Week two of the FPF season kicked off Saturday, Dec.16th. On that first day, we saw four teams in action with the Wildcats, Musketeers, Buckeyes and Hurricanes taking the wins. Those were the four games I had the privilege of seeing this week and I was thrilled to see just how close some of those games were. In fact, three of the four games were decided by a single touchdown. Even in the one game that had a larger score differential, it never felt like the game was out of reach for the Buckeyes. As a fan of the sport of football, these close and exciting games are what I look forward to.

After spending two weeks watching the kids play and being with them on the sidelines, what really impresses me is their boundless energy. After going through an entire offensive sequence, they’re on the sidelines tossing the ball around oblivious to the possible repercussions to the head of the nearby scorekeeper (me!). Jokes aside, it’s this energy both on and off the field that I love about FPF junior. The kids always look like they’re having a good time and that is exactly what we want.

Without further adieu, here are the recaps from week two action at the Loyola and Brossard fields.

 

Recaps

• Wildcats (7) vs Western Patriots (6)

The Wildcats, after a bye week in week 1, kicked off their season versus the Western Patriots in one of the closest matches of the week. The Wildcats, varsity division, were playing a crossover match. That is to say, they were playing a team from the younger sophomore division. The Wildcats started the game with Sara Bouchard under center and she quickly developed a very productive partnership with her center Franky Danis. Out of her six completed passes in the first half, five found their way to Franky Danis who racked up an impressive 54 yards in the first half alone. In large part what contributed to Sara Bouchard’s success was her faith in the short ball. The majority of her passes went not much further than 10 yards in the air. She let her talented receivers do the rest of the work and accumulate the yards by breaking tackles. This short dink and dunk approach keeps a good rhythm to things as well as preventing interceptions. In the second half, Nicholas Di Maulo stepped in at quarterback and quickly realised his team had one major advantage over the Patriots: height. With that realisation in mind, he turned to his tallest offensive weapon, Xavier Orsat-Parker with whom he combined twice in the same sequence do drive the 40 yards to the opposing end zone and collect the 7 points his team would need to win the game.

The Western Patriots proved that age does not to correlate to talent as they held their older and more experienced opponents to within a point. In fact, going into the second half, they were leading their opponents by six. The Patriots had a hard time passing the ball against their bigger opponents but coach Paul Haddad wisely found other ways for his team to stay in the game. On offence, they scored their 6 points thanks to a swift rushing touchdown by Adam Callender but it was the Western Patriot’s defence that caused the biggest headache for their opponents. Despite being smaller players, Justin Charles still managed a pick. Other than the pick, the Western Patriots were able to limit their opponents to 7 points not by being more physical but by playing smart defense. They did a great job getting ahead of the Wildcats’ defenders and limiting passing options for the opposing quarterbacks. Even though the Patriots did not manage a win, they should still be very proud of the way they played against a squad of talented, older and bigger opponents.

 

 

• Musketeers (6) vs Gators (0)

This second matchup of the week was one I was very much looking forward to. Both teams proved their strength with wins in week one and this week, we saw them go head to head at Loyola. As expected, the game was a close affair with the final outcome being decided by a single touchdown. The Musketeers offence, led by Elizia Laberge, did not put up the same big numbers they did last week but they still managed to get things done. Elizia Laberge used the dangerous combination of Zachary Nelson and Lucas Piscopos fully to her advantage. Those two are tall athletic receivers with plenty of big play ability. The scoring play for the Musketeers came on an 11 yard rush from just outside the red zone by Lucas Piscopos. While their offence looked solid, what really impressed me was the stellar play of their defence. The Gators proved last week that they have a dangerous group of receivers,

but the Musketeers defence was still able to keep them under control. That defensive effort was spearheaded by the two way standout Lucas Piscopos who accumulated a brace of tackles, interceptions and defended passes. While he may not have racked up the impressive numbers of his teammate, call-up Kevin De Serres-Payne really impressed me with his play. Despite being a call-up from a younger division and not as big as some of the other players on the turf, he definitely was solid on defence. His man rarely ever got open and he contributed to shutting down the Gators. To add to his solid play, he also intercepted the opposing quarterback to help his team close out the game and maintain the shutout. The Musketeers are now 2-0 on the season and they proved that they are good enough to win even without their full roster.

On the Gators end of the ball, it was once again their defence that was impressive. After two weeks of football, the Gators have only conceded a total of six points. Now all they need to do is to get things going on the offensive side of the ball. This team has the potential to be a formidable one if they can get things really clicking offensively. Their solid defensive play was headlined by the impressive play of Jacob Ostiguy. That solid defensive play was headlined by two crucial defended passes. Jacob Ostiguy was given the very difficult task of covering the Musketeers big talented receivers. As a smart flag player, Jacob Ostiguy did not attempt to out muscle players to get to the ball, but he rather played smarter than the man he was covering. On one of those occasions, he was tasked with covering the Musketeers in man coverage in the end zone. It looked like his opponents were about to double the score when he leapt out, got a hand on the ball and kept the game within reach for his team. The solid defensive effort of the Gators was not only a product of Jacob Ostiguy’s impressive play but rather a team effort. The Gators were able to limit their opponents thanks to contributions from Edward Leclerc, Nicholas Koussaie and many more members of the Gators’ defensive corps. After two weeks, it is clear that the Gators have a championship level defence. Now, if they can get their offence on par with their defence, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

• Buckeyes (27) vs Bulldogs (22)

This match was one of the most interesting of the week. We saw two teams that were clicking offensively and it was a joy to watch. The Buckeyes quarterback had a particularly big night. Jahmaal Roach went off for a massive twelve completions, 163 yards and four touchdowns. I know that I found his poise in the pocket as well as his arm strength to be remarkable. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one impressed. Other spectators also commented on just how composed he was. I think a large part of his success was due to the fact that he did not simply use one receiver but rather spread the ball to six different targets. In many teams, we see a quarterback target a single receiver with a disproportionate amount of balls. However good that receiver may be, the defence will clue in and shut him down. On the other hand, spreading the ball like Jahmaal Roach did on Saturday keeps the opposing defence honest, keeps receivers happy and permits you to rack up the yards. Out of his receivers, Adam Bateman had a particularly big night. He caught three passes for an impressive total of 74 yards as well as two touchdowns along the way.

