Inside the Red Zone (Div 3) – Week 9

Nine weeks are in the books- or on the website, and only one more left to go. I wish the best of luck to all those teams who still have a fighting chance to make it to the dance. It has been a season of many surprises and it leads me to believe that the post-season will be even more exciting. I like that there aren’t any first round byes for top seeded teams because that opens up the door for possible madness.

 

The Dirty Birds had an eventful four days of flag football. They defeated Prestige World Wide on Sunday and the Dirty Dawgers on Wednesday (more on them later in our Meet The Competition section). As a result, congratulations to the Dirty Birds on a perfect regular season, with a record of 10-0 (second time in franchise history). They seem to have locked up the first seed in conference A unless the D-Boys win their last game by a margin of 64 points.  

 

On a side note, a lot is being said regarding a possible collision course between the Dirty Birds and D-Boys (mainly from their own players) in the playoffs and it would only be possible if both teams reached the conference finals. This team last went 10-0 during the Winter 2009 season, and they capped it off by winning the D4 championship. Outside of all the collision course chatter, I am sure DK has something to say about that. Let’s also not forget that the Dirty Birds were upset in the first round of the playoffs last Winter by the Snookers. It’s going to be an interesting post-season for them.

 

Headlines

VPC wins a big game against the Trojans and inches closer to making the playoffs. They won by a score of 43-25; Robbie Robinson threw for 4 TDs and ran for two. Trojans had no answer for the running attack but bounced back on Wednesday to finish the season with a record of 8-2. As for VPC, the win puts them in a good position for clinching a playoff spot, but it will have to be done against another big opponent in the B.D. Bandits.

 

As I mentioned last week, the One Night Stands vs. G-MEN game would ruin one team’s post-season hopes and unfortunately for them, it turned out to be G-Men. It was a close as a game could be and ONS won it by 1 point, despite Neil Robertson throwing an interception. One Night Stands live to see another game but they are far from making the playoffs. They will need to beat the Legends and then hope for some different scenarios to go in their favor, however if there’s one thing I have learned, anything is possible in the world of flag football.

 

For the first time ever in FlagPlus Football history, we might have three teams at 10-0 in one division. Dirty Birds have done their part and it’s up to B.D Bandits and D-Boys, with the latter facing the Raw Dawgs. B.D. Bandits will definitely have a tougher task especially, since VPC just beat the Trojans and need to win to secure a playoff spot. Even if two teams end up finishing 10-0, it will still be a great feat.

 

STARWARS OF THE WEEK

QB: Alex Gaudet (Mongoose) 19 of 23 for 230 yards, 8 TDs.

Receiver: Paul Lapierre (Dirty Dawgers) 11 catches for 124 yards and 4 TDs.

DB: Simon Girard (Picksquad) 1 tackle, 3 INTs (1 for TD).

Rusher:  Ryan Aridi (DK) 3 sacks.

Team Defense: GPK – 2 INTs, 3 Sacks and 3 PD.

 

Playoff Race

Here are the up to date standings including the match ups on Wednesday March 20^th, 2013. There are still a few spots up for grabs so it will come down to the last week of the regular season.

 

Conference A

Team	W	L	T	PTS	+/-	DIV	Remaining Opponents
1.Dirty Birds	10	0	0	20	227	4-0-0	None
2. D-Boys	9	0	0	18	164	3-0-0	Raw Dawgs
3. DK	8	1	0	16	199	3-0-0	Les Eudistes
4.Les Eudistes	5	4	0	10	68	2-1-0	DK
5.Le Loft	5	4	0	10	44	1-2-0	Pap N’ Co
6.Dirty Dawgers	4	5	1	9	-8	1-2-0	None
7.PWW	4	5	0	8	-6	2-1-0	Picksquad
8.KGP Champs	3	5	1	7	-56	1-1-1	Lazy But Talented
9.Raw Dawgs	3	6	0	6	-7	2-1-0	D-Boys
10.Pap N’ Co	3	6	0	6	-12	1-2-0	Le Loft
11.CF	2	7	1	5	-129	0-3-1	None
12.Lazy But Talented	2	7	0	4	-135	1-2-0	KGP Champs
13.Picksquad	2	7	0	4	-213	1-2-0	PWW
14.Mongoose	2	8	0	4	-79	1-3-0	None
15.Eagles	1	7	1	3	-90	0-3-1	Rude Bwoys

 

*teams in bold have clinched playoffs

*teams in Italic are eliminated

 

Les Eudistes, Le Loft and Dirty Dawgers have clinched a playoff spot and CF is officially eliminated. Pap N’Co and Raw Dawgs have a chance to make the playoffs but have tough match ups in week 10. Raw Dawgs will take on the undefeated D-Boys and Pap N’Co will battle Le Loft. To make matters worse, PWW and KGP Champs face Picksquad and Lazy But Talented, respectively, whose combined record is 4-14. Nevertheless, Pap N’ Co and Raw Dawgs must focus on winning their games and then hope for some upsets.

