Rehan’s Report – Week 1

After a much awaited time, FlagPlus Football (FPF) has finally returned. It was an emotional off season as FPF saw one of its greats leave and he will be missed dearly not because he was the best scorekeeper or even the nicest person to talk to, instead he filled our hearts with entertainment. Good luck to you Marc Paliotti and never forget us.

Now allow me to welcome you players to Rehan’s Report, a weekly article that will cover division 1 in depth like never before. My intent is to make sure you all have some entertainment during the week when you are not playing football and need your fix. And I know most of you have plenty of time on your hands since you post on the Facebook walls, while being at work. The most important question that you must be asking is why I am the one covering you guys? The answer can be seen by looking at the alternatives. Moe Khan? I mean sure he might be on the Team 990 but let’s be realistic, Moe Khan is all about Moe Khan featuring Moe Khan. Rostyn Castleton? He might be able to beat most of us in an arm wrestling match or do a bit of a colorful commentary on the Facebook group however he is not cut out to cover the “crème de la crème”. Therefore, only one STAR can cover the leagues top division, the STARwar. With that said rest assured that your division will be covered from end zone to end zone and I will make it interesting and fun to read on a weekly basis.

Week 1 is already in the books but before I discuss that, I want to take a brief look into pre-season and what most teams did to get prepared for the winter 2009 season. When Carmine Pollice announced that his Demons will be entering division 1, the off season became quite interesting because the other teams knew they had to bring in a solid roster to have a chance. The two time defending champion Hurricanes, although had a good enough team as it is, added Robby Robinson who is a great receiver and has good chemistry with Hurricanes QB Rick Nincheri. The two time finalist Montreal’s Finest, not to be outdone, added a lot of firepower in Kevin Wyeth, Nathan Taylor, Andre Knights and Kevin Challenger. Even the Demons modified their roster from the winter 2008 season by acquiring Mike Harrington, Kevin Bernavil, JP Moreau and Mike Roy who now calls him King Royal and I have no clue why. Moving on, the Wolverines pretty much kept the same roster but brought in a QB Jerry Charles so Tony Tabet can do what he does best, catch the balls. They also added Ara Ekmekdjian. The CLR Forces have returned for another season with the same squad but have lost one of their top receivers, Nicholas Arsenault-Hum who joined the Express. The Express are also bringing back the same roster from their division 2 championship season. The last team to round out this division is Rainmakers. This is their third season in the league (division 2 in winter 2008 in which they reached semi finals and division A in spring 2008 in which they reached finals) and they have decided to make the jump up to top the division which is very commendable. Even though division 1 is short on teams, it is definitely not short on talent.

Week 1 Review

I will begin with the Rainmakers because they had the opportunity to play twice. They kicked off the season playing the other rookie division 1 team, the Express. The game came down to the last play when Rainmakers scored a TD to win the game giving Ryan Kastner a total of four TDs in the process. The Express had a great game also, especially Andrija Zecevic who posted 2 sacks, 2 tackles and 2 PDs one of which he intercepted and returned for a TD proving he is definitely a top notch rusher. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. However with Zecevic producing these kinds of numbers, the Express will definitely have success in the upcoming weeks. The Rainmakers weren’t celebrating for too long because on Sunday night they faced Montreal’s Finest and got a reality check on the toughness of division 1. Ryan Kastner was sacked four times and picked off twice as they they fell 33-20. On the other side of the ball, Wyeth put up great numbers by throwing for five TDs and spread the ball quite well as four receivers caught at least one TD. Montreal’s Finest are definitely balanced on both sides of the ball and will only get better as they get more and more comfortable with each other. It is also worth a mention that Moe Khan had 4 sacks and new comers Andre Knights had two TDs and Kevin Challenger led all receivers in yards (49) while also catching a TD and even an interception on defense. Another new comer Nathan Taylor also had an INT.

