Rehan’s Report (D1) – Week 2

Welcome everyone to second edition of Rehan’s Report. Last week, we saw something that I never thought I would see, two players leaving in the middle of their division 1 game (Lachine) to go play in division 2 (Laval). The score wasn’t even lopsided in their favor but on the contrary, it was a close affair. I can’t even begin to imagine what was going on in the QB’s mind since he was losing his best receiver and the best snapper in this league. Lucky for them, their team won the game on the last play. However we knew that the winter 2009 season would be a unique one, therefore expect to see many more events of similar ilk. I will also like to take this opportunity to admit that my spreads were slightly miscalculated and I am happy to see that there is more parity in division 1 than I had anticipated. Ideally this is division 1 football; close, intense and thrilling games that provide entertainment for viewers.

Week 2 Review

And what better game to recap first than the most exciting one in week 2, the Demons and the Rainmakers. I had predicted the Demons to win by 20.5 points and boy was I wrong. At this point, I would like take you back into Spring 2008 Finals between Kings and Rainmakers and after the game when Carmine Pollice made comments about the McGill players not being good because they don’t take the game seriously. So you can definitely bet that the Rainmakers had some revenge on their mind and game definitely started off in their favor. On their first drive, the ball hit Carmine in the face on 4th down. At that point, the Rainmakers took over and scored. Then another snap went over Carmine’s head for a safety and the Rainmakers scored on the ensuing drive. A surprising start to this game as the Demons found themselves in a hole early being down 22-8 however key “pick six” by Rochdi Benabdelkader and an interception by Benny Goodfriend gave them a bit of life and at the half, the score was 22-22. The second half provided a lot of physical play and was very much back and forth however it all came down to the last play of the game. Carmine Pollice threw a beautiful ball to Paul Lapierre which resulted in a TD, thus completing the comeback and winning the game. The most important thing for the Demons to realize is that they got away with one and they have to know that you can’t always win games like this too often, especially in division 1. It was definitely not Carmine Pollice’s best game however he made it count most when it was needed. I am sure that night the Demons definitely had a sigh of relief because they were playing on Sunday night as well, against the Wolverines. For the Rainmakers, they know they had the games in their hands but let it slip away however learning division 1 football continues for them and rather well, they are becoming a great team fast and will surprise many down the road.

As for the Wolverines, they knew they would be facing a Demons squad who are determined to have a better start and a more comfortable outing all together. The Wolverines welcomed back their snapper Shane Paquette who was off in the PORNO LAND doing God knows what but he would make an impact for his team who only scored 8 points in week 1. He had 7 catches for 52 yards and 1 TD and the Wolverines, led by rookie QB Jerry Charles, were only down one score at the end of the first half. The second half the Demons would outscore the Wolverines again and win by a score of 46-31. Benny Goodfriend had a good game for the Demons amounting 93 yards receiving and 1 TD. Carmine Pollice had no interceptions and a rushing TD to make up for the un-Carmine like game on Saturday night but more impressive was Jerry Charles who put up good numbers, even if it was in a losing cause, for only his second start in this league. He is going to surprise a lot of teams as he gets more comfortable each week passing which adds more excitement to division 1.

Now let’s move on to another great effort by a team this past weekend. Montreal’s Finest only had six players for Saturday night’s game vs. the CLR Forces. Anyone who has played in division 1 (well definitely not I) can attest to the fact that having no bench can be quite tough for any team because it takes a lot out of you. Montreal’s Finest have been there in the past seasons as they made it to the finals twice with a very short bench but came up short perhaps because of that reason alone. Nonetheless they knew they were in tough against a CLR Forces squad who is fast and shifty. The key to this game was Kevin Wyeth, he had to take charge of the offense and put up the points for the Finest. He definitely came through as he completed 19 passes out of 23 attempts for close to 200 yards and 5 TDs and helping out on defense as well, getting 2 tackles and 2 PDs. Captain Moe Khan said he was very proud of his boys and everyone gave a solid effort for the win. Obviously he doesn’t want to make a habit of winning with only 6 players each week but will take it for now. On the other bench, the CLR Forces lost yet again however a lot of dropped balls didn’t help their case and Fred Dupuis had 2 interceptions (one of them was by newcomer Andre Knights) therefore that was the difference alone, final score was 31-19 for Montreal’s Finest.

Last game of the week was Hurricanes against the Express. There is really not much to report here besides the fact that the Hurricanes dominated for a second week in a row and now have scored 97 points in two weeks. Shane Williams had a monstrous game on both sides of the ball, 64 receiving yards with a TD on offense and 1 tackle, PD and a “pick six” on defense. The Hurricanes defense held Patrick Chenard to only 25 yards rushing and as a result he only completed 13 out of 25 passes. On the other side, Rick Nincheri had a great game completing 20 out of 28 passes for 255 yards and 5 TDs. Newcomer Robby Robinson also had a great game (but then again most players on the Hurricanes team did, 51 points means there is a lot to go around) with 2 receiving TDs and 1 rushing TD. This Hurricanes team is definitely the team to beat right now however I am definitely interested to see how they will fare against some of the top teams in the upcoming weeks. Simply put, Will they continue to win by huge margins? Only time will tell. As for the Express, their success lies in defensive abilities and so far it hasn’t showed up however it is only week two. One thing is certain, Andrija Zecevic needs to start having games like he did in week 1 which might be tough against QBs like Fred Dupuis, Carmine Pollice, Rick Nincheri and others since they have fast releases.

And that rounds up this week’s review. Now it is time to name the 3 STARwars of the week.

3rd star: M. Chitayat (Rainmakers) had an incredible game which unfortunately was in a losing cause but it is still worth a mention. 11 receptions, 125 yards and 3 TDs.

2nd star: Kevin Challenger (Montreal’s Finest) had a great game knowing there were no subs on the bench. He had 85 yards receiving and 3 TDs on offense and 4 tackles and 1 PD on defense.

1st star: Carmine Pollice (Demons vs. Wolverines) had a much better outing on his second try this past weekend, 18-23 for 249 yards and 6 TDs and rushed for 15 yards and 1 TD.

As I said before, I will be keeping track of the amount of stars every player receives throughout of the season and at the end, they will receive the STARwar of the season award.

Sarwar’s Spread

There are only three games in week 3 and my spreads are calculated carefully this time around.

1. Montreal’s Finest (2-0) vs. Wolverines (0-2): Montreal’s Finest will have more than six players on the bench this weekend however I do believe the Wolverines will make it a game with Jerry Charles getting used to division 1 very quickly. Montreal’s Finest – 10.5

2. Rainmakers vs. Hurricanes: The Hurricanes’ defense will get their first test of the season with the potent Rainmakers offense. However more important is for Rainmakers defense to step up against that red hot Hurricanes offense (97 points for in 2 games). Hurricanes – 12.5

3. CLR Forces vs. Express: This is also WEPL’s game of the week. As I stated on WEPL, Express are still getting used to the game speed of division 1 and CLR Forces are veterans. Although it will be a close game, CLR Forces should squeak one out. CLR Forces -8.5

As I said before, my calculations for last week were a bit off but I have never been more happy to be proven wrong because this shows to me that division 1 will be more exciting to watch than ever before and I am happy, although not surprised, that I am covering the elite.

That is it for this week’s report, if you have any comments/suggestions don’t hesitate to message me on Facebook or [email protected]. I wish you luck in your match ups, make sure you play hard and have some fun; and I’ll catch you next week same STARWAR time, same STARWAR article