 

Conference B

Team	W	L	T	PTS	+/-	DIV	Remaining Opponents
1.B.D. Bandits	9	0	0	18	140	3-0-0	VPC
2.Sandlot Saints	8	1	0	16	123	3-0-0	G-Men
3.Rude Bwoys	6	3	0	12	70	1-3-0	Eagles
4.Trojans	8	2	0	16	50	2-2-0	None
5.GPK	5	3	1	11	36	2-0-1	Afternoon Delight
6.VPC	5	4	0	10	-6	3-0-0	B.D. Bandits
7.Fighting Irish	5	5	0	10	2	1-3-0	None
8.Jonesers	5	5	0	10	-58	1-3-0	None
9.Served With Ice	4	3	2	10	46	1-0-2	Ball So Hard University
10.Afternoon Delight	4	4	1	9	21	2-0-1	GPK
11.One Night Stands	4	5	0	8	-41	2-1-0	Legends
12.Legends	4	5	0	8	-28	0-3-0	One Night Stands
13.G-Men	3	6	0	6	-6	2-1-0	Sandlot Saints
14.High Rollers	1	9	0	2	-115	0-4-0	None
15.Ball So Hard Uni.	1	8	0	2	-201	0-3-0	Served With Ice

 

*teams in bold have clinched playoffs

*teams in Italic are eliminated

 

GPK is the latest team to punch their ticket to the post-season and as shocking as it might sound, the G-MEN are officially eliminated. There are six teams fighting for three playoff spots. Since the Fighting Irish and the Jonesers have finished the finished with a 5-5 record, Served With Ice and Afternoon Delight are in a “win and you’re in” situation. There are many scenarios that can play out including possible tie game scenarios, so let’s sit back and see it unfold this upcoming weekend.

 

AWARDS

It’s the last week of regular season and here the updated list of candidates for the best QB, Receiver, DB and Two-way player.

 

Quarterback

Player	Yards	Comp %	TDs	INTs	Sacks	QB Rating
Rochdi Benabdelkader* (DK)	1835	65.2	50	6	2	123.6
Daniele Gentile (Dirty Birds)	2054	59.9	59	11	4	106.3
Marco Masciotra (D-Boys)	1884	72.4	46	9	0	120.6

*Played one less game (forfeit win)

Receiver

Player	Rec	Yards	TDs
Liam Mahoney (Afternoon Delight)	44	776	19
Louise Lafreniere-Dupont (Sandlot Saints)	41	622	20
Paul Lapierre (Dirty Dawgers)	47	632	16

 

Defensive Back

Player	Tackles	INTs	Sacks	PDs	TDs
Steve Sanner (B.D. Bandits)	45	6	0	16	1
Matthew Smith (GPK)	25	8	0	3	1
Matt Kirouac (D-Boys)	4	1	23	3	0

 

Two-Way Player                                  

	Offense			Defense
Player	Rec	Yards	TDs	TKL	INTs	Sacks	PDs	TDs
Eric Bishara (Dirty Birds)	34	471	14	22	3	10	5	0
Serge Pilon Jr (DK)	26	384	13	34	8	0	3	3

 

STAR-AWARDS

As promised, here are the categories for STAR-AWARDS:

 

Strongest Arm, Best Scorekeeper, Best Referee, Most Improved Player, Most Improved Team, Best Leader, Best Entertainer, Best GM, Fastest Man, Class Act (Adi Sharma award), Best Hands, Best Team Name, Best Team Picture, Best Route Runner, Cinderella team, Best Dresser (Ben Joseph award),  Best Trash Talker,  STARWAR of the year, League MVP and finally, the Moe Khan award.

 

N.B Please give your votes on our Facebook group. The winners will be announced in two weeks.

 

Meet the Competition: Dirty Birds

by: Justin Blanchard

 

In FlagPlus Football’s 15 seasons, one debate that remains unsettled to this day is that of roster sizes. For some teams, strength comes in numbers; for others, playing two-ways is the way to go.

 

You can count Division 3’s Dirty Birds among those who prefer the latter. Strongly.

