Ottawa Week 8 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.

So like I was saying last week, the NFL free agency period kicked-off last Friday with a bang. Haynesworth to the Skins, the Seahawks getting T.J “Whoseyourmamma”, and the Broncos adding Dawkins and just about anybody else they can get their hands on.

Speaking of Dawkins going to Denver, what’s wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles? Dawkins was the heart and soul of the team. Yes he getting a little up there in age (35), and his game isn’t the same as it was three yeas ago, but the intangibles he brings to the team and city are something that can’t be replaced. For a team like the Eagles who headed into free agency with over 10 million in salary cap room, one would think that they would keep the man who, despite everything, is by far still the best safety on the roster. Is it too early for the Broncos to give the Eagles an Easter present as a way of saying thanks for the idiotic move?

Anyways, let’s get on to the review…

In D1 the game of the week without question was between the Tailgators and the Sharks. This was a tight contest that went down to the wire. As many would expect, the Gators came out with the win 21-20, but the Sharks gave the defending champs a run for their money.

In defence of the Gators, they were without the league’s top quarterback in Craig Matthews, so they had to go with back-up pivot Paul Seguin instead.

This game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Sharks jumped out to an early lead on two touchdown passes by quarterback Sean Carmody. Their defense was just as impressive as they held the champs to a season low six first half points.

The second half was the opposite as the Gators staged a strong comeback behind a Seguin touchdown pass and run, while the Sharks could only muster-up one score.    

The Gators proved why they are the team beat in this one. Despite missing their most valuable player, the champs still came out on top. For the Sharks on the other hand, this game kind of summed up their dreadful season. After making it to the championship game last season, they came out and lost four out of their first five games to start the season. When they have a chance to make a statement and beat the defending champs who were without their starting quarterback, they stumble and blow a lead in the second half. The only wins that they have this season, came against The Entourage. It’s too bad they can’t just play them all season, since they match up so well!

Hopefully for the Sharks, they’ll be able to build some confidence off of this game when they take on the Rugged Riders this Sunday night.

Speaking of the game of the week this coming night will be round 2 of the best of the best when the undefeated Tailgators take on the (7-1) Barracudas this Sunday evening. The first encounter between both squads was an instant hard fought low scoring classic that the champs took 14-13. Most fans including myself are expecting nothing less. That, however, could change if the Gators are without Matthews for a second straight game.

The Cudas’ who are coming off of a tough 31-24 win over the improving Entourage, will be looking to state their case as the best team in D1 no matter who the Gators trot out at qb.

The Heavy Hitters took care of the Rugged Riders in a shootout 37-26. Despite the final score, the Hitters actually played some solid defense in this one as they picked off Riders’ pivot Mike Panetta three times.

Offensively there were a couple of standout performances in this game. For the Riders, receiver Miguel Da Silva had a great game with six catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. For the Hitters, Wendell Belony and Curtis Cates were solid as they combined for five catches for 136 yards and a major. The most impressive performance of all was by Hitters’ signal caller Davin Corbett who lit up the Ben Franklin Park Superdome with five touchdown passes and 211 yards on 14 of 21 passing. This is the first time all season that the quarterback of the week choice has gone to someone not named Craig Matthews or Tom Patrick. Congrats to Corbett. Hopefully he’ll keep up the great play when his Hitters take on The Entourage.

In Division 2, what a difference a week makes. Last week I was talking about how the Federal Express pulled off a big upset by knocking off the Wise Guys 12-7. Well, last week was last week, and this week is this week. W.G came out looking for revenge in this one and they got it big time to the tune of a 40-18 beat down of the Express.

After struggling last week against the Express by only throwing for 82 yards and a touchdown, Solarik rebounded big time in this one throwing for five touchdowns on 13 of 19 passing for 155 yards.

Also having a big game for W.G was receiver Paul Ibrahim who recorded five catches for 30 and three touchdowns, and defensive back Matthew Volpi, who set the tone on defense with two tackles, a sack, and an interception that he ran back for a score.

Despite getting majors from three different receivers, the Express just couldn’t stop the Guys’ offense, as the Solarik-Ibrahim connection was just too much to handle.

In other D2 action, the Browns took on the lowly Atlanta Falcons in the back end of their home and home series. Surprisingly, this was a really entertaining game. The Falcons who are still looking for their first win of the season responded well after getting embarrassed last week by the Brownies 25-0.

The Falcons who love to play musical chairs with their quarterbacks during their games, thankfully only stuck with two in this one. The decision seemed to work as they got a good game out of Naji Zourob, who despite only completing 6 of 14 passes had 95 yards and two touchdowns. The other player to take a snap at pivot was Stefan Faubert who threw a 40 yard score to receiver Joseph Haddad.

Haddad, who has played quarterback for his team most of the season, had a solid game at receiver catching four balls for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite their improved play, it wasn’t enough to stop the Browns as they rode quarterback M. McPherson’s four touchdown passes all the way to the 26-20 win.

The dirty birds go for win number one on the season when they take on the aforementioned Wise Guys this Sunday.

That’s it for my week 8 review; I’ll see you guys next week.

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PEACE!!!