Fourth-and-Goal (Div 4) – Week 14

I’d like to thank The Commission, Outlaws and Broccassion.

 

I thank you for the time you’ve spent with us in Division 4. I thank you for being a part of our FPF community, both on and off of the field. We’ll hopefully see you next season, or again next winter.

 

It also goes without saying that I’d like to congratulate our Division 4 champions, Mongoose.

 

The Finals

 

Bright lights, Brossard excitement. It’s astounding to see various members of our league, as well as supporters of each team, show up and pack themselves in the stands overseeing the field. Each team had their respective fans. Mongoose’s entourage, it would seem, not only made signs, but also brought their team’s mascot…a plush Timon stuffed animal.

{N.B.: I was under the impression that Timon was a meekrat, and not a mongoose. It would seem, however, that a meekrat is a type of mongoose.}

 

It was an eventful game, to say the least.

 

The first half was ripe with interceptions and turnovers from both sides. What was evident between the two teams, however, was that one team was not letting the turnovers get them down. Mongoose were cool and calm, not sweating the small stuff. Alex Gaudet, rather than dwelling on what was done, instead looked to what could be altered. Broccasion, on the other hand, were a little more difficult to read. It was evident, however, that Broccasion were playing an uncharacteristic game on offense, and Norman Weekes was frustrated to say the least.

 

A score of 19-19 at the half? Who would have thought? Certainly anyone who predicted the halftime score could not have foreseen what would come next…

 

18-0 for Mongoose in the second half? Come again? With monster games from Landry Legault and Cédric Nuckle, and a perfect second half from Alex Gaudet, all the pieces fell into place. It would appear that in Norman Weekes’ frustration he was forcing passes that weren’t likely to be completed. In all honesty, it looked like Broccasion had lost the drive to compete, and were just going through the motions.

 

In the end, we saw Mongoose hoisting that Division 4 trophy that they had worked so hard for. Mongoose can also claim that they are the only team to win a championship in a 40 team division, playing 15 games!

 

Looking Back

 

Mongoose were neither a preseason favorite, nor a team that I shed a lot of light on throughout the season. And yet, they were consistently running with the best teams in the division, and working hard. They had, arguably, the most difficult playoff schedule foreseeable. Let’s look at the checklist:

 

–        Played while other teams had a bye week

–        Played the hardest hitting offense in the division

–        Played an established team full of veterans

 

With those three games under their belts, how could they not be prepared for the finals? They simply continuously came in and did their thing. No flash, just results. While hindsight is 20/20, it does make sense that they could be the team to make it all work.

 

My Thanks

 

With this, I bid you all adieu for another month. I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read my article every week. I thank you for your patience when the article was a bit tardy, and I thank you all for the kind words on and off the field. Only in a league with this sense of community would I be able to continuously be motivated to write a weekly article. I thank you for keeping it interesting and I hope to see you all come springtime. At the very least, I’ll be waiting for you next Winter.