Finals Time in Coed!

The finals are finally here in Coed! After a season of ups and downs, this is what we have all been waiting for. Let’s take a look at our four finalists and how they made it to the championship.

Power Rangers

Road to the Championship: Power Rangers finished the season with an impressive 8-2 record which was good enough for them to secure the second spot in the Coed 1 standings. Their strong regular season was rewarded with an opening round matchup against the lowest seed, Average & Savage. While I expected this game to be a blowout, A&S held their own. Power Rangers escaped with a 32-19 win. While their performance in the quarterfinals might have had some worried, they put any doubts to bed in the semifinals. They blew out a surging Bishop Sycamore team 45-6. Heading into this game, some were even speculating that BS were the favorites. They had strung together an impressive series of wins to end the regular season and Sara Parker was looking untouchable at the helm of BS’ offence. All that changed in the semis. Power Rangers shut Parker down and held her to less than 100 passing yards all game. Tam Vilaydeth took full advantage of the fact that BS were missing their all-star rusher Jessica Bositampen and threw for 140 yards and six scores all while adding another 60 yards of offence with his legs. Power Rangers defence was also firing on all cylinders. Serge Pilon picked Parker off and Wade Shallcross picked her off and returned it for a score. Any lingering doubts about Power Rangers were put to bed with this performance. They are the complete package and have the firepower to score big and the defensive knowledge to turn over the ball.

Strengths:

• Female receiving corps: Power Rangers have the best female receivers in the division. Jasmine Farmer and Constance Millaire combined nearly 700 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns. Farmer was the receiver of the year in Coed 1 and Millaire was the second-best female receiver in the division. Simply put, no team has as dynamic a duo as Power Rangers. This also dictates the kind of coverage that they will face. EZFun do not have the female athletes to matchup against Millaire in Farmer in man-to-man coverage, which will force EZFun to play mostly zone defences. That plays into the hands of Vilaydeth who has made a career of dissecting zone defences.
• Experience: Power Rangers have been here before. Playing in the finals is nothing new for this team. As a matter of fact, I am not sure if they know that finishing a season without winning a championship is a possibility. This team is accustomed to the pressure of the finals and will know how to handle the stress.

Weakness:

• Lack of height: It is hard to point out a flaw with this Power Rangers squad but if there is one, it is their lack of height. While Pilon and Vilaydeth are two of the best players in FPF, they are far from being the tallest. If EZFun can force Power Rangers defenders into jump ball situations, they could be able to make a few big plays.

EZFun

Road to the Championship: EZFun were not expected to make it this far. They finished the season with an average record of 4-5-1 and entered the playoffs as the fourth seed. They had one of the easiest quarterfinals in FPF history, winning 60-0 due to a Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce forfeit. That set the stage for a semifinal matchup between EZFun and Party Mix. These two teams had already faced off three times during the regular season with EZFun winning the first matchup and Party Mix winning the final two. Despite beating Party Mix in the regular season, EZFun came into this one as the heavy underdogs. Simply put, EZFun’s won because their offence was perfect. They had seven possessions and scored on every single one. Jeremy White’s stat line speaks for itself. He threw for 255 yards and seven touchdowns on his way to his best game of the season. Jean-Christophe Ferland led the charge with six catches for 90 yards and four scores. The biggest story line for EZFun in the postseason has been the emergence of Samuel Emilio Pelchat. After playing five games in the regular season and catching just three passes for 59 yards, he exploded in the semis with 81 receiving yards and two scores. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.98 seconds at the Athlon launch event, so you know that he has speed. The athleticism of this EZFun team is what ultimately got the best of Party Mix and that should have Power Rangers worried.

