FPF Junior Playoff Previews

While most of the world is gearing up and watching the Olympics, I am getting ready for the FPF Junior playoffs. Ok fine, that might be a bit of a lie. I am watching the Olympics every night, but I am also looking forward to the FPF Jr playoffs which are going down this Saturday in Laval. For the first time this season, I will also be on hand to watch and scorekeep the games.

Since the regular season is over, we also know what our semi-final matchups will be. I will do a breakdown of the matchups in every single division and predict how the playoff picture will turn out. Since I will be doing extensive audio predictions, I will skip the audio game recaps this week.

Week 5 Game of the Week

Rosemere (24) vs Musketeers (26)

While the Musketeers might have won this game to remain undefeated, this was definitely their closest match of the season. This Musketeers team had become used to winning games by 20 points or more. The last time they only won by one score was back in week 1 when they beat the Panthers 18-13. Since then, this team has looked invincible. 

In this game versus Rosemere, it was not that the Musketeers played a bad game or made mistakes which resulted in the score being closer than it should be. Rosemere simply played a fantastic game and came within a few plays of beating the very best team in the division. That effort by Rosemere all started with the tremendous play of Noah Swaminadham who completed over 75% of his passes on his way to passing for 165 yards and four scores. I know I have been saying this for weeks now, but I think there are two keys to a great offence in FPF Jr. The first is to keep play calling simple and complete lots of easy passes. Rosemere averaged just under 8 yards per completion so clearly they kept things simple. The second key is to spread the ball and Rosemere did just that. Justin Swaminadham led the charge with eight for 60 yards and a score. While Justin Swaminadham had a ton of catches, they had three other receivers with five or more targets. By following those two simple steps, they were able to go toe to toe with the best team in the division.

On the defensive side of the ball, Rosemere might not have produced an interception or even a sack, but they came up clutch when it mattered the most. On third down, they only let the high-powered Musketeers offence convert once. On fourth down they were even better. The Musketeers attempted two fourth down plays and Rosemere stopped them both times. In my book, that is as good as two interceptions.

As for the Musketeers, they did just enough to win this one. George Koutsoukos was perfect as he has been all season. He might only have completed 12 passes, but that is all he needed to tally 168 passing yards and four scores. On the receiving end of things, the Musketeers really have a three headed monster. In this game, Princeton Cruickshank led the group with four catches for 64 yards and two scores. Massimo Moufrage came up huge in this game as well. While he only caught three passes, one of those was a 40-yard bomb near the end of the game which was the game winning score. Rounding up their trio of fantastic receivers is Jordan Pennestri. The one shortcoming of the Musketeers in this game was their dropped and incomplete passes. They were only able to complete 12 passes. While that was enough to win them this game, if the Musketeers hope to go on and win the championship, they will want to get that completion total above 20.

Playoff Predictions

Freshman 1 Playoff Preview

Freshman 2 Playoff Preview

Sophomore 1 Playoff Preview

Sophomore 2 Playoff Preview

The playoffs are now only a few hours away and the forecast for Saturday morning in Laval is perfect. It should be a brisk sunny morning which is great football weather. Ultimately every team’s season comes down to this one playoff day. The beauty of this format is that if a team shows up hot, you never know what can happen!

Also, stay tuned because the yearly Dubois awards will be coming out soon. In addition to the trophies that will be handed out this weekend, I will be naming the top performers at each position in every division. These awards will not come with a trophy, but rather the recognition of knowing you had an outstanding season.

Good luck to all of the teams and see you all Saturday.