Playing For Keeps: Ciao!; Week 9 Recap and Week 10 Picks

A few years back when life was much simpler, my boys and I would head over to Henri-Julien Park on clear spring evenings and shoot hoops until the spotlights would shut and we were left under the sparkling night’s stars. Our game of choice to end the night after hours of 3 on 3 would always be Knockout. In case you’re unfamiliar, it’s the game where players line up in single file at the free throw line and proceed to take their shot. If the hit it, they pass the ball off to the third in line and head to the back. If they miss, they would have to collect their rebound and score before the opponent behind them could score his shot. It’s a fun game to play among buddies because it allows you to nudge them in the ribs a bit and poke fun of them in an affectionate way. We personalized the game a bit to our liking, so that every time someone was eliminated we would all put on our best nasally East-End accent and say “ciao bro” to the loser. After a while the game came to be renamed Ciao, and it was a cult classic.

At this point of the season we can start saying ciao to several teams in division 5. Even if they’ve been eliminated from the playoff hunt, we still appreciate their season and acknowledge their potential to turn things around in spring. So with that in mind, I’d like to begin the playoff stretch run by saying ciao to the following div 5A teams: Freebands, Blue Devils, Ace Athletics, Woofpack and Trapstars. In div 5B: Consultants, Les Albatros, Hot Boys Hotline, X-Men, SABRFC and Genie we say Ciao to you all.

It’s always a joy to play spoiler to other playoff hopeful teams when you’re on the outside looking in. For those teams that remain, the intensity ratchets up several notches, as teams not only look to cement their playoff spot, but improve their first round matchups. So let’s take a quick look at the action from week 9 as we figure out where everyone stands at this point of the year. We’ll also take a peek into our crystal ball to see what week 10 has in store. Remember that a shooter always takes his shot no matter what. Even if the pressure is rising and tensions are high, it’s always better to play to win than to play not to lose. Fortune favors the bold as we head towards the second season.

Weekly Remarks

Diablos remain the only undefeated 5A team after 8 games with a solid 30-20 victory over the Corey Walwaski led Woofpack. Martin continues his stellar season with 247 yards passing and 5 TDs. Up next is a highly anticipated game vs the red hot Aliens, which we all have the benefit of seeing on film!
Bruthers come up with a HUGE 34-30 win against GGPC to keep their playoff hopes alive. Morgan Tajfel continued his late season resurgence with 200+ yards and 5 TDs passing. Daniel Adler was the hero with 70 yards and 2 TDs receiving, and the crucial INT on defense.
LOB and Longhorns are both teams to start off the season dominant and regress significantly throughout the year. They are both led by the only 2 FPF QBs to throw in 3 different divisions this season, is fatigue catching up to these veteran signal callers? Or is it more a question of their teams entering the tougher parts of their schedules? It’ll be interesting to see if they have anything left in the tank come playoff time. If not, it could be an early exit for both of these preseason favorites, largely due to an overworked pitching staff.
Bunch of Rookies annihilated the Untitled Seth Galina Team 45-18. The Rookies have been an up and down team and now sit on the cusp of the playoffs with a 4-4-1 record. If they can muster a win against the lowly Blue Devils this week and make the playoffs, they will definitely be one of those dangerous lower-seeded teams that the favorites need to watch out for early on. I’m hoping to see them in the big dance for this reason.
You have to be impressed with Keyport Lock’s grit after the mid-season injury to their captain-QB. Chris Olsen has been the savior this team needed, recently leading his team to a surprising 32-14 win over Les Verges Folles. The rookie Phenom Sam Mashtoub deserves major credit for their continued success, with 71 yards and 2 TDs on offense in this game, to go along with an INT on defense. He’s a frontrunner for the ROY award if such an award existed.
Mad Bears remain undefeated at 9-0 after a 34-12 win over the very tough Rednecks team. The Mad Bears have repeatedly proven they are for real this year by answering every question thrown their way. They look set to wrap up the perfect season with a win over the toothless X-Men this week. At this point we’re hoping for the highly anticipated rematch against FiLP in the conference finals.
Chris Williams went OFF with 9 catches for 140 yards and 2 TDs as Consultants beat Hot Boys Hotline 25-24. It’s always good to see a late season competitive game between two teams whose seasons didn’t go as planned.
SABRFC finally exploded offensively with a BIG 39-14 win over the Knights. Max Marini looked like a seasoned pro, throwing for 187 yards and 6 TDs in the win. Could this be the long awaited QB savior this team has been waiting for? I’m rooting for them as they look to duplicate their offensive success with upcoming games against playoff caliber teams.
Trinity look to be gearing up for an extended playoff run with a tough fought 32-26 victory over Buckeyes. Jean-Félix Marquis had yet another solid outing with 181 yards and 5 passing TDs. Monster performance goes to Antoine Dansereau-Leclerc, who put up an astounding 5 catches for 131 yards and 4 TDs! They need to get this guy out to the final two games and qualify him for the playoffs, he’s a beast.
The Roadrunners gave us an impressive 29-20 over the always tough Dreamville. Don’t look now but the Roadrunners are 5-3 and getting hot just at the right time of the season. It’s not surprising to see Dreamville lose in a tough game when they fail to get Andrew Langburt a single catch on offense. I expect them to bounce back this week.
Say what you want about them, but Big Fun Party Mix 8 just continue to find ways to win each week. They are now 5-3 after a 31-30 win over the recently tough Albatros. Evan Ely Nolet deserves credit for a veteran performance with 232 yards passing and 5 TDs. Similar to his NFL namesake Eli Manning, he seems to be underrated for the most part, until he sneaks under the radar in the biggest games and delivers a gem. We’ll see if he can lead his upstart crew on a Giants-like late season and playoff run this year.