Strengths:

• Athleticism: Every single player on this EZFun roster is an exceptional athlete. While they might not have decades of flag football experience like Power Rangers do, they are all exceptional football players that pose a different matchup nightmare. CO Lavigne has a surprising mix of agility and speed for his height. As someone who mainly plays quarterback in FPF, his abilities as a receiver are significantly underrated. Jean-Christophe Ferland is a clinician at the receiver position. His routes are clean, his cuts are sharp, and his hands are trustworthy. He is everything you want in an elite-level snapper.
• Improvisation: This EZFun offence relies on Jeremy White buying extra time in the pocket. As long as he can dance around and make the rusher miss EZFun are practically unstoppable. EZFun’s receivers are also well versed in the scramble drill. This is their second season in Coed, so they know exactly where White wants them to be when he is buying time. While EZFun are at the best when White is extending plays, this can also be their biggest weakness.

Weakness:

• Rusher dependent: I know rusher dependent is not your usual weakness, so let me explain. Jeremy White’s greatest ability is his scrambling and the rest of the EZFun offence relies on that, if a rusher can take away White’s ability to scramble EZFun’s offence crumbles.

Kiss My End Zone

Road to the Championship: Even though Kiss My End Zone’s playoff run started in the semifinals, it feels like they have been playing playoff football for the past month. Their week 10 matchup against Fitsquad and week 11 game versus Y&Y both had a playoff feel to them. KMEZ needed to win both those games to guarantee themselves the top seed and that is exactly what they did. They overcame a shaky second half against Fitsquad to win 27-19 and dominated Y&Y 34-18. They entered the playoffs with a head of steam. Those two wins also secured them the top seed in the division and a bye to the semifinals where a matchup with the surging 3HUNNAS was waiting. 3HUNNAS put up a strong fight. Quarterback Manuel Crisi-Lauzon’s ability to scramble caused issues for KMEZ who were without their rusher Jeremie Francoeur. Despite only rushing once for nine yards, Crisi-Lauzon’s Jeremy White-like ability to extend plays caused issues for KMEZ’s defence. He was able to pass for 138 yards and three scores. On the downside, Crisi-Lauzon also threw three interceptions. The highlight of the night came when Alex Laroche picked off Crisi-Lauzon in the flats and returned if for a touchdown. Laroche has been a vocal and critical part of KMEZ’s defence all season long, so it was great to see his efforts rewarded with his first INT of the year. David de Andrade, James Drysdale and Ignacio Valdez Manzanedo also got in on the fun and each recorded an interception. KMEZ’s ability to create interceptions has been one of their strengths all season long and it was great to see them get it done in the playoffs as well.

Strengths:

• Defence: Kiss My End Zone led all Coed 2 teams with just 127 points conceded during the regular season. That is an average of just two touchdowns against per game. More than that, their defence averaged more than two interceptions a game and totaled 21 picks on the season. Other than interceptions, this team is very good at tackling. They have minimized yards after the catch all season long which forces their opponents to slowly drive the field. When you combine their ability to prolong drives and their aptitude for intercepting the ball, you understand why they are so hard to score against.
• Depth: What makes KMEZ’s offence especially hard to stop is their depth. There is not one main target who you can take away which will result in their offence grinding to a halt. Alexi Dubois (aka me) led this team in receiving yards during the regular season, but he is far from being the main threat on this team. James Drysdale has the speed and athleticism to beat you in any which way and Ignacio Valdez Manzanedo has some of the most reliable hands in the division. Even if you manage to take those three options away, you still have Abigail Cockerton to deal with who quietly amassed some very impressive stats.

Weakness:

• Mental mistakes: This team can be their own worst enemy and the second half of their last game against Fitsquad proves that. After taking a commanding lead in the first half, KMEZ nearly squandered it by throwing three picks in the second. The same thing applies on defence. They can become too comfortable in their calls and their athletic abilities which results in them conceding big plays. Y&Y exposed their vulnerability to those big chunk plays by scoring two deep posts against them in week 11.

