Peeze’s Playbook – The Final Four

They say that if you put a million monkeys in front of a million typewriters one of them would eventually write Shakespear.  Thsat being says monkeys are fairly interesting creatures.  The fling feces, the eat knits off of each other and they make kick ass pets if you have no regard for your belongings or loved ones.  That being said, they are terrifying when disoriented.  A confused monkey may look at you with those sad monkey eyes but you know deep down, they are filled with rage.

Usually I start off on a tangent and tie it in to flag football.  This isn’t my intention today, I was just thinking of monkeys, perhaps an entire barrel’s worth.

Cougars Declawed

Once the Cougars took an 18-6 lead after their first possession of the second half, and intercepting the ball on the next drive, it looked like they were ready to advance to the final four.  However, after an interception on a trick play, the tide was beginning to turn. What was interesting about this play was that the Cougars offense worked well all game and out thinking themselves seems to have affected the outcome in this game.

Once the Shamrocks got the ball back, they just seemed to be a different team.  Having  thuis new breath of life, the Shamrocks showed why they came into this tournament as a one seed in the first place. They slowed the Cougars offense on their next drive as well and it led to a Brandon Taylor 25 yard touchdown catch.  Now that this game was tied up again it truly got interesting.  Doug McKernan would later run in a huge touchdown to take the lead late. On the final drive the Cougars had a 4^th and goal opportunity from the 1 yard line and the slant to Janvier was jumped only to result in a pass interference call.  With 5 plays and one yard to go it looked like a forgone conclusion that the Cougars would get into the endzone.  However, after a couple of missed opportunities, Iadeluca threw up a jump ball and it was intercepted by Sami Beg to seal the victory.  Just like that, the Shamrocks won 25-18 they get to advance to the next round.

The Games, They Are A Changing

Now, while most of us predicted that the Game Changers would destroy the Tyrants,  none of us would have predicted that this game would be so close to start things off. At the half the Game Changers led 7-6 and  Jean-Francois Beaupré had already intercepted Anton Sakiz.  However, more than that singular interception the tyrants defense was working well as a unit and making it very difficult for Sakiz who, for most of the season has eaten up opposing defenses.  It seemed as though the Tyrants were gearing up for the upset.

Then, Terrence Dobson happened.  Dobson had three pick-6’s in this game and he singlehandedly took control of this game. Once this happened there was little that the Tyrants could do as this seemed to have awaked the Game Changers offense as Filteau, Santache, and Dobson would catch touchdown catches to ice the cake.  The Game Changers have not only found ways to get it done this season, they find different way to dominate week in and week out.  The Game Changers win 40-6, and they advance to the most anticipated matchup of the post season as they face the Centurions.

Centurions Suppress Gryphon Attack

The Centurions came into this gaming brimming with confidence.  Having beaten the Gryphons in week 1 they knew to trust themselves but not to come in too cocky.  Laporte was making all the right reads and was just simply making plays all game long.   He has definitely played with a chip on his shoulder ever since he felt like he got snubbed as qb of the year. In this game Clouthier did what he did best in that he found holes in the zones and stayed alive for his quarterback.  This resulted in 8 catches, 81 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Cedric Morin had the biggest impact in this game because in addition to his 3 sacks it was clear that Aleksander Papich never looked comfortable.

It was definitely an admirable effort on behalf of Papich and Co. as they came into the season without the same level of hype as some other teams but they did look impressive.  Papich is becoming more renowned as a passer and it is with good reason.  They definitely have a lot to build on for next season.  For this season however, it ends with a 33-20 loss to the Gryphons.

Awwww Snap!

Since MMM has turned to Gordon Hogan at quarterback they have looked awesome.  Hogan looked just as good in this game.  Matt Bishara had another very good performance as a receiver, catching for over 100 yards in his second consecutive game.  Interestingly the Ghosts were able to keep the Mysterious and Magical Men offense on one side of the field.  Eric Bishara was relatively contained but despite that, MMM led almost the entire game.

It came down to one last play and with Matt Bishara in to heave it toward the endzone to try to score on a Hail Mary to avoid overtime, MMM lined up for one last play.  After an apparent false start MMM snapper Terry Tam sailed the ball over Bisahra’s head for a safety.  The safety ended the game in regulation by a score of 34-32.