Sound Bites:

Here’s a look around the league at what some of you had to say regarding your week 3 games.

Vincent Dagenais of LOB had this to say after erupting for 6 catches for 149 yards and 3 TDs in the loss versus Beer and Skittles: “C’était vraiment une bonne partit pour mes stars personnelle même si j’aurai aimer faire plus puisqu’on a perdue … l’autre équipe a vraiment bien jouer en attaque et on a pas réussi à les arrêter ce qui nous a finalement coûter la partie.” Despite the monster performance from the emerging FPF star, Angelo Garofalo was the hero on this night with a combined 292 yards and 7 TDs in the win! Frank Kaye and Chris Canelho led the way at receiver for Beer and Skittles with a combined 126 yards and 5 TDs. Beer and Skittles get a huge win to keep them in the playoff race, while LOB fail to clinch a spot in the loss.

Mat Domon of Les Affreux had this to say on their heartbreaking 26-13 loss to the Preachers: “We played a good team tonight and we give them credit for the victory. However, we don’t think we got beat by a better team, we killed all our drives with drops and lack of concentration. We hope a rematch in the playoffs.” It was a huge win for Preachers, who stay alive in the playoff race for another week, and a good wake-up call for Les Affreux, who will likely clinch a spot but cannot afford a late season collapse. Read below for a closer examination of this game.

Recaps:

FiLP in Top Shape, showing off their sick gainz

Sunday, March 5th at Loyola dome saw a highly anticipated matchup between two of the division`s finest teams, as Friends in Low Places took on a red hot Tip Top Shape team led by emerging QB David De Andrade. Speaking with the FiLP players before the game, they were confident of their capabilities but at the same time expressed some butterflies squaring off against an opponent on a 4 game winning streak.

The game commenced with a three-and-out from FiLP, as Danny D’Amour quickly felt the intense pressure of rusher Elijah Suyat, who neutralized D’Amour’s unique running ability for the major part of the game. In response, Justin Matteo sacked De Andrade twice on Tip Top’s opening drive, the second of which was nearly a safety, and they repaid FiLP with a punt of their own.

D’Amour found his groove as a passer on the second series onward, as he worked Brenden Sabloff on quick slants to move the chains, before a heaved ball into the endzone on fourth down bounced around and landed into the welcoming arms of FiLP snapper Michael Timmis.

The FiLP defense was smothering the Tip Top receiving corps in the short zone, which De Andrade was looking for early. Matteo’s continued pressure was getting to the Tip Top QB, as he aired out a deep post that was baited perfectly by the preying D’Amour, who caused the first turnover of the game.

D’Amour marched the ball methodically downfield on the next drive with a pair of short catches and YAC by Jordan Bellemare. They capped off the drive with a TD pass to the back of the endzone to Sabloff.

De Andrade finally got going on his third drive, with some quick crossing routes to Suyat, who used his incredible speed to turn up field and cause havoc for FiLP defenders. Suyat was so disruptive that coach Sabloff was barking at his defenders from the sideline: “don’t let that man get that ball!” Despite the pleas from their teammate, Tip Top completed the drive with a beautiful toe drag TD in the back of the endzone on fourth down to Salem El-Jam. The game went into the half with a 14-6 lead for FiLP, but it had all the feeling of a game waiting to be iced by another critical error.

