Recaps of the Semis, looking back on the season and a preview of the Big Stage

From 8 to 4.

Here it is, the Big Stage.

There’s about 500 hopefuls that registered in D4 trying to get a shot at what you 4 teams will have; the chance to play in the Title Game and win the trophy of The Best Team in D4. Making the title game is an accomplishment by itself, but don’t take it for granted; the other team will leave it all on the field as well. Come prepared.

For all of you who aren’t in the finals anymore, thank you for making such a great year. It wasn’t just fun, it was more than I could’ve imagined it to be; it was almost perfect (‘cause nothing really is, let’s be real here).

Do not forget, Spring Registrations are open. If you enjoyed the Winter Season, give Spring a chance, it’s a little different, but it’s still FPF and it’s still Fantastic. Teams are a bit stronger in Spring as divisions are sorted out differently and we hold less teams than Winter; be ready.

Let’s get started.

Week 14 – Championship Finals

One last game (well, two, technically, but you guys get it), one last time. It’s been a great ride everyone. I’m happy I was part of it with you guys. I’ll be at Brossard most of the night, don’t be shy to drop by and say Hi. I’ll be in the booth broadcasting both D4 games; hopefully you’ll be able to come and enjoy the games with us! If not, well, it’s broadcasted, so you can watch it from home too!

Thoughts of the Week

It feels weird to have 4 finalists.
We were blessed with amazing games all across the board. CRAZY finishes.
For any of you who might have missed the action, check out FPF’s twitter handle #FPF for more info as Doston broke it down well for most of us.
Must hurt to lose as a QB when you put up 47 points.
Serious props to Dustin White for posting a perfect QB Rating in the conference Finals. What a stud!
Can someone stop Laurent Dubreuil? I guess we’ll see Saturday!
Telemaque makes plays out of nothing; it’s still impressive to watch even after 13 weeks.
Josh Feder replaced his brother under center for the conference Finals, not something we see every day and got the job done. I hope he was showered with something more than just water.
Come share the fun of the Finals on Saturday even if you aren’t playing; it’s a hell of a show and Brossard serves beer. What else d’you want from us?!
Ranking all those games was much tougher than I anticipated.
Press Conferences are actually a lot of fun, who knew?
So many great performances to choose from. Thanks for making it this hard.
This article was actually a lot more work than you’d think; scattering through 48 teams, 266 games and one too many flashback.
It’s my final article (until Spring). I hope you guys enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
This segment needs to comeback, it’s awesome.
Best of luck to the final 4 teams. Give it your all, we’ll be watching.
Wow that sounded creepy.
I love it. (Yes, that’s how I finish my last thought of the season)

Recaps

Division 4A

Recipe 4 Disaster took on 69ers, AGAIN, and the game went, well, basically the same way last year’s did. R4D stroke early, but Harbour was on in the first half and got his team moving and scoring to keep up with Applebaum’s. As half time rolled in, game could really have gone either way although R4D led 19-13. Demetriou was already having a monster night and it looked like no one could match up with him on the other side of the field. Sadly, R4D’s defense adjusted whereas 69ers’ didn’t. A costy throw from Harbour was brought back for six by Jad Aridi and R4D pulled away late in the 2nd to seal the deal and punch in their ticket. It was closer than last year’s, but it was all the same in the end; Demetrious had a night, Labranche did his part, but Harbour simply couldn’t move the ball any further and his defense couldn’t bail him out any further.
Coyotes were forced to take the field without their star-player, Sammy Feder, who also happens to be their QB, as he was out of town and couldn’t make the game on a Tuesday night. Nonetheless, the team showed up ready to ball and Josh Feder took the snaps feeding AJ Rashkovan and Kevin Smuda most of the night. Although his yardage was low, he moved the chains with his legs when times got rough and his interception on defense ended up being an absolute dagger to Etinson’s offense. Although Neil Etinson managed to move the ball well, his inefficiency in the redzone costed his team greatly as they faced deficit most of the night due to a pick-1 from Langburt on the very first TD of the game. With one last play, close to the endzone, Etinson had a shot at the title game, but his throw went incomplete and Coyotes held on to win their ticket to the Big Stage.

