Mid-Season Division Reviews for FPF Junior

While it may be hard to believe, the FPF Junior Season is already at its halfway point. With so many teams and players across the leagues’ six divisions, I know I have not been able to cover all the teams. Most of the time, my articles focus on the games that I watched the week before. Since I was out of town last weekend and I did not see any teams play, I will take this opportunity to do a mid-season recap for each division.

D-League Mid-Season Review

Sophomore D: When I looked at the Sophomore standings, I was surprised. I expected to see the Bulls in first place. I did not expect to see them in second to last with a 2-2 record. They won both of their games before the break but clearly, the holidays did not do this team any favors. They have lost all their games since the break. The Panthers have profited the most from the Bulls struggles. With their win last week over the Bulls, the Panthers are now in first place. The star of the Panthers season so far is Jeremy Racicot. Racicot has already used his blistering speed to catch nine passes for 122 yards. That same speed that allows Racicot to excel as a receiver is also terrifying opposing quarterbacks. He is currently the sack leader with eight sacks. To give that number some perspective, Racicot has twice as many sacks as the rest of the players in sophomore combined. That is extremely impressive. A team that is flying under the radar in this division, is the Wolves. The Wolves are tied for first place with three wins. This strong start to the season is due to the remarkable play of quarterback Adam Bateman who currently leads sophomore in passing yards with 650. That is 200 more passing yards than any other QB in this division. While the Colts may not have had the best start to the season, they showed signs of promise in week 4. In week 1, they lost to the Wolves by 17 points. Those two teams played again last week and the Colts were one play away from winning. They lost 27-26. If the Colts can keep on playing like they did in week 4, they could surprise Sophomore in the second half of the season.

G-League Mid-Season Review

Atom: Everyone in Atom is wondering if there is any way to slow down Flight School. During the first four weeks, no team has found a solution to this team’s high-octane offence. When you watch this Flight School team you have the feeling that they could score on just about every single play. While some teams have been able to slow down their passing game and others team have been able to limit their running game, no team has been able to do both. If you commit bodies to stopping the run, Jordel Springer will connect with his dangerous receivers like Shelby Gaba and make you pay. If you drop your players further back to cover the pass, Jordel Springer will take off and juke his way into the endzone. One team that thinks they can slow down Flight School is the Jaguars. While the Jaguars are in second with a 2-2 record, coach Nim Jenikovszky has made his expectations known. He is very confident that his team will be able to compete with and even beat Flight School when the playoffs come around. I have to admit, this team has the talent to hang with FS. They have a superstar receiver and defender in Samuel Cote and an efficient quarterback in Jacob Jenikovszky. The only question is will they be able to gel together as a team in time to compete with Flight School? The 2-2 Lions have also made great strides since last season. Last year this team was learning the basics of flag football. This year they are a competitive team. If they can keep on improving at this rate, they will be serious contenders in this division in no time.

Mosquito: It is fair to say that Mosquito is a very top-heavy division. The top four teams in Mosquito have only lost three games between them while the bottom four teams together have only tallied three wins. Flight School 2 is currently in first with a perfect 4-0 record. What makes their 4-0 record even more impressive is the fact that they have already beat two of the other top teams. They beat the talented McCaig Gladiators in week 1 and just squeaked past Flight School 1 in week three. This team has a stranglehold over the division and they are currently my favorites to run the table and win it all. One team that might be able to rival FS2 are the Lakeshore Cougars. The Cougars have had success this year thanks to the fantastic play of quarterback Matthew Cooper who has already passed for 340 yards and has a QB rating of 108.4. Thankfully, we will not need to wait much longer to see which of these teams is better. They are scheduled to face off this Sunday at Stade Hebert. A team to keep an eye on in the second half of the season is the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes have already faced two of the top teams in their division and they have a relatively easy schedule heading down the stretch. One key to this team’s success has been their ability to spread the ball. They have five receivers with over 20 receiving yards and three different WRs with touchdown catches. On defence, this team is led by the talented Theo Tremblay. He already has 13 tackles and three interceptions. While most of the top teams might be counting the Buckeyes for dead, I have a feeling that this team could turn a few heads in the second half of the season.

Pee-Wee: The past two divisions I reviewed both had a Flight School team leading the pack. Pee-Wee is interesting because the Flight School team is currently in second place behind the Gladiators. Those two teams clashed in week 3 and after a dramatic duel, the Gladiators emerged victorious. After that win, I thought that the Gladiators were going to run the table and finish the season undefeated. I was shocked to see the 0-3 Lakeshore Cougars dominate the Gladiator in week four. The Cougars were able to move the ball at ease and they cruised to a 30-6 victory. The team that benefited the most from the Gladiators loss was Flight School. They are now tied for first place with the Gladiators. These two teams are set to face off in week 8 in what most expect to be a championship preview. This division will be an extremely interesting one to follow over the next four weeks. Will the Gladiators be able to bounce back from this startling loss or will Flight School capitalize? And what about the Cougars? Will this win kick start their season? Despite an 0-3 start, it is not too late for them to turn things around and make a run at the championship.

Bantam: The Flight School team in Bantam is infamous. They started the season with five consecutive wins and outscored their opponents by 127 points. They average just more than 10 points against per game. The only statistical category they don’t lead in is points for. The top scoring team in Bantam is the LCC Lions. They have scored a phenomenal 213 points over their first five games. Yes, that is over 40 points a game. They established themselves as an offensive juggernaut in week 3 when they scored 75 points. If there is any team that poses a threat to Flight School, it is definitely the Lions. The Lions have an offence to rival Flight School’s and if they can figure things out on defence, they might be able to cause an upset. A team that has pleasantly surprised me is the Musketeers. They made the jump to Bantam from Pee-Wee without making any changes to their roster. Kaydon Shaw has continued his smart quarterback play. He has passed for 330 yards while only throwing three interceptions. Lucas Piscopos is also excelling with his 11 receptions for 110 yards. A team to watch out for in the second half of the season is North Shore. Their only two losses in the first half of the season were to Flight School and the LCC Lions. Their last three games of the season are easier and they could enter the playoffs with a head of steam. They have an experienced quarterback in Nicholas Masella who has already passed for 21 touchdowns and FPF veterans like Ashtin Philistin who has more than 300 receiving yards. This team has the perfect mix of talent and experience to cause a few upsets in the postseason.

Midget: For those of you who don’t know, Midget plays by its own set of rules. Instead of following the usual FPF Junior rules, they play with the same rules as the adult divisions do. Those rules are definitely pleasing the 5-0 La Belle Province. This team has been around FPF Junior since the winter of 2017. While this team has changed names just about every season, the core roster has stayed largely intact. They have an FPF veteran in Rich Lachance as their coach and an extremely experienced group of players. When you  mix that many seasons of experience with the raw talent that this team has, it’s easy to understand why they are 5-0. One team that I expected better from are the Raiders. The defending champs have got off to a slow 2-2 start. Unfortunately for the Raiders, they have a difficult schedule to close out the season. They are playing the top ranked La Belle Province and the second placed Fight School. If the Raiders can manage to upset either of those teams, they might be able to turn their season around.  While the Raiders have not lived up to expectations, the Dusters have surpassed my expectations. They stunned the league in week 1 by beating North Shore. This team has the ability to establish themselves as the front runners on January 26th. On the 26th, they are scheduled to play both La Belle Province and FS. If they show up on fire and find a way to upset both of those heavyweights, this team has to be considered division favorites.

There you have my mid-season recaps. As always, I hope you enjoyed the article and if you have any feedback or criticism, feel free to let me know by email at [email protected].

Good luck to everyone in week 5!