Bye Week.

I’ll be honest, at first glance, I wasn’t a fan of the idea of a bye week for FPF Jr. It felt a bit weird to introduce a bye week past the mid-point for everyone, but having spent a lot more time on the side lines talking to parents and players, the bye week is a formidable idea.

Not only will it allow coaches extra time to tweak their playbook AND test it before the playoffs come rolling in, but it also gives players time to spend time away from the game, miss it a bit and come back hungrier. Let’s not even discuss the repercussions for every parent who’ll get to sleep in this Sunday, am I right!

The long weekend will allow everyone to grab a breath of fresh air and come back more passionate on Sunday May 28^th. It also prevents teams from scrambling left and right to find players as many will be out of town and missing for the game.

All in all, another great initiative. I love my job (please don’t fire me).

All jokes aside, we are introducing a FPF Jr podcast next week as an extra mediatic outlet. More details about the podcast in next week’s weekly email. We will keep you posted, promise.

Let’s get started.

 

Week 5

Yellow Jackets continue their offensive dominance, Fighting Irish clinch their first win of the season, Lions roared back after allowing early scores to shutout Mustangs, Panthers bounced back really well after their early loss and Cougars won a barnburner. It was another great weekend.

 

Recaps

Varsity Division

• Cougars vs Longhorns

Although some could say it was the duel of the underdogs, the way Olivier Gauthier has been developing under center is showing great potential. Cougars found success in Ryan McGrath’s ridiculous ability to be everywhere at once on defence AND offence, a good rushing series from Vaughn Vanslet in Erica Dubois’ absence and Jayden Hogan’s ability to turn a small route into a 40 yard gain. Longhorns fought back valiantly with QB Alex Kahan back to almost 100%, but David Salonichinos’ absence and Spencer Fitzpatrick not present definitely hurt their chances. Kudos to Jonathan Atlan who rushed really well against a deceptively fast Olivier Gauthier and kept the game close, but ultimately Longhorns fell to Cougars 24-21. The emergence of Brandon Rudie as a receiver will pay dividends in a few weeks if they can bolster a full squad.

 

• Lions vs Mustangs

Starting off the very first play offensive play with an interception that Coby White almost brought back for six, Mustangs felt very confident in their ability to upset the undefeated Lions. Going for two on both converts and actually getting them give a 16-6 lead to Mustangs early and kept Lions on their heels, but smart coaching and attention to details actually proved victorious as Lions adjusted defensively and did not allow any other score for the entire hour. Evan White threw for 201 yards before stepping aside and letting Jacob Soles give QB a shot late in the 2^nd half. Catching a 38 yard TD was quite an impressive sight for the QB-turned-WR and shows great athletism; is there something Evan White cannot do? Jake Applebaum went off, once again, for an impressive offensive performance with 4 touchdowns. Mustangs can find comfort in their early game performance and the absence of key players on both sides of the ball; at full squad, there’s no way that game gets out of hand.

 

Sophomore Division

• Wildcats vs Fighting Irish

With Voltigeurs now out of the division, everyone expected Wildcats to become the new kings of the playground, but Fighting Irish had other plans in mind and executed it excessively well. By containing Jaden Frenette in the pocket as he played QB for the second time this season, the men in green gave themselves a fighting chance and QB Jonatan Lebensztajn-Shahrabani made some plays offensively connecting with Matteo Latulippe twice for scores and Max Moreau for the other. With him, Jacob Wilson and Max Moreau intercepting the opponent’s QB once each, Fighting Irish looked great. We’ve talked about their defensive prowess in the past and how they only needed their offence to find rhythm; if they can keep this up, Fighting Irish could make a serious push into the playoffs this season!

 

• Dusters vs Yellow Jackets

As much as I’ve talked about how good Dusters’ defence has been playing recently, it seemed like they had no answer for Charles Presser and Jonathan Jagermann on Sunday afternoon. In fact, the tandem went off for 4 of the 6 scores the team managed and Garner Ross had another very impressive outing. Coming off their first win of the season, Dusters looked very confident early in the game, but the size difference looked almost impossible to counter. Matthew Eiley had a good offensive performance with 2 scores, one in each half, and allowed Adam Malinoff to catch a break, but many key drops around the mid-field first down line on 3^rd and 4^th downs really killed their momemtum early and Dusters struggled to get it back. Turn these drops into completions and Dusters probably would’ve kept up with Yellow Jackets’ offensive outing as their playbook looked like the right way to approach this week’s game. With a rematch looming on Sunday May 28^th, I’m eager to see how it’ll pan out.

 

Freshman Division

• Panthers vs Musketeers

This Sunday’s opener showed a great performance by QB sensation Kaydon Shaw as Musketeers marched down the field four times to score and win 27-7. Panthers struggled offensively early in the first half to move the chains and Musketeers jumped on the opportunity to gain a 20-0 lead at half. With nice adjustments in the second half, Panthers fought back their opponents to only 7 points and Zev Diner scored on the last play of the game to give his team some momemtum going into the following game an hour later. With their next matchup in week 8, there’s plenty of time left to improve and come back ready to compete; I can’t wait to see what will be in store for us in that final rematch before the playoffs!