Division 4B

Mud Dogs squared off against A-Squad on Tuesday night and although many acclaimed A-Squad pretenders, they gave a serious scare to ‘em Dogs late in the 2nd half after a comfortable lead from Mongeon-Duby. Telemaque made plays with his legs when his arm simply couldn’t connect and managed to fight back a big 24-12 deficit he dug himself in. With steady plays from the defense, A-Squad got the ball back, found time, scored and made it a 25-24 lead late in the 2nd. With nothing but poise, Mongeon-Duby took the field once again, stared down the defense and made them pay for giving him one too many plays to toy with. With a beautiful strike on the 2nd to last play of the game, all Mud Dogs had to do was not allow the famous Hail Mary and punch in their ticket. After batting it down successfully, Mud Dogs celebrated their title game berth as A-Squad suffered a serious heartbreaker.
In one of the craziest games I’ve followed in a long time, The U took down Keyport Lock in an absolute thriller. Lattimore took the first snap, fired down field, it was 6-0. Rosenblatt answered, 6-6 and we had a story that kept going for, well, an hour. The U kept firing back-to-back-to-back 40bombs as they went up 18-13 after a beautiful catch from Lehrer over defenders, but Rosenblatt could only answer with a disastrous pick. The U answered and, somehow, it was 32-27 at half as Keyport scored on the last play of the half and converted with just 5 players. 2nd half wasn’t as bloody as the first, but both QBs kept moving the ball as they both finished the night with 7 TDs. With a 48-41 deficit, Rosenblatt had to go to work one last time and pulled his witts together to score one last TD. Down by a point, they simply couldn’t convert as The U celebrated their astonishing victory over the #1 seed and booked their ticket to the title game.

Players of the Season

As previously mentioned, I’ve decided to go through everyone’s performance this season and tally the most impressive ones. It’s not divided, 4A and 4B are all mixed up, because, at the end of the day, it’s all football and stats are stats.

Quarterbacks

Week 6: Chris Pinsonneault (Crimson Tide): 12 / 16, 213 yards, 7:1 ratio with a 130.2 QB Rating. Also got 2 interceptions on defense that day.
Week 8: Jeff Rosenblatt (Keyport Lock): 23 / 29, 321 yards, 8:0 ratio with a 152.4 QB Rating. His week 10 performance (9:0 ratio) was also quite impressive, but you only get ONE Rose)
Week 10: Kevin Lubin (Suicide Squad): 13 / 20, 111 yards, 2:0 ratio with a 112.7 QB Rating. Add 6 rushes for 94 yards and 4 (!!!) Rushing TDs. The 4 Rushing TD is the stud part.
Week 13: Dustin White (The U): 16 / 20, 257 yards, 7:0 ratio with a perfect 158.3 QB Rating. In a playoff game.

Receivers

Week 2: Justin Blanchard (Friends with Benedicts): 10 catches, 184 yards, 2 TDs
Week 2: Jacob Peterson (BearSkins): 9 catches, 115 yards, 4 TDs
Week 3: Adam Rockman (Recipe 4 Disaster): 5 catches, 64 yards, 5 TDs
Week 4: Maurice Dykmans (J’s): 6 catches, 133 yards, 4 TDs
Week 9: Morgan Tajfel (Bruthers): 6 catches, 117 yards, 4 TDs
Week 12: Angelo Garofalo (Team Ethnik): 7 catches, 133 yards, 5 TDs
Week 12: Corey Oliver (Eskimo Brothers): 12 catches, 117 yards, 4 TDs

Defenders

Week 8: Fernando Massa (Hooligans): 6 sacks
Week 12: Raphael Ducas-Lapalme (Warhawks): 6 sacks, 4 tackles, 3 PDs

Two-way

Week 1: Josh Feder (Coyotes): 7 catches, 102 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT.
Week 3: Corey Williams (Balls Deep): 1 catch, 40 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 1 pick-six
Week 7: Cory Kennedy (Friends with Benedicts): 4 catches, 69 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 pick-six
Week 9: Eddy Lee (Hooligans): 3 catches, 86 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs
Week 9: Steve Robert (War Pigs): 5 catches, 44 yards, 2 TDs, 1 Passing TD, 3 INTs
Week 10: Anthony Addona (Show me your TDs): 5 catches, 107 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs

Games of the season

With the finals coming up, I’ve decided to tally the best games of the season (regular and playoff combined) into one big top 20. Hopefully, it’ll hype up the Finals just a little more and make you guys reminisce good memories before you decide to register for Spring!

Week 8: Jagerbomb vs TOPSZN

Outcome: 50 – 40 Jagerbomb

Why was it so great: After many weeks doubting both teams’ offense, the QBs decided it was time to show up and they showed up BIG. No interceptions; both QBs posted ridiculous numbers (they broke the 600 yards together) and it was decided very late in the game.

Week 9: War Pigs vs Bromigos

Outcome: 31 – 24 Bromigos

Why was it so great: Both teams were on the bubble and War Pigs haven’t shown much sign of life until then. Steve Robert had a night doing, well, everything humanly possible and the atmosphere at Hebert was simply incredible; felt like one of those do-or-die game.