Wolverines opened their season against the defending champions. If anyone remembers that in winter 2008 season, the Hurricanes lost their first game quite badly and I am sure Wolverines were hoping for similar results but boy did they get a rude awakening. The Hurricanes never looked better as they absolutely annihilated the Wolverines by score of 47-8 and showing the Hurricanes are ready to three-peat. Wolverines had a new QB Jerry Charles who somewhat had decent numbers but definitely not enough to prove he is a division 1 QB. The Wolverines were shut out in the first half and just couldn’t get anything going while the Hurricanes scored on every possession. Newly acquired receiver Robby Robinson had a TD in his Hurricanes debut and Rick Nincheri threw to Shane Williams, L. Larouche and Kyle Smith. The Wolverines were missing their star snapper Shane Paquette (I believe he was interviewing some porn stars somewhere so who can blame him) but at this point that wouldn’t have mattered as it is crystal clear that the Hurricanes are on a mission. The fourth game of the weekend featured the Demons and the CLR Forces. A very tiny bit of history here as Carmine Pollice faced the CLR Forces in the winter 2006 finals which Mr. Pollice won so perhaps a bit of revenge was on CLR Forces mind. That definitely didn’t come into play because the Demons won the game 33-19 and if the CLR Forces didn’t know much about the tandem of Carmine and Rochdi, they definitely learned it now. Rochdi caught 12 balls for 135 yards and 3 TDs. So it is safe to assume that Rochdi Benabdelkader almost scored enough points alone to beat the CLR Forces (he didn’t catch any extra points). There was a glimmer of hope for CLR Forces as O. Bourdages picked off Carmine Pollice two times but one of them came on the last play of the first half. As the season progresses, the CLR Forces need to prepare for their games a bit better and need to put up more than 18 points if they intend to compete at this level.

And that rounds up this week’s review. Every week I’ll also be naming 3 STARwars of the week. These are players who had great performances for their respective teams in that week.

3rd star: Andrija Zecevic (Express) put up great numbers in his first division 1 game ever amounting 2 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 PDs, one of which he intercepted for a  TD.

2nd star: Rochdi Benabdelkader (Demons) has done it time and time again in this league so week 1’s performance was no surprise, 12 rec, 136 yards and 3 TDs.

1st star: Rick Nincheri (Hurricanes) started the Hurricane’s season by scoring on every drive, 18-28 272 yards and 6 TDs.

At the end of the season those players who have accumulated the most stars (doesn’t matter whether they came 1st, 2nd or 3rd) will receive the STARwar of the season award, the highest honor possible. Also keep in mind that at end of the season, I’ll be handing out awards for many categories in the second edition of STAR-AWARDS©.

As an added bonus, I am now introducing a new segment called Sarwar’s Spread. I will be attributing a spread to every game based on the players match ups, injuries and other factors. Need I remind you that FlagPlus Football strongly prohibits gambling on its games so any violation of this policy will not be tolerated. This is where it gets interesting, every week teams who cover the spread will get one point but if they don’t, the other team will get two points. At the end of the season the team with the most points will actually win something however I will not name the prize at this point. In the event of a tie, it will be dealt with at that time. Also, I will continue to monitor my progress during the season and see how well I did.

Sarwar’s Spread

1. Rainmakers vs. Demons: Demons have a strong offense which will be hard to stop and their defense is only going to get stronger, Demons –20.5

2. CLR Forces vs. Montreal’s Finest: Moe Khan and company will control the CLR Forces early and set the tone for their offense to take charge. Montreal’s Finest –17.5

3. Express vs. Hurricanes: The only way Hurricanes offense will incur obstacles is if Andrija Zecevic plays like he did in week 1, if not better however Rick Nincheri’s release is so quick that he won’t be a huge factor and Hurricanes should win this easily. Hurricanes –23.5

4. Demons vs. Wolverines: Wolverines got a big beating in game 1 and although it might not be that bad this week, it will definitely not be a picnic either. Demons will score early and often, and should win this easily. Demons –25.5

Do you think these numbers are unfair? Tough! You are playing in division 1 so if you want to be the best, prove it. And those who think they are undervalued, pull some upsets and you’ll get your due.

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.