchesne goes to Daloze who’s covered by Ladouceur; Ladouceur steps, Daloze clinches the ball on a decent throw from Duchesne to prevent overtime and punch in their ticket for Round 2.
• The other AMAZING game that went down was Formerly Formerly Formerly Teamless against Crimson Tide in what could have been an epic upset. A very back and forth game saw both teams playing for their lives most of the night. In fact, everyone was watching THAT game instead of their respective ones, it was quite a show. Formerly Forever answered when they were down by less than 2 scores to make it a 4 point game, but Pinsonneault had a shot at sealing the deal. Rolling out on a 3rd down, he discarded the ball and decided to go for it all on 4th And then disaster happened. Pinsonneault has a receiver dropping back, decides to throw quickly, badly placed ball allows Deslauriers better positioning and he comes down with the INT; we had a game. Jonathan Brown had one last shot to win it all. About 8 yards out, he calls a run in the huddle, sneaks in between two defenders, makes the safety Pinsonneault miss and walked into the endzone with his flag belt still around his waist; he scored. FFFT made it past Crimson Tide in a heck of a game.

 

Players of the Week

Joey Taylor (Globo Gym Purple Cobras): Even if he has a broken hand, he came up HUGE for his team in the Divisional round clinching 8 catches, 75 yards and 4 TDs. Well done.

George Elie-Voyer (Diablos): George did all he could by piling up more than 100 yards, 2 TDs and an interception. Quite an impressive game.

Jesse Dupuis (The Alpha T’s): Dupuis needed a big game to win against Gotham Knights and he did just that finishing the night with an interception, 3 TDs and 67 receiving yards. Congrats.

 

Playoff Standings

1	Formerly Formerly Formerly Teamless	10	18	9	[4-1-0]	137		1		10	16	8	[4-1-0]	210
2	5-Star Prospects	10	18	9	[4-1-0]	188		2		10	14	7	[5-1-0]	179
3		10	14	7	[4-1-0]	204		3		10	16	8	[4-1-0]	245
4		10	12	6	[2-3-0]	212		4		10	16	8	[3-2-0]	227
5		10	10	5	[5-0-0]	274		5	Jagerbomb	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	249
6		10	10	5	[3-2-0]	239		6		10	12	6	[4-1-0]	284
7		10	10	5	[2-3-0]	248		7		10	10	5	[2-3-0]	269
8		10	10	5	[2-3-0]	270		8	The Alpha T’s	10	8	4	[3-2-0]	273

 

Playoff previews

• Formerly Formerly Formerly Teamless (1st) vs 5-Star Prospects (2nd)

Previous Matchup: N/A

Analysis: Top two seeds face off in an epic battle for Conference champions. Coming into this game, as discussed on the podcast, it’s basically a few strong guys against a deeper roster. Speed against speed. I’m looking forward to seeing who’s going to play against Kerr and Gordon-Maule, but I’m also looking forward to seeing how FFFT will deal with the Jordan Moses at QB and Jeremy Anderson’s receiving abilities. I believe both teams will score in the first half with ease, but it’ll come down to who can adjust at halftime the best. I feel like FFFT are favored in this game due to the roster and the way they’ve been playing, but 5-Star can definitely pull it off if they play the game we all know they can. If Jordan Moses is able to buy time in the pocket, he’ll make magic happen once again and the grey team might just make the championship game, but if he’s restrain, we might see frustration and an offense crumble before our eyes.

Key Matchup: Khalil Kerr vs Jordan Moses (both sides of the ball)

Prediction: 32 – 26 Formerly Formerly Formerly Teamless

• Jagerbomb (5th) vs The Alpha T’s (8th)

Previous Matchup: 45 – 25 The Alpha T’s

Analysis: The last time these two teams faced, TAT’s destroyed Jagerbomb in their week 8 matchup and it wasn’t that long time ago. Then again, Jagerbomb are simply SO MUCH better in the playoffs and I’m super excited for this game. It’s bound to be the best conference finals of the season, all divisions included. Come down for it, it’ll be JAM PACKED. Last time around, Daloze had ridiculous offensive game, but Dupuis answered with an even better game and got his team a much needed win. This time around, I expect both players to know what they are up against and it’ll be a matchup we’ll be talking about in a few years time. The systems’ are quite similar, the teams are built the same way, the QB’s are fairly similar and they rally behind one great player; Daloze and Dupuis. Who’ll come down big when the spotlight is on? Who’ll have the biggest crowd? Because, let’s be honest, it’s a factor when you have no one cheering for you against 35-40 hungry fans out there. I’m PUMPED for this.

Key Matchup: Daloze vs Dupuis

Prediction: 39 – 36 The Alpha T’s

 

That is it for me for this week. If you have any comments regarding the article, don’t hesitate to hit me up on twitter @DagenaisFPF or at the fields. I’ll be scorekeeping games on Sunday and Tuesday nights, so I’ll get to see most of you guys. My official FPF email [email protected] also works, but get with the times, Twitter is where it’s at. Feel free to yell at me if you see me walking around, always glad to talk some football.