Week 9: 69ers vs 5-Star

Outcome: 60 – 36 5-Star

Why was it so great: So many doubts about both QBs and their ability to score repeatedly. Jordan Moses had his best night of the season and Harbour finally woke up from his slumber. Although it was “one-sided”, it was the beginning of something great.

Week 2: Cougars vs TCO

Outcome: 33 – 32 Cougars

Why was it so great: Before the injuries and players missing, TCO had their real roster, Cougars too and the game came down to the wire. It was one of those games both teams will remember for a while.

Week 2: Recipe 4 Disaster vs David Hurley, Pet Detective

Outcome: 26 – 0 David Hurley, Pet Detective

Why was it so great: It’s the night DHPD showed us just how dominant their defense was by shutting out last year’s (and this year’s) finalist. They made Applebaum look stupid and it’s a pretty tough feat to accomplish.

Week 4: ZOO vs Coyotes

Outcome: 19 – 18 ZOO

Why was it so great: ZOO showed everyone why they signed up in D4 and why they shouldn’t be underestimated. One of the two losses for Coyotes and this one came in a HUGE UPSET package.

Week 7: Crimson Tide vs Show me Your TDs

Outcome: 32 – 31 Crimson Tide

Why was it so great: With Tide being the heavily favored, we didn’t expect much from a defense-less SMYTDs, but the boys came to play and made stops. If it wasn’t for a dropped PAT, Addona would’ve pulled off the upset in a battle of the QB of the year vs runner-up.

Week 2: Les Maloudes vs Broccasion

Outcome: 26 – 20 Les Maloudes

Why was it so great: Two early-favorite faced off in a huge battle and it came down to the wire as both teams grinded it out. It was week 2 and, somehow, it felt like a playoff game. Everyone who was present will remember that game.

Week 11: Keyport Lock vs Les Affreux

Outcome: 31 – 26 Keyport Lock

Why was it so great: Most win and you’re in games are awesome. This one was special; Affreux were without their starting QB due to injury and Domon had to step in. With the stars aligned, Affreux gave Keyport a serious scare as they fought ‘till the very last whistle and came close from pulling off the upset.

Week 10: Les Maloudes vs No Name

Outcome: 18 – 10 No Name

Why was it so great: Talk about upsets. In a game where everyone wrote No Name off, they switched QBs, made plays, grinded it out and came out on top. Must I also add this was a do-or-die game for No Name?

Week 11: Backyard Bullies vs Coyotes

Outcome: 25 – 24 Backyard Bullies

Why was it so great: Game was chosen as Game of the Week and was filmed. It’s on the Facebook wall somewhere. It was quite spectacular. Came down to the wire, was a pure playoff atmosphere and you know both teams gave it their all. Doesn’t get better than that.

Week 10: Longhorns vs Friends with Benedicts

Outcome: 44 – 43 Friends with Benedicts

Why was it so great: Longhorns took control of the game around halftime and made FWB look bad as they had a 2 score lead. Somehow, FWB fought back, put up 31 in the 2nd half and made a heck of a comeback in a game that felt over early in the latter 22.

Week 14: Coyotes vs BearSkins

Outcome: 27 – 26 Coyotes

Why was it so great: Coyotes were in the Conference finals against the Cinderella Story BearSkins. QB couldn’t make the game. Both teams battled and, as BearSkins had the final shot in the redzone with one play left, Coyotes held on to advance to the Title game. Atmosphere was crazy from start to finish.

Week 8: Recipe 4 Disaster vs Les Maloudes

Outcome: 25 – 25

Why was it so great: With the game going back and forth, it was anyone’s game late in the 2nd. Applebaum drove his team down the field with very little time left, scored on the 2nd to last play of the game to go up by 5. One play and it felt like it was all said and done. Yet, Frezza-Beauchamp managed to juked the rusher TWICE in the endzone, throw the hail mary, watch Morissette catch the football and get 6. Convert was no-good, so tied, but WHAT A FINISH.

Week 12: Backyard Bullies vs BearSkins

Outcome: 33 – 32 BearSkins

Why was it so great: 1st vs 8th seed. The Cinderella story as BearSkins fought back in, possibly, one of Etinson’s best game to date. Humes was quite impressive too and both QBs left it all on the field. It was the perfect FPF playoff game.