Fitsquad

Road to the Championship: After a shaky start to the season, Fitsquad finished with five wins in their final six games. Their only loss came at the hands of Kiss My End Zone in week 10. That impressive end to the season was enough to secure them the second seed in the division and a bye to the semifinals where they faced off against the three seed, Y&Y. They wound up winning that defensive affair 19-13. While Felix Goulet might not have looked impressive in that one, throwing for 132 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs, other aspects of their offence impressed, most notably their female receivers. Alexandra Falcon-Korb was the teams leading receiver and accounted for nearly half of Fitsquad’s offensive output. Their second leading receiver was Frédéric Chevarie. In addition to totaling 25 receiving yards, Chevarie also hauled in a crucial touchdown catch. Falcon-Korb totaled just 67 receiving yards during the regular season, so to see her go off in the playoffs is a huge boost for Fitsquad. Getting meaningful production out of their female receivers could be the key to victory over Kiss My End Zone.

Strengths:

• Rusher: The best way to describe Hugo Lépine is fast. He gets to the quarterback quick than any other rusher in Coed 2. David de Andrade loves buying extra time in the pocket and he relies on avoiding the rusher to do so. If Lépine can sack de Andrade early and force him to change his game, Lépine could be the difference makes for Fitsquad in this final.
• Female players: Throughout the season Fitsquad have been getting more and more production from their female players. Fitsquad have also been getting better as the season has progressed and those two factors are directly related. Offensively Fitsquad will be expecting another big game out of Falcon-Korb. Defensively, Laurence Pontbriand has been a thorn in KMEZ’s side all season long. She picked them off twice in week 10 and she is definitely hoping for a repeat performance in the finals.

Weakness:

• Offensive playcalling: I have already talked about this, but Fitsquad have an unhealthy relationship with the deep ball. There is a reason why Felix Goulet has been throwing an interception a game and it is not because of his arm talent. If Fitsquad take what the opposing defence gives them instead of being greedy and going for the deep shot, they will be extremely hard to stop.

Semifinals Team of the Week

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. For the Coed team of the week, there will always be a minimum of two women on the offensive and defensive team.

Offence

Quarterback: Jeremy White (EZFun) 20 completions, 255 passing yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Samuel Emilio Pelchat (EZFun) 6 receptions, 81 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Alexandra Falcon-Korb (Fitsquad) 5 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: George Jean Louis (3HUNNAS) 6 receptions, 97 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Jean-Christophe Ferland (EZFun) 6 receptions, 89 yards, 4 TDs

Receiver: Emilie Pfeiffer-Badoux (Party Mix) 7 receptions, 74 yards, 3 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Hugo Lépine (Fitsquad) 3 tackles, 2 sacks

Defensive Back: Annabelle Boutin (EZFun) 6 tackles

Defensive Back: Alex Laroche (Kiss My End Zone) 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Marilou Côté Noël (Party Mix) 4 tackles   

Defensive Back: Wade Jr. Shallcross (Power Rangers) 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Justin Weir (Y&Y) 2 INTs

Finals Predictions

Power Rangers vs EZFun – Coed 1

Element	Advantage	Explanation
Quarterback Play	Power Rangers	Tam Vilaydeth has been here and done it before. While White might be just as good, Vilaydeth’s experience gives him the edge.
Receivers	EZFun	EZFun have much more depth than Power Rangers at the receiver position. Any EZFun receiver can go off at any given moment and Samuel Emilio Pelchat proved that in the semis.
Female Players	Power Rangers	Power Rangers win this one and it is not even close. Farmer and Millaire are tremendous threats on both sides of the ball.
Rusher	Power Rangers	EZFun have used a rotation of rushers, none of whom has more than six sacks. On the other hand, Vilaydeth has proven to be a reliable rusher at any level.
Secondary	EZFun	While Power Rangers have 19 INTs on the season whereas EZFun have just 14, EZFun have seen 9 different people record a pick which speaks to the depth of their secondary.