The Final Four

 Conference A

Game Changers (1) vs. Centurions (2)

Keys to Success:

Game Changers: The Game Changers have been the better athletes in almost every game this season.  The argument can be made that it is the case here as well.  They are definitely the faster team overall but they are smaller than the Centurions and their speed advantage is not as massive as it has been all season.   In essence I think this game rests on the broad shoulders of Anton Sakiz.  If he can avoid throwing interceptions to the three headed hydra that is Laporte-Melrose-Morin, Game Changers will be victorious.  In facing the Centurions I would imagine that floods and multi-level concepts will allow teams to attack the part of the field where the Centurions allow the most yardage. On defense, Terrance Dobson will be the X factor.  He is less talked about than any of the Centurions defenders

Centurions: Much like Voltron, the Centurions are more than just the sum of their parts.  What is most interesting about this team is that it almost doesn’t matter what type of game plan you present to them, they are comfortable playing at that speed. Whether it is a tight defensive struggle or a fast paced barn burner the Centurions excel. The Centurions have not trailed at the half since July 23, 2013 (in their playoff loss to Playground in the Spring 2013 season).  They need to follow this formula because the true strength of their defense is rusher Cedric Morin. When the Centurions have the lead their opposition feel the need to push the field. This leads to the high multitude of interceptions that we expect from the Centurions defense.  That being said, the Game Changers will score.  Jeremy Laporte felt slighted when he wasn’t considered for nomination as quarterback of the year.  If he wants to prove us all wrong, this would be his chance.

Analysis: This will be a tight game.  The Game Changers will put the Centurions of playing from behind.  The Centurions will keep pace but will fail to convert on one final drive.

Prediction: Game Changers by 3

Conference B

Shamrocks (1) vs. Ghosts (2)

Keys to Success:

Shamrocks:  Two guys from this team who simply do not get enough love are Sami Beg and Brandon Taylor.  Brandon Taylor is an exceptional possession receiver with good hands and deceptive quickness; Beg is one of those players who you can put in almost any position and they will be effective.  These two are tough to handle when you consider that teams are looking to take away the Shamrocks biggest playmakers in Jourdain and Zachary Alexis, Beg and Taylor put themselves in position to do some damage to the opposition. I think that if McKernan can utilize these other pieces the Shamrocks will be successful.

Ghosts: I think the key here is Gabriel Wiseman. However, despite the fact that he is a reputed receiver his impact on defense will be immensely important if the Ghosts want to advance to the dance. If McKernan can be contained and cannot use his feet to buy time the Shamrock offense will stall. Now if Gaumont can keep his offense rolling while the defense stalls the Shamrocks offense the Ghosts win.

Analysis: The Shamrocks will be in a position to come from behind but fall short this time around.

Prediction:  Kernan McDoug wants me to pick against the Shamrocks, so I will.  Ghosts will win by 3.

Saturday’s Heart Destined Sledgehammer of Truth, Deceit, Love and Vegetables

When you want groceries, you go to the grocery store.  When you want football equip,ent you go to an equipment outfitter. When you want soup , you go get a monkey, because monkeys are better.  That being said, if you want indepth analysis, and over the top histerics, check us out Flag Plus Bromance on www.theunclehood.com. FPF Bromance follows Calling the Audible each Thursday night at 7:30pm. Coming this week we will hve our yearly press conference with th teams that will be participating in this year’s final.  We will talk to at least one member of each team and we may even interview a monkey (no chimps or gorillas’ this is serious afterall).

Join the party by tweeting the show live @EagleFPF. You can reach me by emailing me at [email protected] or you can reach me on Twitter @PeezeFPF.  Terry Tam (@TerryTamFPF) likes when you send him links to numerous cat videos.

Please download and subscribe to ‘Flag Plus Bromance’ our official division 5 podcast, available via iTunes or at http://fpf.podomatic.com. If you haven’t done so by now Uncle Dirty will be really sad and invest in a whole new wardrobe consisting of nothing but sweater vests  Don’t do that to the dude.