Reviews and Previews for Co-ed

I would like to start this week’s article by congratulating Power Rangers’ quarterback Tam Vilaydeth for getting voted into the FPF Hall of Fame. Vilaydeth has been in the league since 2009 and he joined co-ed in the winter of 2018. In his first season in co-ed, Vilaydeth and his Power Rangers won the co-ed 1 finals. They repeated as champions in the winter 2019 season. Vilaydeth is hoping to win his third straight co-ed 1 championship and his 3-2 Power Rangers look primed to do so.

In co-ed 1, everyone had a bye week. The action will resume this weekend Saturday night when Midtown takes on Michael Scott’s Tots. While there might not have been any games in co-ed 1, co-ed 2 saw its fair share of action and upsets. Despite my prediction that Tigers would win their first game of the season versus La Secte, they fell 34-14. The Tigers offence has been reliant on Kemar Vernon this season. La Secte were able to hold Tigers to only 14 points because they were able to limit Vernon. In fact, Vernon only caught two passes. Etienne Ferland’s interception also helped hold the Tigers to only two scores. While La Secte’s defence did a fantastic job, their offence also had a strong showing. Quarterback Alyson Francillon only passed for 105 yards. Despite that limited total, she managed to throw for five touchdowns. Whatever she wasn’t able to do with her arms, she did with her legs. Francillon ran four times and averaged over 20 yards per attempt. If Tigers want to succeed they need to spread the ball a bit more. Yes, Kemar Vernon is a dominant receiver and it is extremely tempting to target him time and time again. However, throwing to just one receiver makes your offence predictable and easy to stop. Tigers have two games left in their season and if they don’t want to go winless for the second season in a row, they are going to need to start spreading the ball.

I was also confident that Kiss My End Zone would bounce back and defeat Dream Crusher. The KMEZ defence did not stop Dream Crushers once and they were defeated 47-20. Dream Crusher’s quarterback Clara Beaudoin methodically carved up the opposing defence with short precise passes. Nearly half of her passes were towards the talented Guillaume Gagné Labelle. He finished the game with six receptions for 64 yards and two scores. While this was a signature win for Dream Crushers, it was also an uncharacteristically poor performance from KMEZ. This team usually has a robust defence and scores just enough points to win. KMEZ face the Tigers next week and have a chance to get their season back on track.

While Rhinos lost 33-13 to Yin&Yang, I was surprised they kept this one as close as they did. Arguably, Y&Y have been the best team in the league over the past few weeks. The score was 13-7 at the half and Y&Y pulled ahead in the second half of this game. Rhinos were able to keep things close in this one because they involve all   six of their players in the offence. There are far too many teams in co-ed that don’t target their girls very much and this makes them predictable. Half of Rhinos’ completions in this game were to the women on their team. While spreading the ball kept them in this game for a while, it was only a matter of time before Y&Y took control of this game. Justin Weir had another flawless game, throwing for 4 TDs and no interceptions. Y&Y’s defence came up especially big in this one. They intercepted their opponents four times and Matthew Peacock even returned his interception to the house for six.

In perhaps the most surprising match of the weekend, Js upset It’s a Match 35-13. Memories of It’s a Match’s 2-0 start to the season are quickly fading away. This team is looking more and more beatable each week. Alexis Labonté has not been able to fill the shoes of their last quarterback, Benoit Lawlor. Furthermore, Labonté’s transition from receiver to quarterback has left a gaping hole at that position for his team. It’s a Match lacks a dominant receiver and it shows. Labonté has been forced multiple times a game in an attempt to move the chains. While It’s a Match are facing new struggles each game, Js are steadily improving. Hai Minh Luong seems to finally be on the same page as his receivers. He has found the key to success and that key is Adrien Dusautois. Dusautois leads the division in receptions with 32, in yards with 420 and in touchdowns with 11. In this game, Dusautois had another fantastic showing with eight receptions for 3 TDs. Perhaps the most promising sign for Js is that Minh Luong has stopped throwing interceptions. After turning the ball over ad nauseum in his first few co-ed games, he has only thrown one interception in his last two games. It will be interesting to see how Ming Luong fares against a more talented team who can cover Dusautois.

It looked like there was an upset brewing in the first half of the Women’s division game between District and Ahuntsic Girls. District were heavily favored in this one, but their opening few drives were filled with dropped passes. Ahuntsic capitalized on their opponent’s mistakes and jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead. Those two early scores from Ahuntsic clearly woke up district because they went on to score 28 unanswered points to win this one 28-13. Even though it took a few drives for District’s offence to find their rhythm, District quarterback Sandrine Gobeil-Huot had a strong game. She completed 15 passes 150 yards and three scores. Whatever Gobeil-Huot could not get done with her arm, Jasmine Bethelmy got done with her legs. The elusive player ran the ball three times for 50 yards and a score.

