Week 2, already, really?

Yes, it’s been two weeks of highs and lows and we’ve reached the quarter point of the season. It’s crazy how quickly an 8-week season can unravel. It’s an absolute pleasure to see kids with huge smiles on their faces playing a sport that they love every week; hopefully they won’t fade for the next few weeks.

With now 2 weeks under every team’s belt, we can officially see real change; team dynamic is building up, players have learnt the playbook and are starting to make a real difference out there. I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next 6 weeks.

Starting this week, we’ll inaugurate Stade de Montréal (Papineau) for our FPF Jr community and return to Kirkland as we’ll no longer use our Lachine venue. I’ve told many of you so far, but you’ll fall in love with how beautiful Stade de Montréal truly is.

The mandatory practice sessions for Varsity is now over and the games will now last the entire hour. We’ll continue with the half-and-half 30 minutes for Freshman (First 30 minutes will be practice, last 30 minutes will be a game). Sophomore will feature at least one more week with practices in a 15-45 format (first 15 minutes will be practice and last 45 will be a game).

Let’s get started.

 

Week 2

From nail bitters all the way to blowouts, Week 2 did not fail to disappoint as we’ve touched upon every single factor in the diagram of emotions. William Bradford continues to impress, Hurricanes’ defense still remains a top contender, Yellow Jackets found their ways, Mustangs suffer their first loss in a close race, Voltigeurs put on a show and Cougars turn things around to end up on top.

Overall, just another traditional FPF week.

 

Recaps

Varsity Division

• Longhorns vs Cougars

It’s never easy to take the field without your starting QB, but Longhorns managed to turn things around pretty quickly in their favor as David Salonichinos took the snaps for his team, showed incredible speed and bought just enough time to spread the ball to 8 (!!!) different receivers on Sunday morning. Due to a safety closing in the first half, Longhorns’ lead was cut to 3 points (12-9) instead of 5 and Cougars built on that momemtum going forward. Although their first few offensive drives were bleak, Kaelen Trepanier showed off his deep accuracy (beautiful throws to Jayden Hogan, Olivier Gauthier and Jaden Dupere who all benefited from it) and their offence got going. The addition of Erica Dubois as a rusher turned out to be the X-Factor in this week’s game as she ended up with 4 sacks (including a safety) and contained the opposing QB for most of the night forcing some improper throws.

 

• Lions vs Mustangs

Speaking of close games, this one came down to the wire as Lions’ QB Evan White made his FPF debut and showed tremendous talent for most of the night. Dropping dimes to receivers Bradley Parent, Jake Applebaum and Greg Perrett looked effortless and Lions’ offense might just steal the show for the next few weeks. Nonetheless, Mustangs provided a fantastic challenge as rusher Aidan Bienstock made some plays defensively, QB Coby White continues to play risk-free and rushed for a nice 50 yards this week as he distributed 2 scores to A.J. Titleman and Max Kadanoff. Being the only undefeated team left in their division, Lions now have a nice little target on their backs they’ll have to account for every single week going forward; can they maintain it?

 

Sophomore Division

• Voltigeurs vs Dusters

Voltigeurs looked unstoppable on Sunday morning as QB Simon Boudreault ran for 2 touchdowns (on 2 rushes) got a pick-six defensively (him and Frederic Leclerc managed the exploit) alongside with a bunch of other stats that are making me consider him for my football team now. I’m also starting to think that having Felix Joly might be cheat codes. Although the game looked one-sided, Dusters never gave up. Plagued with drops at mid-field for most of the hour (and almost all of them resulted in Interceptions) and poor deflagging display, they simply had a bad outing. QB Adam Malinoff made some really good throws (and his pump fake is something else entirely) that showed promise. If they can work out the kinks over the week, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in no time.

 

• Fighting Irish vs Yellow Jackets

Jonatan Lebensztajn-Shahrabani got a chance to play QB this week and impressed quite a few bystanders by making some pretty great throws (it does help when two of your receivers are Luke Moreau and Lucas Piscopos who both finished the night with over 20 yards receiving and a TD). With a new strategy of going for two on converts, Fighting Irish might just have found their silver lining. On the flip side, it was all Garner Ross for most of the hour. After a tough debut, he showed up in week 2 to throw 5 touchdowns and finish with an astonishing 146.3 QBR. Throwing 3 of his 5 Tds to Jonathan Jagerman (who’s quickly turning into one of the top receivers in his division), there was little doubt Yellow Jackets were on their way to an impressive victory. With the help of DB Adam Perks who got himself 2 Pds and an interception and rusher Evan Dias-Juliao who simply doesn’t get enough credit for his 3 sacks, Yellow Jackets really turned things around since their week 1 outing.

• Hurricanes vs Wildcats

The top defense in the division was tasked with restraining the high-octane Wildcats’ offense to minimal points (no easy task), but managed to keep their opponents to a mere 15 points and showed great prowess. Rusher Brenden Urquhart continues to be the heart and soul of his defense as he makes every QB he faces struggle. DB Ashtin Phillistin (from what I’ve heard) made a fantastic play on his Pass Deflected; can’t wait to see what he has in store for week 3. On the flip side, Wildcats’ defense gave Hurricanes’ Marco Gentile a tough time as William Bradford, Matthew Robertson and Giuliano Longo all had Pds on the day and Noah Smallwood got himself a nice sack. If their offense continues to be this prolific behind such a talented defense, Wildcats might quickly turn into the most talked-about team in FPF.