That’s exactly what happened coming out of the half, as De Andrade tried to close the gap by forcing another deep post. This time it was significantly underthrown and D’Amour once again was there to reap the rewards with his second INT of the contest, and 8th in the past 3 games. D’Amour essentially iced the game on the following drive by finally dipping Suyat’s pressure for the first time of the evening, and hitting a wide open Kevin Smuda in the back of the endzone. The rest of the game was simply a battle of attrition and exchange of possessions. De Andrade ran one in for a late score, but that was all as FiLP took home the 20-12 win and answered some of the questions surrounding how they’d fare against the tougher opposition of the division.

Deadliest Warrior: 5th BC > 13th C

On the opposite field at Loyola the rebounding Spartans were taking on the suddenly upstart Black Knights, winners of three of their last four games and making a late season playoff push. The game started off in nightmare fashion for the Black Knights, as a controversial pass from Stephane Larosiliere seemed to skip off the turf before being scooped up by Samuel Bessette and returned to the endzone. The Knights started returning to the huddle in anticipation of the next play, only to realize in dismay that the refs had indeed called an interception and TD.

The play was foreshadowing for the rest of the evening, as Larosiliere – who was coming off three straight 200+ yard games – was unable to get anything going on offense, and threw 3 more INTs to a grateful Alexis Bessette, who was all over the field on defense. The Spartans seemed to have game planned for Larosiliere’s deep ball, as they had a middle fielder playing deep in the secondary the whole game. The Knights, who have lived and died with the deep ball all season, were unable to diversify in time and fell prey to the awaiting Spartans.

On offense, the Spartans employed their customary read-option offense to success. James D’Andrea and Andrew Grant create a formidable pair of speed demons in the backfield, which puts a single rusher in a vulnerable position when he has to decide which of the two to cover. One of the game-clinching moments came when Grant took the handoff from his QB, rolled out left, and heaved a 27 yard pass across the field to an awaiting Daniel Hernandez in the endzone. The Spartans didn’t look back from that point on and went on to finish off a 27-2 win, gaining their swagger back heading into the stretch run and playoffs.

Preachers Immune From Affreux’s Dropitis

Wednesday night at Hebert held a very important game for division 5A, conference B playoff standings, as Les Affreux squared off against the Preachers. The opening drive saw Les Affreux fail to convert on fourth down, as a dropped pass turned the ball over to the Preachers in decent field position.

Nic Saro, the usual starting QB for the Preachers, handed the position over to last season’s QB Alexis Labonte, and returned to his former receiver role. This positional switch proved to be quickly beneficial for them, as Saro went up in traffic on the first possession and made a tightly contested catch in the endzone for the opening score. Les Affreux seemed to catch a bad case of dropitis on this night, as the second drive saw them botch two more catches before punting on fourth down. The following Preachers possession saw Labonte hit a wide open Kevin Gauthier on a deep post pattern to put their team up by two scores early. Gauthier and Saro showed their potential to be a dominant receiving duo on this night, as they nearly mirrored each other’s stats to the tune of 131 yards and 4 TDs combined.

The struggling Affreux would rely on their defense to finally show some fight before half, as Kevin Marcil undercut a Labonte pass and returned it for the score, making it a 19-7 game at the half.

The second half of the game was a defensive showdown, as both offenses struggled to find consistent rhythm. Mathieu Dubois came up with 2 INTs on the night for Les Affreux, but the Preachers defense was just as stingy, with the two offensive heroes – Gauthier and Saro – also coming up with INTs on defense as well. Patrice Lindor added his name to the stat sheet also with his fourth INT of the season. It wasn’t the prettiest offensive game on record, with 5 total passing TDs vs 6 total INTs from both QBS, but the Preachers took it with a solid defensive effort and improved their record to 4-4, but most importantly put themselves back into playoff contention with the must needed win.

Power Ranking

We haven’t had an official Power Rankings in a few weeks, so the landscape has changed a bit since we last looked in. After a turbulent start to the season it seems like the lines of demarcation separating the different tiers of the division have finally been drawn. With that said, throw that all out the window in the playoffs, as the David vs Goliath story is sure to reproduce itself a few times in the first few rounds.

