Reviews and Previews are Back for Coed!

Welcome back to the Coed season! We already have a week of games played so it is definitely time for your first article. After taking a break during the fall and winter  to focus on school, I am back and I will be covering the Coed divisions this season.

For all those of you who do not know me, I am Alexi Dubois and I have been writing the articles for the Coed divisions for years. I have also been playing in Coed since the 2019 winter season. This year, I am playing with Kiss My End Zone in Coed 2 and Kiss My Inlaws in division C. The most difficult aspect of writing about Coed is writing about my own teams. Bringing unbiased commentary to teams I play on is obviously impossible. So if anyone ever has anything to say about either of the two teams I play on, feel free to message me on Facebook or contact me via email at [email protected] I am extremely open to incorporating your feedback! Feel free to reach out to me anytime or simply talk to me at the field before one of my games.

In terms of the articles, I will try and keep a consistent format across the weeks. I will review a few games from the previous week, make predictions on some of the upcoming games and name 12 players to my team of the week. In addition to these weekly staples, I will also include divisional breakdowns, playoff predictions and power rankings if I feel the time is right. If there is something else you would like to see in the articles, please let me know. With that being said, let’s get into your week 1 article!

For all of those who are wondering what happened to the Coed 1 division, I regret to inform you that it was unfortunately canceled for this season (and this season only). There was not quite enough registration to justify creating a Coed 1 division. However, Coed 1 should be back for the Winter 2024 season so start gearing up your team to take a run at the Coed 1 crown next winter! 

Here is a quick look at the teams to watch this season in Coed 2 and 3.

Coed 2 Teams to Watch

The IG Team

Let’s start with the obvious team to watch for, the defending champions from the Winter season, The IG Team. They are the defending champions and are returning with largely the same roster as last season. If anything, this team could be getting even better. According to the FPF grapevine, Jimmy-Lee Janvier could be throwing for this team. That would give them both Jordanson and Jeanslee Alexis as receivers and a certified pocket passer to dish the ball out to them. This team is already in a great place to defend their title and if they add Janvier, the rest of the division should be seriously worried.

EZFun

EZFun feels like a Coed 1 team playing in Coed 2, and that is because they are. The core group of this team is exactly what you are looking for in a top tier team. They have speed in Maxime Boucher-Cyr and Samuel Emilio Pelchat. They have all around greatness in Jean-Christophe Ferland and they have size in Nicolas Blais. Frederique Daoust also had a tremendous performance in week 1 and led all female receivers with 54 receiving yards and two scores. EZFun has historically lacked female playmakers so if they can rely on Daoust this season that would be a huge upgrade for them. The question that remains for this team is what will the offensive production look like from the QB position? Nicolas Blais is not the flashiest quarterback in this division.He is good at avoiding mistakes and slowly driving the field but lacks the big play ability of other QBs in this division. EZFun doesn’t need extraordinary QB play with such a deep roster. All they need is solid, mistake free football. The question is if Blais can deliver that. 

Fitsquad

At this point, we know what we are going to get from Fitsquad: an impressive regular season and an early playoff exit. They are returning with nearly the same roster. The only addition appears to be Salim Tayae who missed the past few seasons. All in all you have to wonder where this team stacks up against the heavyweights of the division. There is no question that they can beat up on the bottom half of this division, and they proved that in week 1 with a 55-8 win over Street Runners. Fitsquad are definitely going to be a good team but they will need to beat another top team before I seriously consider them to be title contenders.

Kiss My End Zone

Kiss My End Zone’s run for  the Coed 2 championship title was stopped by The IG Team after a heartbreaking 1 point loss in the semifinals. That being said, this team is back and has reloaded with weapons. Alex Noel and Lucas Quenneville bring some much needed speed to this offense and they are hoping that Angelo Mourelatos can be the big bodied physical safety that this team has been missing.  Erica Dubois is also back after taking the winter season off to travel. She is one of the stronger female defenders in the division and has extremely reliable hands on offense as well. While all of those additions are great, the most important thing this team did was retain Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo at quarterback. Iggy is an elite division C QB and is off to a great start to his season in B. All that to say, Iggy is a bargain at a 79.9 rating and he is definitely the cream of the QB crop in Coed 2.

Coed 3 Teams to Watch

Thunder Buddies

My knowledge of the Coed 3 teams is definitely not as good as my knowledge of the Coed 2 teams so please bear with me as I get to know this division! I do know the Thunder Buddies well enough to say that the former Div E champs are going to be the team to beat in this division. Despite coming back from a gruesome ankle injury, Terry Babalis is a polished and experienced passer, having played in both FPF and other leagues. As well as Babalis, this team also has William Power who is a gamechanger in division A. Fair to say, he is going to wreak havoc in Coed 3.

Pig Six 

In Coed 3, one dominant player is enough to carry a team and that is exactly what Pig Six have in Vincent Cheung. While most know Cheung as a speedy receiver and instinctive DB, he is trying his hand at QB with Pig Six and he has had success previously at that position. The guys on this team are mostly FPF vets from the Save the Turftles franchise and I am sure they will quickly adapt. However, I do not know any of the female players on this roster. For this team to go from good to great, it will come down to what kind of production their female players are capable of creating.