The most interesting matchup in this game will be the one between Jeremy White and Tam Vilaydeth. While talking about opposing quarterbacks going head-to-head is so typical it borderlines on overdone, I am actually talking about White vs Vilaydeth the rusher matchup. In their week 1 confrontation that Power Rangers won, White was sacked four times. He threw for less than 100 yards and posted a 63.4 QBr. Simply put, it was his worst came of the season. If Vilaydeth can have a similar impact in this game, it will not be pretty for EZFun. Another advantage that Power Rangers have is how they use their female players in the redzone. Power Rangers two leading targets in the redzone are Jasmine Farmer and Constance Millaire. They caught a stunning total of 23 of Power Rangers 50 passing touchdowns. On the other hand, EZFun completed just nine touchdown passes to their female players. In simple terms, that means that Power Rangers are looking at all five of their receivers in the redzone and high-pressure situations whereas EZFun focus on their male players.

Across the board, EZFun have countless hurldes they need to overcome to have a chance of winning this one. White needs to find a way to overcome Vilaydeth as a rusher, their female players need to get more involved in the passing game and EZFun needs to limit the ever-explosive Serge Pilon. While I can see them achieving one or even two of those three keys to victory, I do not think it is likely that they will achieve all three.

Prediction: Power Rangers

Kiss My End Zone vs Fitsquad – Coed 2

Element	Advantage	Explanation
Quarterback Play	Kiss My End Zone	While Felix Goulet might have the most arm talent in this division, David de Andrade won QB of the year for a reason. His reading of the play and experience at the position are unrivalled in Coed 2.
Receivers	Kiss My End Zone	James Drysdale is one of the athletic players in the division and he was not even the teams leading receiver. KMEZ have a deep receiving core and every player poses a unique threat.
Female Players	Fitsquad	Laurence Pontbriand is an absolute beast and Alexandra Falcon-Korb is a newly emerging star for this team. Fitsquad’s female players are difference makers and that should scare KMEZ.
Rusher	Fitsquad	Hugo Lépine is the best rusher in the division. He finished the season with division high 12 sacks and has the speed to cause real issues for de Andrade.
Secondary	Tie	While Fitsquad might have more interceptions than their rivals, KMEZ do a better job at forcing turnovers on downs. This one is a tossup. Whichever secondary plays better on Sunday will probably lead their team to victory.

My least favorite part about writing is writing about my own team. Predicting whether or not my team will win the finals is definitely the most excruciating experience of my FPF writing career, so here goes nothing.

Fitsquad were their own worst enemy the last time these two teams faced off. Felix Goulet insisted on chucking the ball deep and that wound up costing his team the game. He had open receivers for easy 5-yard completions but instead preferred to try and find a receiver 30 yards downfield. Three of his four interceptions came on ill-advised shots downfield. The main key to victory for Fitsquad is patience. They need to be content with taking the short completions and marching the ball down the field five yards at a time.

As for Kiss My End Zone, the name of the game is limiting turnovers. David de Andrade has thrown 10 interceptions this season and 7 of those have come against Fitsquad. That is a crazy and terrifying stat for KMEZ. While they were able to throw three interceptions and still escape with the victory the last time these teams met, that is not something they should bank on in the finals. De Andrade needs to realize that he does not need to score every drive for his team to win. KMEZ average just 12.7 points against a game so they can very well win this one even if they only score on half of their possessions. What that means for de Andrade is that he does not need to force the ball into tight windows, and he does not need to make risky throws. There is nothing wrong with ending a drive with a punt. As long as KMEZ are punting instead of throwing interceptions, this should be a good game for them.

Predicting a winner is just about impossible for me. I can see this game going either, but in the end, I cannot bet against my own team.

Prediction: Kiss My End Zone.

There you have it, your final Coed article of the season! You are not quite done with me yet since I will be in the booth calling the Coed 1 finals on Saturday. I hope you all enjoyed the articles! If you have anything to say or if you think you can do a better job than me at writing the articles and want to takeover, feel free to email me letting me know at [email protected]

Enjoy your few days off and we will start this all over again when the Spring/Summer season kicks off on June 5^th.