 

Freshman Division

• Musketeers vs Panthers

This week’s Freshman duel featured the two previously undefeated teams. Panthers’ opted for QB Kevyn De Serres-Payne under center this week who was almost perfect (5/6, 60 yards, 2 Tds and a 147.9 QBR; the highest of the week all divisions combined) and distributed passes to 4 different receivers (Massimo Longo made the most of them finishing with 50 yards and a TD). Defensively, Massimo Longo managed to frustrate QB Kaydon Shaw with an interception, but it simply wasn’t enough to stop Musketeers. With one receiving touchdown and a pick-six defensively, Massimo Moufrage earned himself the game-ball and X-factor title in this week’s game. Both offenses looked great out there and the defenses made plays; I can’t wait to see how these guys will fare down the stretch.

 

Players of the Week

• Eric Flinker (Longhorns): With two receiving touchdowns, a sack and a PD, he left it all on the field for his team this week.
• Erica Dubois (Cougars): With 4 sacks in her FPF debut, she had an instant impact.
• Simon Boudreault (Voltigeurs): 1 sack, 3 interceptions (including a pick-six), 2 rushing Tds and a bunch of passing yards. Is there anything he cannot do?
• Massimo Moufrage (Musketeers): A receiving touchdown and a pick-six on defense; a very impressive performance by him this week.
• Massimo Longo (Panthers): With 50 receiving yards, a touchdown and an interception on defense, he did all he could to help his team on Sunday.
• Garner Ross (Yellow Jackets): 5 passing Tds and a 146.3 QB Rating. I’m super impressed. À
• Jonatan Jagerman (Yellow Jackets): I rarely put two players from one team, but what he did this week was spectacular finishing with 3 receptions for 67 yards and 3 Tds.

 

Crystall Ball and Shenanigans

• Musketeers vs Tigers

In the first of their double-header this week, Musketeers will try to fight back Tigers’ attempt at a rematch after Week 1’s loss. With Alex Paliotti’s ability to run across the entire field with ease, Musketeers’ defense will have a handful to simply try and contain him which is bound to open up the field for Justin Swaminadhan and Thomas Hemens. Will Tigers figure out Kaydon Shaw and force risky throws? Time will tell.

 

• Mustangs vs Cougars

Cougars continue to build up in confidence with the two new additions of Erica Dubois rushing and Jayden Hogan receiving giving Kaelen Trepanier nice weapons to play with. If they can find a way to limit the trio of Coby White, A.J. Titleman and Max Kadanoff, Cougars might just improve to a 2-1 record, but don’t misunderstand me; limiting the trio isn’t an easy feat.

 

• Panthers vs Musketeers

In their second game of their double-header, Musketeers will look to build on their track record against the Panthers and continue their winning streak. Seeing how well both teams performed last week, there’s little doubt this game will once again come down to the final few plays and this might just be our closest game of the entire day. If they find a way to contain receiver Caleb Perks, this week’s MVP might just be Davyd Jefferies if he can haul in another touchdown this week.

 

• Lions vs Longhorns

Being the only undefeated team and having their QB back must bolster Lions’ confidence heading into Sunday’s game against Longhorns. In fact, I’m almost certain Jake Applebaum will haul in at least one touchdown and 50+ yards. If Alex Kahan shows up for Longhorns, we might just have another fantastic game on our hands; David Salonichinos’ speed could be used as a 2^nd potential QB and receiver alongside Alex Kahan’s ability to buy time in the pocket. With receivers like Eric Flinker and Spencer Fitzpatrick, there’s no doubt this one will come down to the wire on Sunday afternoon in Kirkland.

 

• Yellow Jackets vs Wildcats

After this week’s amazing performance, all eyes will be on Garner Ross and Jonatan Jagerman instead of William Bradford and Noah Smallwood for the first time this season. Both teams have explosive offenses backed with superb plays from their defenses (whether it’s Charles Presser or Noah Smallwood rushing, both can make game-changing plays). This might just turn out to be the best game of the week. Could we see our first game with both teams over 30 points?

 

• Fighting Irish vs Voltigeurs

Voltigeurs look unstoppable so far offensively, but will Fighting Irish’ ability to convert for 2 every single touchdown be the X-factor this week? Could the pressure be the way to get into Voltigeurs’ head and force mistakes? From what I’ve seen so far from Jonatan Lebensztajn-Shahrabani’ abilities, he should be more than able to crack the Voltigeurs’ defense and find ways to move the chains. Fighting Irish will big plays from their rusher if they want to be able to contain Simon Boudreault and keep the score tight; will they be able to do just that?

 

• Hurricanes vs Dusters

There will be no gimmies this season for Dusters as they’ll face one of the best defense in the division in their attempt to turn things around in their favor. From what I’ve seen this week from Adam Malinoff, I’m not too worried about Dusters and their ability to move the chains; as long as last week’s bad case of drops was a fluke. With receivers like Evan Shiveck and Matthew Eiley, they should be more than fine. Hurricanes’ will have to work on their offense to put up points this week if they want to pile in the W column. With playmakers like Nicholas Masella and Kevin Beaumier, I’m sure Marco Gentile will have nice numbers this week.

 

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!