For all you perceptive readers out there, I am sure you noticed that I didn’t include a Game of the Week in this article. I like writing about close exciting games in my GOTW. Since there were no super close games, I decided to write briefly about as many games as possible.

 

Week 7 Team of the Week:

Generally, I limit my team of the week to only players from co-ed. This week, since there were no games in co-ed 1 I needed a larger pool of players to choose my team of the week from so I decided to include Women’s division players in this week’s Team of the Week.

Offence

Quarterback: Sara Parker (Teams Texas) 15 completions, 236 passing yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs, 138.8 QB Rating

Receiver: Adrien Dusautois (Js) 8 receptions, 108 receiving yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Anouk Martin (Spartiates) 8 receptions, 107 receiving yards

Receiver: Sarah Cormier (Team Texas) 6 receptions, 122 receiving yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Marc-André Morency (La Secte) 4 receptions, 82yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Jonathan Hared (Kiss My End Zone) 5 receptions, 85 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Alexandrine Trottier (Ahuntsic Girls) 1 tackle, 3 sacks

Defensive Back: Djomax Mukunda (A-Town) 2 tackles, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Daphne Maurais (It’s a Match) 2 tackles, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Virginie Aubut-Ménard (Team Texas) 5 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Marilou Beland (Team Texas) 9 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Noemie Olmand (District) 7 tackles, 2 PDs

 

Week 8 Predictions:

Co-ed 1

Midtown (4-1) vs Michael Scott’s Tots (2-3): While Michael Scott’s Tots are making progress, especially on the offensive side of the ball, they do not have the athletes to slow down Midtown.

Prediction:  Midtown

Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (1-4) vs Speed Academy (2-2-1): Speed Academy have impressed me. Their quarterback, Emile Plante leads the division in passing yards and I think he will lead his Speed Academy to victory over Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce.

Prediction: Speed Academy

Power Rangers (3-2) vs 3rd Down for What (4-1): This is going to be a fantastic game. 3rd Down for What are off to a 4-1 start and currently sit in first place. On the other hand, Power Rangers are flush with confidence after beating Party Mix. I think they will ride that confidence to another victory.

Prediction: Power Rangers

Party Mix (3-1-1) vs 3 Hunnas (0-5): 3 Hunnas have had a brutal start to the season. Things will not be getting any easier this week.

Prediction: Party Mix

Co-ed 2

La Secte (2-4) vs It’s a Match (2-4): Despite all the criticism I have directed towards It’s a Match, I still think this is a talented team that has the potential to do very well. They will rebound from last week’s loss with a win over La Secte.

Prediction: It’s a Match

ATH Squad (6-0) vs Rhinos (2-4): ATH Squad are looking like they might finish the season with a perfect record. Rhinos definitely won’t be the team to hand ATH Squad their first loss.

Prediction: ATH Squad

Kiss My End Zone (4-2) vs Tigers (0-6): Kiss My End Zone have been struggling of late, they have lost their past two matches. However, I think they will rebound in this one and return to their winning ways.

Prediction:

Yin & Yang (5-1) vs A-Town (1-5): Yin & Yang have been on a roll lately. I think they will be able to take away A-Town’s top receivers and their offence should be able to pick A-Town apart.

Prediction: Yin & Yang

Js (3-3) vs Dream Crushers (5-1): Dream Crushers impressed last week. They have a surgically precise offence which can dissect any defence. They also have the athletes to cover Adrien Dusautois.

Prediction: Dream Crushers

Women’s Division:

Ahuntsic (2-3) vs Fleur de Lys (4-1)

Prediction: Ahuntsic jumped out to an early lead this week because their opponents were dropping passes. Fleur de Lys do not drop passes and Ahuntsic will not be able to match their offensive firepower.

Prediction: Fleur de Lys

The Rookies (0-5) vs Spartiates (1-4)

Prediction: Spartiates are better than their 1-4 record indicates. Their quarterback, Clarence Michaud has a canon of an arm. She should be able to pick apart The Rookies defence.

Prediction: Spartiates

District (4-1) vs Team Texas (4-1): District struggled in the opening half of their last game while Team Texas put on quite the show. Team Texas got off to a slow start this season, but they have been getting better and better with each game since.

Prediction: Team Texas

 

The season is already drawing to a close. Luckily, since all the teams make the playoffs it is never too late to make a late season run. However, if you want to turn your season around you will need to win big in week 8!

As always, feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any concerns or comments about the article.