Week 10: The Fellowship of the Ring vs TOPSZN

Outcome: 34 – 33 TOPSZN

Why was it so great: Both teams needed the win to survive. Loser was out. TFOTR took the lead late in the 2nd, up by 7. Gilbert-Knorren drove his team down the field, made plays with his legs, scored on the last play of the game. TOPSZN goes for 2. Hoytes-Charles on Deschambault. Comeback route infront of the endzone. Good throw, better catch. TOPSZN wins with the 2-pt convert.

Week 12: Les Maloudes vs 69ers

Outcome: 45 – 43 69ers

Why was it so great: It was an absolute bloodbath. Both teams went at each other with everything they’ve had. Quick scores, so much raw emotion. A player for each team was ejected early in the 2nd, but neither QB lost their cool. Game came down to the wire, a serious barnburner, as Harbour did just enough to obtain the W and move forward in the playoffs pulling off a huge upset.

Week 12: Friends with Benedicts vs Suicide Squad

Outcome: 43 – 40 Suicide Squad

Why was it so great: Any playoff games decided on the last play is usually great. Fighting off injury, Lubin had a career night to beat ex-teammates and knock them out of the playoffs. Both QBs played exceptional, but Suicide Squad had the extra time on the clock and scored, from the 1, on the last play of the game to advance. An absolute killer finish.

Week 14: Mud Dogs vs A-Squad

Outcome: 30 – 25 Mud Dogs

Why was it so great: Conference finals. On one side, we have a team that was “unknown” for most of the season against “the biggest pretenders”. Both offense played well, both defense played better. Pulling off a huge comeback, A-Squad got the lead with little time left on the clock, by 1. Mud Dogs scored on the 2nd to last play to go up by 5 and batted the Hail mary down to book their ticket to the Big Stage. It was even better than I could possibly describe it.

Week 14: Keyport Lock vs The U

Outcome: 48 – 47 The U

Why was it so great: Conference finals. The game felt like a high division playoff game was it was decided on PATs and one single mistake. The winning QB posted a perfect QB Rating; the other had a pretty impressive night too. The U took a 7 point lead late in the 2nd. Keyport Lock answered in the final plays. Couldn’t convert; ticket to the Big Stage was denied. The U held on in best game of the season.

Previews

Division 4A

Coyotes (3rd) vs Recipe 4 Disaster (6th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Breakdown: What a huge confidence booster is it for both teams to earn their keep in such a fashion? Recipe 4 Disaster did the impossible by taking down 69ers for the 2nd time in back to back years in the semis to make the title game whereas Coyotes were without QB of the year Sammy Feder to take down the red-hot BearSkins and managed to step up tremendously to punch in their ticket. Heading into this game, both teams should have their confidence soaring. Feder’s offense is the division’s best without a doubt whereas Applebaum’s could be quite the contender on nights when he’s on; the only problem is he isn’t always. Ryan Aridi needs to have a big night both rushing and receiving if he wants to give his team an edge on their opponents as Feder will need to release quicker than usual and someone will need to take into account the dual-threat that is Ryan running the football as a HB and Ryan running 40bombs. Either way, expect Coyotes to do their homework and attempt to shut him down. With guys like Rockman, Jad Aridi and Farag, Applebaum has 0 excuses not to put on a show; can he keep up with Feder and break 40 as well? Saturday 19:00 Brossard. Be there.

Key matchup: Andrew Langburt vs Ryan Aridi

Prediction: 44 – 37 Coyotes

Division 4B

Mud Dogs (1st) vs The U (3rd)

Previous matchup: Week 8: 26 – 25 Mud Dogs

Breakdown: Last time around, Mud Dogs barely made it out alive as they pulled the biggest upset of the week when they took down the previously undefeated The U. This time around, both teams know each other and will take nothing for granted as the title is on the line. Dubreuil has been an absolute monster in the playoffs, but The U’s offense relies on so many different playmakers, it’s tough to tell who’ll be the #1 guy when the spotlight is on. Both teams can put up huge numbers behind two of the best QBs in the division, but they’re known for their gritty defense that make the opponent regret every single bad throw. With so much depth and talent on both teams, it’s tough to imagine this game finishing in any other way but a barnburner. Will Lattimore display arm strength or crazy hip movement? Can Laberge steal the show? Will the White connection be too much to handle? Find out Saturday 17:30 Brossard.

Key matchup: Olivier Laberge vs Josh White

Prediction: 37 – 33 Mud Dogs

That sums it for this week’s article. It’s always a pleasure to write and hear back from you guys. After all, the content is meant 99% for you. I keep a percent for me; ranting here and there is fun after all. You can always reach me via twitter @DagenaisFPF or via email ([email protected]). I’ll be at Lachine every Saturday night scorekeeping so you can stop by and chat. Don’t hesitate. Until next time…!