Ottawa Week 4 Recap (D2)

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.

No historical moments this week, unless you count my Duke Blue Devils moving up to #1 in the men’s NCAA coaches’ poll. Yeah I know that’s not really history, but it’s still history repeating itself, so I guess I’m counting it.

Speaking of history repeating itself, the Tailgators and the Barracudas were victorious once again!…Yeah I know it’s not of much of a surprise, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.

The Gators were able to move to 4-0 by blowing out The Entourage 46-13. Last week when the defending champs beat the Heavy Hitters 34-13, I talked about how the quarterback and receiver combo of Craig Matthews and Paul Seguin were too much to handle as they connected for over 100 yards and three touchdowns. I don’t know if some of the other Gator receivers weren’t happy with their touches after that game, because Matthews made sure to spread the wealth on Sunday, as he threw touchdowns to five different receivers.

For the second time in three games, the Gators defense chipped in with a turnover, as they intercepted Entourage quarterbacks Justin Nolan and John Crupi a total of four times. Defensive-back Rick Gallinger ran one of the picks back for a touchdown. So far in four games this season, the Gators have registered eight interceptions.

The Barracudas kept their perfect season alive with a 30– 0 pounding of the Atlanta Falcons, in the Falcons Division 1 swan song. (I’ll explain later)

There isn’t much to say about this one. The expansion Falcons simply took on a more talented and experienced team.  In my opinion, what really did the Falcons in, was the fact that their pivot Naji Zourob had nearly as many interceptions (3) as completions (7).

The passing game was friendlier to the ‘Cudas, as evident by the strong performance turned in by snapper Kevin Schleyer who finished the game with eight catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

No disrespect to the rest of the team’s in Division 1, but next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. will, in all anticipation, be a game of the year candidate, as the Tailgators take on the Barracudas. Yes I realize that this is only round 1 between these two squads (round 2 takes place on March 8th). I just think that the second game will be somewhat tainted because both teams will more or less know what to expect due to their first encounter. This time around however, things are new, things are fresh, and a little bit of the unknown still exists.

Although both teams have shown that they can play stifling defense, I just have the feeling that this game will be a shootout. Both teams just have too much offensive firepower for this game to turn into a defensive slugfest.  I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait.

The Heavy Hitters in what can now be viewed as a minor upset shutout the Sharks 18-0. I say minor for three reasons. The first is that the Sharks have simply fallen off this season. What happened to the team that made it all the way to the Ottawa Division Championship game? In all honesty, they look terrible this year.

The second reason for my statement is that the Heavy Hitters have been improving each week. There only problem with them was that with the exception of their week 1 game against the Falcons, the Hitters had yet to play an entire game (look at their week 2 and 3 games against the aforementioned Barracudas and Tailgators).  Let’s hope they can keep the ball rolling when they take on The Entourage.

Reason three, Sean Carmody, the Sharks’ star QB, did not play. That’s a pretty big reason!

Up next for the Sharks will be a game against the Rugged Riders who are making the jump from Division 2. For the Sharks if they still want to be taken seriously, this is a game they have to win. For the aforementioned Riders, if they want to prove that they belong in D1, then they need to make a statement right off the bat.

Speaking of Division 2 a little history was made here as well. FlagPlus Football, for the 1st time in the league’s five year history made a trade of sorts, as the Atlanta Falcons moved to Division 2 and the Rugged Riders moved to Division 1. What, no future considerations? Seriously though, this move should work out for both teams. The Falcons, were obviously too overmatched by the more experienced and talent-rich teams in D1, no reason to be embarrassed, since most of the AF players are newer to the sport. Now they get a chance to buildup their confidence and win some games in a division that’s more geared towards their skill set. The Riders, who asked for the switch, and won this past week against a solid Wise Guys squad, get to prove they’re for real as they now get to play stiffer competition.

Due to the move, both teams will go back to having 0-0 records. As good as it sounds to have all your losses erased (I ‘m looking at you Falcons) both teams now only have seven games with which to work with too get into the playoffs. This could end up being a bad move for the Riders’ playoff chances, but you have to respect their will to play the best rather than coast through D2 all season long. This move will also be good for you other teams, blowouts are something the league does not want to see, and this should help!

In other D2 action this week the Browns brought their record to 2-2 by beating the Federal Express 29-18. These two teams have now been involved in two of the more interesting matches in Ottawa this season. I’m curious to see how this rivalry evolves over the span of the entire season.

That’s it for my week 4 review. I’ll catch you guys next week.

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PEACE!!!