 

• Tigers vs Panthers

With an hour break between their two games, Panthers looked a bit sore in the first half of the game allowing Tigers to lead 13-8 after a great pick-six by Thomas Hemens and a very nice run by Alex Paliotti. When the dust settled, Panthers allowed Massimo Longo to do his thing and got a touchdown in pretty much every single way imaginable: a pick-six defensively, a run and a passing touchdown. With Emile Gagnon also stepping up defensively for his team and getting an interception (which he brought back for 6 too), Panthers looked in full control in the second half. With plenty of time before the playoffs to retool, Tigers might have found a new way to use Alex Paliotti; if Noah Swaminadhan can build from his experience, he could become a pretty strong QB by the end of the season. Time will tell!

 

Players of the Week

• Kaydon Shaw (Musketeers): Three passing touchdowns, one rushing and an interception defensively. He had himself a very good outing on Sunday morning.
• Ryan McGrath (Cougars): With two receiving touchdowns and two interceptions, there’s very little doubt he’ll have his name featured here. Keep it up.
• Massimo Longo (Panthers): In his second game, he really went off with a passing touchdown, a rushing one and a pick-six on defence. Quite the impressive feat.
• Jake Applebaum (Lions): He looked unstoppable offensively finishing with 107 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. He turned simple routes into huge gains like it was nothing.
• Charles Presser (Yellow Jackets): 86 receiving yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. What a week for Charles Presser!

 

Crystall Ball and Shenanigans

• Hurricanes vs Fighting Irish

Two of the best defences, in their own ways, face off against each other this week. With the division’s best rusher in Brenden Urquhart going up against Jonatan Lebensztajn-Shahrabani, I can only anticipate a fantastic matchup for the whole hour. If Hurricanes can find a way to avoid Jacob Wilson offensively and run the ball a few times via Marco Gentile’ impressive speed down the sidelines, they’ll find success early. Can they stop Max Moreau and Matteo Latulippe? According to last week’s performance, I’d say it won’t be the easiest feat.

 

• Wildcats vs Dusters

Coming off a bad offensive outing, Wildcats are looking to bounce back against the Dusters in their first game of their double-header. Considering Dusters play with a lot of emotions and tend to get easily riled up, they’ll need to start off strong if they want to make the most of these games. If they can start the series with an offensive TD, they might just have enough fuel to find an answer to William Bradford’s high-octane offence and a way to contain Noah Smallwood. By limiting him offensively, Dusters should give themselves a chance to turn things in their favor and allow Adam Malinoff to get the job done. Expect a big game out of unsung heroes like Evan Shiveck and Adam Lieblein.

 

• Yellow Jackets vs Dusters

Two games in two hours is no small feat, but Dusters have the roster and the manpower to get the job done. In their second game of the day, they’ll get their rematch against Yellow Jackets who seemed too much to handle last week. If they can find a way to avoid Charles Presser offensively and restrain the Jonathan Jagermann defensively, they stand a chance to upset. A good rush against Garner Ross is mandatory to limit him from going to his 2^nd and 3^rd read and moving the chains with ease. Forcing a few bad throws could turn into interceptions for Dusters and allowing them to capitalize. It all starts with Russell Bienstock in this one.

 

• Mustangs vs Voltigeurs

The first team to get a shot at the currently undefeated Voltigeurs are coming off a very upsetting game last week and will look to feast on the newcomers. Coby White has shown he’s developing really well into a top contender QB and he won’t let anyone step in his way. If Mustangs can keep the pressure with 2-point converts and find a way to stop the one-two punch that is Simon Boudreault and Felix Joly, they might shock the Voltigeurs for the first time this season. The presence of Dylan Hacker/AJ Titleman would greatly help them in this effort.

 

• Cougars vs Voltigeurs

Cougars against Voltigeurs allows for a fantastic matchup to come to light: Ryan McGrath vs Felix Joly. In previous weeks, they both have looked unstoppable on both sides of the ball, but this could all change on Sunday afternoon. Both players are gifted and FAST; it’s bound to create something special. Cougars seemed to have found themselves last week and are willing to prove to everyone that they belong; with players like Alexi Dubois and Olivier Gauthier out there, there’s little doubt these guys can turn a game around. I’m eager to see what kind of impact Frederic Leclerc and Vincent Drolet will have against guys their size; they’ve shown great football instincts so far.

 

• Tigers vs Musketeers

The last time these two teams faced, Tigers found their groove late in the second half to make a small comeback, but it was too little too late. Have they found the key to the Musketeers’ enigma, but simply didn’t have enough time? If their defence can continue to play lights out like it has in the past, they could potentially restrain Musketeers to a small scoring affair. Will this be the Musketeers’ first loss of the season?

 

• Lions vs Longhorns

Lions have looked unstoppable all season, but Longhorns’ QB Alex Kahan is back healthy and his ability to move in the pocket might just be the answer to pierce through Lions’ secondary. With playmakers like Spencer Fitzpatrick and Brandon Russie, they might just be able to spread the ball around just enough to frustrate the Lions. Can they stop Evan White’s offence or will we see our first game that features 30+ points on both sides of the ball? Both teams have the pieces to make it happen.

 

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully I’ll still have a job by week 2. Happy, annoyed, frustrated, humbled by my comments? Take a second to send me a quick message either via twiter (@DagenaisFPF) or via email ([email protected]) and I’ll be sure to rectify or simply explain my point of view. I’m also at the fields every Sunday; don’t be shy to drop by and talk some football!