Inside the Redzone (D4) – Week 7

Welcome everyone to Inside The Redzone a la week 7. As we head into March Madness (starts this weekend) it is clearly evident that no one team can be considered the favorites to win the division 4 championship because as it stands now, there are many contenders (teams that fall in the STARwars category). Even though only two teams are still undefeated, namely the Cowboys and Dirty Birds, there are far too many teams who can take it all. Next week, I’ll start my March Madness edition of Inside The Redzone in which I’ll discuss possible playoffs match ups however for now let me first start by recapping last week and it was a great week of football in division 4.

 

Week 7 Review

 

Triple Sixers 36 – Marauders 18: I had received a few emails from the Marauders camp stating mainly that they don’t get enough credit in this league. I simply told them that if they beat Triple Sixers, I would give them all the credit in the world however as you can see that wasn’t quite the case. It seems that their regular QB, Denis Beauregard wasn’t at the game however Roger Beauregard stepped in. Would this have made a differece? I don’t think so because a few weeks ago Roger Beauregard replaced Denis a few weeks ago and did a great job. Furthermore the Marauders are known for a team with great depth. In this game, the Triple Sixers defense came to play and was all over the Marauders, including a “pick six” special in the first half by Kevin Lubin who also had 5 tackles and 1 PD that night. Also the Triple Sixers’ defense had 9 PDs. On offense Karim Chaoual had a great day at the office making great throws, he threw for 223 yards and 5 TDs. Honorable mention on offense goes to Patrick Jerome who hauled down 3 catches for 96 yards and 3TDs. Triple Sixers affirmed that they are ready to contend for the division 4 title while the Marauders hope Denis Beauregard returns quick.

 

Team Ditka 32 – Eagles 24: Team Ditka made a huge statement with this win. They are 2-4-1 and only one point behind the last playoff spot in Conference A East. Team Ditka has new found talent in QB Billy Seretis who although threw for 4 INTs, had 5 TDs to go along with it and he also helped out on defense by recording 1 sack and 1 INT. Adam Lancione had an excellent game for Team Ditka as he had 9 catches for 103 yards with 2 TDs while also two accumulating two sacks on defense. Not to mention Jonathan Makris who had 2 catches for 2 TDs on offense and 2 INTs on defense. Even though the Eagles intercepted Billy Seretis 4 times, one of which was returned to the house, it wasn’t enough. Eagles QB Danny Bellemare threw only 3 TDs and 4 INTs and on defense sack-master Francois Imbeault had zero sacks. An interesting thing to note is that at half time the Eagles were up 18-13 but only scored 6 points in the second half while Team Ditka scored 19. This is probably a wake up call for the Eagles because they now realize that no game is over till final whistle is blown. However let us not take anything away from Team Ditka, they stayed in the game and pulled out a massive upset; well done.

 

In other news, Trojan Knights won a close one against VPC with the final score being 20-18. The VPC defense played exceptional intercepting Norman Weeks 4 times, with three of those INTs going to Louis Richard. However offensively, Louis Richard couldn’t convert the extra points and hence VPC is now on a 2 game losing streak. On the other hand, the Trojan Knights have now won 2 in a row and are 3rd in Conference A East, right behind Those Guys. VPC was 1st but now has fallen to 3rd in Conference A West. Gators continued their winning ways by defeating Those Guys in a close affair, 19-12. The Gators defense came up a key interception late in the game by David DaSilva, one of three on the night while Kevin Marlow put up enough points on the board to seal the win. The Gators have now won 4 in a row and sit one point behind Eagles in Conference A West.

 

The Cobras continue to slide down in the standings as they have now lost two in a row, most recent being in week 7 to the Raiders by a score of 30-26. Mario Choueiri had a great game throwing for 206 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INT. Perhaps he is learning from his division 3 QB (Paul Lapierre who is tearing it up, playing QB his first time) to which he snaps. Cobras led at the half but were outscored in the second, thus losing the game and it doesn’t get any easier for them because in week 8, they face the Triple Sixers. As for the Raiders, they are currently hanging on the last playoff spot in Conference B East. The Green Machine won a big one over Gia Thang by a score of 40-12. Eric Forget had a great night throwing for 6 TDs and his receiver Dany Gilbert caught 6 catches for 81 years and 5 TDs, an exceptional performance to say the least. Martin Brazeau intercepted Alexandre Gaudet 3 times and the Green Machine held Chris Rivest, Gia Thang’s best receiver, to zero catches. Green Machine executed well on both sides of the ball and is making a great run at the right time. They have a good test next week as they face Those Guys. Combine with the loss of Brew Crew, Green Machine now hold the last playoff spot in Conference A West. And last, the Dirty Birds remained perfect pulling a last minute win against the Chaos and you can catch that game on the website’s main page.

 

And now you’re up to speed in division 4.

 

Three STARwars of the Week:

 

 

3rd star: Dany Gilbert (Green Machine) has been God sent for his team. In week 7 he caught 6 balls for 81 yards and 5 TDs, a great performance to say the least.

 

2nd star: Adam Lancione (Team Ditka) helped his team pull of a huge upset. On offense he had 9 receptions for 102 yards and 2 TDs while on defense he amounted 2 sacks.

 

1st star: Mario Choueiri (Raiders) is flawless at the QB position going 17-25 for 206 yards with 5 TDs and defensively putting up 2 tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT.

 

 

I now move on to my list of STARwars and Moe Khans. I have changed around a few teams this week. If you’re a Moe Khan and want to be a STARwar, you have to prove that you belong rather than just writing me an email.

 

Conference A

 

STARwars:

 

Eagles (6-1), Cowboys (5-0-2), Gators (5-1-1), VPC (5-2)*, Those Guys (5-2), Trojan Knights (3-3-1)**, Green Machine (3-3-1)

 

*VPC has lost two in a row and face division rivals Eagles and if they lose this game, they will fall down to Moe Khans.

 

**Trojan Knights had a huge win against VPC. Although Norman Weeks is still not playing like his normal self, they are finding ways to win. If their offense gets back on track, look for this team to do well down the stretch.

 

Moe Khans:

 

Centurions (2-3-2), Brew Crew (2-4-1), Gia Thang (2-4-1)*, Team Ditka (2-4-1), Brew Crew (2-4-1)

 

*Gia Thang showed signs of greatness in the past few weeks but then got thrashed by the Green Machine leaving them in this category; if they want to prove they are a team that deserves recognition they can do so by beating at least 2 out of their next 3 opponents in Cowboys, Team Ditka and Trojan Knights.

 

Conference B

 

STARwars:

 

Dirty Birds (7-0), Triple Sixers (6-1), Marauders (6-1), Snookers (5-1-1), Raiders (4-3)*

 

*An up and coming team who just beat the Cobras and is using experience and athleticism to win games.

 

Moe Khans:

 

Flying Weasels (4-2-1), Chaos (4-3), Cobras (4-3)*

 

*I said last week that they barely made the STARwars list and this week they are off of it due to the fact they have lost two in a row. If they want to be the contenders of the leagues, they have to beat teams who currently hold that status however if they can pull of a win against Triple Sixers, which I would see as an upset, they can perhaps jump back into the STARwars category.

 

 

There are some big match ups this coming week so next week’s edition should be even more fun to write. I like how the playoff match ups are shaping up and with March Madness around the corner, the season will finish with a bang. And that is it for this week’s edition of Inside The Redzone. If you have comments/suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me on Facebook or via email at [email protected]. This is Rehan “J.J” Sarwar signing off and I wish you all luck in your week 8 match ups. I’ll catch you all next week but until then, Stay Classy Division Four!