Ottawa Week 2 Recap

Hey what’s up everybody? I am Brent ‘Bad News’ Bodkin, and I’m back once again to give you the 411 on FlagPlus Football in the nation’s capital.

After a fantastic week-end of football to kick off the’09 season, the Ottawa division showed that Week 1 was just the tip of the iceberg.

As usual with my review, I will start with Division 1.

The Tailgators and the Barracudas held on to their titles of ‘the teams to beat’, as they remained perfect on the season with identical 2-0 records.

            The defending champion Tailgators took on the expansion Atlanta Falcons in week 2 action. Although the 36-2 final would indicate a completely one-sided contest, the young Falcons squad were only down 13-0 at the half.

The four combined turnovers committed by Falcon quarterbacks Joseph Haddad and Stefan Faubert, along with the usual strong performance by ‘Gators pivot Craig Matthews, who for a second week in a row threw for five touchdown passes, was just too much to overcome.

For a second week in a row, the Gators matched their impressive offense by turning in a solid effort defensively. The most noticeable contribution was from defensive-back Paul Seguin who led the way with three interceptions on the evening.

The Falcons will try to get win number one this week-end when they take on The Entourage in the battle of the 0-2 teams.

The Barracudas moved to 2-0 by beating the Heavy Hitters 30-15. Despite the final score, this was a tight contest throughout. Going into the half, the Barracudas were hanging on to a 12-7 lead.

One of the key factors in the win for the Barracudas was their ability to limit the damage done by Hitters’ receivers Curtis Cates, Trevor Watts, and Woodley and Wendell Belony. Last week against The Entourage, all four receivers combined for 10 catches for 206 yards. This week the foursome combined for nine catches for 127 yards. (Wendell was held to zero catches)

The stellar effort by the Barracudas’ defense spilled over into the second half, as they held the opposition to just eight points.

Offensively for the Barracudas, they were led by Kyle Patrick whose three catches on the evening all went for touchdowns.

Despite the loss, you still have to give credit to the Hitters, as they proved they were more then capable of ‘hanging’ with an elite team like the Baraccudas. I don’t know about you guys, but I am looking forward to the February 15th rematch between these two squads.

The Sharks moved into the win column this past week-end with a win over the aforementioned Entourage.

This game should have been billed as The Entourage versus James Beatty and friends. Beatty had a ’08 Randy Moss like performance on the Entourage’s defense to the tune of eight catches for 114 yards and four touchdowns. He even chipped in with an interception. Whether you play in Ottawa,Ontario, or Ottawa, Illinois (look it up if you don’t believe me) that is a heck of a game.

For The Entourage, when they actually decided to play defense, their quarterback John Cupri who was pulling double duty, managed to intercept opposing pivot Sean Carmody twice.

Now on to Division 2

With Week 2 in the books, the Rugged Riders have to be feeling pretty confident about themselves after the massacre that was their 49-15 victory over the Wise Guys on Sunday night.

Obviously un-like some of the other games I mentioned, this contest was never close. Riders pivot Michael Panetta turned in another strong outing throwing for 166 yards and five touchdowns on 12 for 26 passing.

It was quite the opposite for W.G quarterback Tommy Solarik who looked great last week throwing for five touchdowns and just under 170 against the Browns, looked subpar this week going up against a much better Riders squad. Solarik finished the game with four interceptions on 9 for 21 passing for 100 yards. One of Solarik’s interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Riders’ defender Peter Ibrahim, his second in as many weeks.

Leading the way in receiving for the 2-0 Riders were receivers Marco Iacono and Jeff Maysenholeder, who finished with three catches for 41 yards and two touchdowns and two catches for 14 yards and two touchdowns respectively. Maysenholeder also pitched in with an interception and two passes defended.

Leading the way for W.G was receiver Chris Gimmer, who finished the game with three catches for 16 yards and two scores.

The final game of the week was between the Browns and the Federal Express. Both teams came into the looking to re-bound after opening-week losses.

            Going into the game, the Express seemed liked they would come out with the victory, because Browns’ number one quarterback Rick Dolezal was sitting out the game due to injury.

            In Dolezal’s absence, the Browns turned to rookie quarterback Steve Blimkie. Blimkie did not disappoint, as he connected on his first touchdown pass to receiver Dugald Topshee. Blimkie also scored a major with his legs in the second half.

            Besides the win by their rookie quarterback, the victory was also special for the team, because they played the game with only six players. This is something that should not be over-looked.

For the Express, the heart-breaking loss must be a tough one to swallow, as they came so close to taking the lead late in the game after they scored a touchdown in the final minutes. Fate however wasn’t on their side as when they went for the win on the 2-point conversion, Express receiver Mike Velho caught the ball in the back of the end-zone, but he was ruled out of bounds because his heals were on the touching the back-line.

An honourable mention should be made to the strong performance by Browns’ defensive-back Richard Bolduc who finished the game with two interceptions, one of which he ran back for a score.

Up next for the Browns will be the powerhouse Riders. The Express will try and get into the win column this week when they take on the Wise Guys.

That’s it for my Week 2 review. I’ll catch you guys next week.

 

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PEACE!!!