Drink Team

I am not sure exactly where this team is coming from but they feel like a new improved version of the Sneaky Snakes. Valery Shelder is an early contender for receiver of the year, having recorded nine catches in just his first game. I also love the addition of Medric Lauzon to this squad. While his QB cap is too high to throw, he brings a wealth of football experience and knowledge to the table. The question mark for this team is their quarterback play. Darryl Dorcely has been a run first and throw second QB for a majority of his tenure with this group. If they want to take the step to the next level, Dorcely will need to become more comfortable from the pocket and only use his legs as a last resort. 

Week 1 Game of the Week

Block Party (20) vs Les Marchands de Vitesse (20)

This was a defensive battle between Block Party and Les Marchands de Vitesse. Neither one of these quarterbacks cracked 100 yards passing. Block Party looks like they are picking up where they left off last season. Ever since this team was called 3Hunnas, they have had a solid defence. They are filled with top level athletes and have a defensive mastermind organizing their defence in Gerry Vincent. By all measures this was another impressive defensive showing on the part of Block Party. They held Les Marchands de Vitesse to under 60 passing yards. Fabrice Robillard recorded their only INT but numerous other defenders were able to get their hands on opposing passes and bat them down. If they could manage to turn a few of those PDs into INTs then this game would have definitely been a win for Block Party. While they did a great job stopping the passing game they struggled to defend the run. Antoine Kraft-Cloutier, the QB for MdV ran for more yards than he passed for and averaged a first down just about every time he took off. The Coed division is always filled with scrambling QBs so the fact that Antoine Kraft-Cloutier was able to run all over this BP defence is worrying. Alec Louison, the BP rusher recorded just a single sack. Block Party have a good defence but they need to work on stopping the run if they truly want to shut down opposing offenses. 

While Les Marchands de Vitesse might not have left this one with the win they wanted, there are a lot of positive takeaways from their first game in Coed. The biggest bright spot for them was definitely Tamara Journeau. That name might sound familiar to a lot of readers, and that is because she has already played in FPF Division 2 with B-raves and Coed 1 with the Northern Braves. She’s an uber talented player and already has experience at the highest levels of FPF. She left her mark in this game with a key interception, two PDs and just as many tackles. Long story short, she was MdV’s best player on defense. Getting production from your female players is key in Coed and to see that this team is already getting the most out of her is a great sign.

While both of these teams had a solid defensive showing, they are going to need to turn things around offensively if they want to get into the win column. I am fairly confident that this is the only game either one of these teams will be able to win by throwing for less than 100 yards. The bare minimum to have success in FPF is 4 touchdowns a game. Once you reach that 4 TD threshold you can start hoping that your defence will carry you. The good news is that both of these teams have the receivers they need to excel. All they need now is solid quarterback play.

Week 1 Team of the Week

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. The team of the week will be made up of players from Coed 2 and Coed 3. Only stats will be considered when choosing players for the team of the week. That means 100 receiving yards in Coed 3 is equivalent to 100 receiving yards in Coed 2. In the spirit of the Coed division, every team of the week will have a minimum of two female players on the offensive and defensive team.

Offence

Quarterback: Jeanslee Alexis (The IG Team) 19 completions, 208 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Zackary Alberts-Gill (Michael Scott’s Tots) 5 receptions, 83 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Mathilde Sybille (Beeftons) 4 receptions, 42 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Jafar Hassan (Thunder Buddies) 6 receptions, 107 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Jean-Daniel Ratté (DreamKillers) 3 receptions, 68 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Frédérique Daoust (EZFun) 4 receptions, 54 yards, 2 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Julian McLaren-Thompson (Plenty of Fish) 3 sacks

Defensive Back: Jean-Christophe Ferland (EZFun) 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 sack

Defensive Back: Dylan Taylor (Plenty of Fish) 1 tackle, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Charles-Olivier Mongeau (Les Crevettes) 4 tackles, 2 INTs   

Defensive Back: Melodie Massé (DreamKillers) 1 sack, 1 INTs, 1 PD, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Catherine Denault-Cardinal (Les Schtroumpfs) 1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 TD

Week 2 Predictions:

The IG Team (1-0) vs Pig 6 (1-0) – Coed 2

Pig 6 got off to a strong start this season with a win over Plenty of Fish but they are already facing a very tough task in week 2 with a matchup against the defending champs IG Team. The biggest question in this game is whether Pig 6 rusher Tony Vo will be able to contain Jeanslee Alexis or not. Vo won the award for defensive player of the year in division 5A last season with 21 sacks so if there is anyone who has a shot at containing Alexis, it’s Vo. That being said, Alexis is not similar to any QB Vo has faced before. He is quicker and shiftier and I do not think Vo will be able to adapt in time. Alexis will get the best of Vo and lead his team to a 2-0 start. 

Prediction: The IG Team

Les Schtroumpfs (0-1) vs 1-9ers (1-0) – Coed 3

These are two teams with solid rosters and new QBs. That is very much the case for 1-9ers. This team is filled with FPF vets like Alexandre Blais and Charles Presser. They also have the fastest player of the division in Lucas Quenneville. Even the uber talented Nykolas Pierre-Masse is on this roster. This team has all of the weapons they need to succeed. The only question I have is if Charles Presser will be able to get the balls into his receivers hands. In week 1 he seemed more interested in throwing the ball to the other team than his own. He needs to keep things simple. His receivers can do the work after the catch so all that he needs to do is complete short passes and hooks and let his teammates do the rest of the work. As for Les Schtroumpfs, I do not think they will be able to match up with the speed of Quenneville and that will ultimately cost them this game.

Prediction: 1-9ers

There you have your week 1 article! Stay tuned to the site and Facebook page for more articles from Coed and the rest of the league.