On the Bulldogs side, they did just about everything in this game except win. They had success passing the ball, rushing the ball and creating turnovers. On most nights, that should be enough to win. However, when you come across a red hot Jahmaal Roach, winning is never an easy task. The Bulldogs came very close though. With no time left on the clock and 3 plays to go, they connected in the end zone to take a three point lead over their opponents. They then succeeded in going for two to take the lead by a single point with two plays left to go. While the Buckeyes did come back to win the game, many Bulldogs had an exceptional match. Leading the charge on defence was Nicholas Manolopoulos. He registered no less than 5 tackles and a defended pass. Oh, did I mention that he also ran back his interception for a touchdown? On the other end of the ball, the Bulldogs did not rack up the hundreds of yards their opponents did, but they used their yards much more efficiently. They capped off two of their drives with TD passes to Alessandro Frassetti and another to Tristan Dermody. The Bulldogs showed definite improvement over their performance from last week. They came so close to victory they could taste it. Hopefully, after the break, they get their first win of the season.

 

• AP Hurricanes (44) vs Buckeyes (20)

After their dramatic last minute win over the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes had only minutes to rest and refocus before playing their second match of the day, this time versus the dangerous AP Hurricanes. The Hurricanes started the game with Marco Gentile under center. In his half of work, he completed four passes for a phenomenal 103 yards as well as two TDs. The highlight of that half was his electrifying 40 yard touchdown pass to receiver Kevin Beaumier. After that impressive first half of work, Nicholas Masella took over the reigns of the offence. Even though Kevin Beaumier transitioned to receiver, he did not stop producing. Playing out wide, he caught three passes, all touchdowns, for a total of 73 yards. In total, Nicholas Masella took the second by half by storm completing all six of his passes for 111 yards and 4 touchdowns. On the other end of the ball, two of the Hurricanes players really stood out. Most notable, was the play of Ashtin Philistin. He racked up an outstanding 8 tackles. He was also jumping routes so fast opposing receivers were limited to very few yards after the catch. On two occasions, he got to the ball so quickly, he was able to bat it down. On defense, Rafael Poisson-Vecchio also did an outstanding job. Much like his teammate, he racked up the tackles (5) and anticipated routes to keep the Buckeyes in check. The impressive play of Rafael Poisson-Vecchio and Ashton Philistin held an extremely dangerous Buckeyes offence to 22 points and played a key role in their team’s win.

After their big win just an hour before, the Buckeyes put up a valiant fight but they just weren’t able to produce the same magic they did in their previous game. Despite not leaving Brossard with the W, they still played a very good game. On offence, they tried out Adam Bateman as quarterback. He proved to his coaching staff that he was a very solid option as he threw for 91 yards and a touchdown while completing nearly 80% of his passes. Adam Bateman continued the trend set by Jamaal Roach by spreading the ball to seven different receivers. Out of those receivers, he completed four passes to Jacob Duncan for a total of 44 yards and tossed a 13 yard touchdown pass to Tahnyus Steer. After a first half of rest, Jahmaal Roach returned to quarterback but his comeback attempt was stopped short after two touchdowns. The Buckeyes proved in their first game of the day that they have a nose for victory. I’m sure that after the holiday break, they will get back to their winning ways.

 

Game of the Week

Buckeyes vs Bulldogs: With a few minutes left on the clock, the Bulldogs took possession of the ball and used up the remaining time to drive the length of the field. When the ref whistled to signal three plays, the Bulldogs used the first play to score a touchdown and take a narrow 1 point lead over their opponents. The Buckeyes, led by Jahmaal Roach then had two plays left to drive the entire length of the field to win the game. On the first play, Jahmaal Roach sent his receivers deep, saw no one open and took off for a twenty yard rush. He set the Buckeyes up for one final play with the game on the line. In that last play, he dropped back and heaved a long ball into the far left corner of the end zone. Adam Bateman miraculously met the ball and hauled it in for the epic game winning touchdown on the final play of the game.

 

Players of the Week

• Ashtin Philistin: The Hurricanes standout corner had a massive game versus the Buckeyes. He shutdown one of the league’s most dangerous offences with 8 tackles and two defended passes.
• Louis Vincent: He was a crucial part of the Thunder’s impressive 30-0 win over the Dusters. He shutdown the always dangerous Adam Malinoff. He had a league leading 5 sacks on the night and proved to be a true FPF sack-master.

 

 

Well, there we have it. Week two is now in the books. We saw some great performances this week. The games I saw at Loyola showed off great defense while the two Brossard games were exciting offensive affairs. Teams now have two weeks off to have fun, recuperate, improve and most importantly, enjoy the holidays.

I had a great time on the sidelines with you these first two weeks and watching you all play was fantastic even though I wish I was still out there playing as well. I look forward to seeing you all back on the field after the holidays.

With that, I wish you all happy holidays and a merry new year.