 

“Personally I don’t understand how teams that carry more than eight players,” said team captain Matthew Bishara.” We all enjoy playing both ways and we’re all capable of playing both ways. The games are only an hour long—teams with a full offense and defense baffle me…”

 

Indeed, that mentality has worked out quite well for the Dirty Birds. At times playing as Mysterious & Magical Men of Terror or Daron Basmadjian Fan Club, the team has made the playoffs in each of its eight seasons since joining the league in Winter 2009, going a collective 61-17-2 over that span. They won the Division 4 Championship in their inaugural season and were Division C champions in Spring 2011.

 

Most surprisingly, it has all come with little 12-on-12 football experience. “Other than Jordan [McLaren] and Gordon [Hogan]—who who was Lakeshore Bantam MVP— no one on our team has any real football experience,” said Bishara. “We’re all hockey players actually.”

 

As you might imagine, however, such a small team brings with it the advantage of a tight-knight group. “Our friendship of the field has translated into good results on the field,” Bishara says. “The core of our team are life-long friends: Daniele [Gentile] went to high school with Dave [Hurley], Marco [Ritondo] and me but we really became good friends through flag, and then of course there’s Jordan who I met through Gordie—the kid’s explosive, and I love him to death.”

 

It’s proven to be just enough for the Dirty Birds for yet another season, as they sit comfortably atop Division 3 with a 9-0 record.

 

With one game to go before the playoffs, you might expect the Dirty Birds to take it easy in their last game against the 4-4-1 Dirty Dawgers, but that just wouldn’t be their style.

 

“It’s flag football and we paid to play, so no we don’t plan on resting players or taking this final game lightly,” said Bishara. “We’ve been in playoff mode since Week 1 and we’re in a plus-minus race with the D-Boys.”

 

Aside from their desire to win, one thing these Birds don’t lack is confidence. “Well, our game is Wednesday, so by the time people read this they’ll know that we’re 10-0,” said Bishara. 

 

As for what it would take for the team to reach the championship for a second straight season, Bishara kept his answer simple: “We’ll have to score more points than the other team in our next five consecutive games,” he said.

 

But while he wouldn’t reveal any specifics when it came to game planning, Bishara did share one playoff preference after being defeated 34-12 by Marco Masciotra’s Broccasion in last year’s Division C final: “We’re hoping for a meeting with the D-Boys in the playoffs so we can exact our revenge on Marco,” he said.

 

Predictions

Last week, I was 8-6, which was the worst record I have had in any week. My overall record is 82-30. Heading into the last week, here are my predictions:

 

The following games have already taken place and although they weren’t that hard to predict, I won’t count them in my final total

 

CF vs. Fighting Irish: CF

Dirty Birds vs. Dirty Dawgers: Dirty Birds

Trojans vs. High Rollers: Trojans

—

 

Pap n’ Co vs. Le Loft: Pap n’ Co

DK vs. Les Eudistes: DK

Sandlot Saints vs. G-Men: Sandlot Saints

 

 

D-Boys vs. Raw Dawgs: D-Boys

–Must win by 64 points to clinch first in conference A

 

VPC vs. B.D. Bandits: B.D. Bandits

–Win and you’re in and as a bonus, you hand B.D. Bandits their first loss.

 

 

KGP Champs vs. Lazy But Talented: KGP Champs

–Win and they’re in

 

Afternoon Delight vs. GPK: GPK

–For Afternoon Delight, win and they’re in

–For GPK, a win and a Rude Bwoys loss will help them clinch their division and finish third

 

Served With Ice vs. Ball So Hard University: Served With Ice

–Win or tie and they’re in

 

Eagles vs. Rude Bwoys: Rude Bwoys

–A loss and a GPK win would drop them in standings

 

Prestige World Wide vs. Picksquad: Prestige World Wide

–Win and they’re in

 

One Night Stands vs. Legends: One Night Stands

-If ONS are going to make the playoffs, it will be in style. Last week they defeated and eliminated the G-Men from post-season contention and must win again in week 10 against the Legends. Speaking of the Legends, they lost to Le Loft in week 9 and that put them in a tough situation for a must win in week 10. They also need some help with other results. Neil Robertson is continuing his success at the pivot position and ONS are playing great football right now.

 

 

Well that’s it for this week’s coverage of Division 3. DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW OUR TWITTER SECTION ON THE HOMEPAGE! If you liked what I wrote or completely hated it, please share your feedback by sending me your thoughts/comments/suggestions. You can contact me at [email protected] or on Facebook, twitter or in person. I wish everyone luck in their upcoming games. Till next time, stay classy Division 3!