Div A

Diablos (8-0): They went from paper boy, to paper tiger, and have now proven themselves to be the definite team to beat in the division. Big game vs Aliens this week.
Jaguars (7-2): They’re back to smoking teams, most recently hanging 53 on the Tyrants. The early season jaguars have re-emerged just in time before playoffs.
TDs and Beer (6-2): They have been quietly going about their business all season. Thomas Mascarenhas is becoming a name to look out for on defense.
Aliens (5-3): They have a brutal 2 game schedule remaining, but I like them the most of the 5-3 teams. As others show inconsistency they keep winning the games they should.
Globo Gym Purle Cobras (5-3): They seem a bit matchup based, as they rotated all year between winning big games and losing games they should win. Still very scary when hot.
KGP RA (5-3): Look to be back in rhythm after a big win against the Longhorns. Have two tough games ahead to prepare for playoffs and show us they’re for real.
Les Verges Folles (5-3): Definitely turned off by their recent 32-14 loss to Keyport AFTER they seemed to be turning a corner. 2 good middle tier opponents coming up next.
Keyport Lock (5-4): Back on the list for the first time in weeks after a huge upset win. They look scary now that Olsen is building some chemistry with the boys.

**Flagrant Fouls (5-3): On a quiet three game winning streak, and creeping up the rankings on unsuspecting teams. Huge game this week against Jaguars.

Div B

Mad Bears (9-0): Should wrap up the perfect regular season this week. I don’t think it’s a smart idea to bring in a late ringer who can’t qualify for playoffs. But every move they’ve made this year has paid off so far.
Friends in Low Places (7-1): D’Amour is now getting div 2 QB reps for the rest of the year. They are drooling for a rematch with Mad Bears.
Trinity (7-1): The third contender that no one is speaking about. They’ll gladly watch the other two slug it out for conference A, while they control conference B.
Jean Coutu (5-2-1): Showed this week they could win in a defensive struggle as well as an offensive shootout. Even when Cote slips, they have his back.
Harambe’s Disciples (6-2): Really coming into their own identity now, as a tough-nosed defensive team that can move the ball and compete with you on offense.
Dreamville (5-2-1): We’ll try not to make too much of the recent loss to Roadrunners. But it was definitely the ugly version of Dreamville which has been hiding itself well this year for the most part.
Rednecks (5-3): Darick Forgues got stymied by an elite defense, but this is still one of the tougher teams in the division who’ve fared well in a tough schedule this season.
Big Fun Party Mix 8 (5-3): Hats off to them for beating all our expectations so far and finding a way to win each week. It doesn’t always have to be pretty, but it works.

**Spartans (5-3): Simply smothering defense this week and a gadgey offense that has been producing steadily in this division. Two very winnable games remaining.

Predictions

Danny took last week’s matchup with a 16-9-1 record vs my 14-11-1 mark. This week we have many conflicting games and there’s sure to be a definite winner. I’ve been playing it a little too safe lately and have gotten burned by so called “favorites” getting upset. This week I decided to take some chances on some underdog plays that I really like. Check in next week to see the results.

Division A

Alex Danny

Bruthers Longhorns

LOB LOB

TDs and Beer Globo Gym Purple Cobras

Beer and Skittles Beer and Skittles

Pandas KGP Ra

Diablos Aliens

Les Affreux Les Verges Folles

Bunch of Rookies Bunch of Rookies

Preachers Preachers

Tyrants Trapstars

Untitled Seth Galina Team Dope Boys

Keyport Lock Keyport Lock

Flagrant Fouls Jaguars

Division B

Alex Danny

Genie Bye Week

Jean Coutu Jean Coutu

Trinity Trinity

Tip Top Shape Tip Top Shape

Dreamville Dreamville

Black Knights Black Knights

Harambe’s Disciples Harambe’s Disciples

Roadrunners Roadrunners

Spartans Spartans

Mad Bears Mad Bears

All Hooks All Hooks

FiLP FiLP

Rednecks Rednecks

That’s it for this week! Week 9 of FPF is officially in the books, and week 10 is set to start up in only a few hours. See how fast it goes! Enjoy your time on the field because winter season passes by in a blur. If you have any feedback, concerns, comments or just want a shoulder to lean on you can reach out to me @alexholowach1 on Twitter, or hit me up on Facebook. If you’re craving more div 5 content please see Nic Belleau’s French article, he truly is the best quality writer on this staff. Otherwise, check out the Calling the Audible podcast featuring Peeze and Moe Kahn, it’s a healthy dose of sophisticated silliness to get you through the week. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and make sure to check back next week to find out how week 10 shook out!