Semi-finals in Div E: Seeds 10 and 14 in the finals?

Welcome back! I tried to watch as much of the games as I could Thursday. I caught a lot of the Ramphins-OnlyFlags, some of FSU-Pasta. I was unfortunately playing during Satriales-Hail Marty’s but spoke to Raff and George after the game and Satriales were definitely the most improved team this season and I’ll be expecting them to be very strong when the team comes back. I also caught a little bit of the Show Me Dem TDies-Bend Don’t Break game, but couldn’t stay until the end as my carpooling teammates were getting tired and had to leave. 

FSU vs. Pasta Arrabiat (38-33)

First of all, I want to congratulate Pasta Arrabiat on a fantastic season. Despite being 5 in this game, the team really rallied and gave everything they had. They were making the offense work with one less player, and put up an amazing 33 points, on a short Laval field which is hard to score on, even with 6. Nic Delisi has really been a revelation this season and has a bright future playing this game. Joe Morgese wasn’t as efficient as he usually is but still had a solid game with 56 yards, though he surprisingly didn’t find the endzone. Carmelo Di Giovanni and Matthew Vertullo both had 2TDs a piece. 

FSU ended Cover 3 Inches Long’s season in overtime. In the game versus Pasta Arrabiat, Justin Schwartz was great. Obviously, with only 4 DBs on the field, it was wide open. He threw 18 passes, 14 of those were completed, and 6 TDs were thrown. He did well not throwing a single interception. Jason Dankner was the main target with 58 yards and 3TDs. Matthew Goldenberg, who had barely done anything this season exploded for 55 yards and 2TDs. While FSU played well, if Pasta Arrabiat were 6, they would have won the game. It kind of sucks to end your season knowing you could have won it all, but ended up missing out due to 5 guys not showing up. 10 players were eligible for Pasta Arrabiat, and only half showed up, ouch. 

OnlyFlags vs. Ramphins (24-36)

All season, I had said I had my doubts about George Spano. I felt he forced the play too much and struggled to just throw the ball away or even get sacked. He threw a pick 6 to Billy Guay on the first drive of the second half near the endzone which was confusing. He rolled out to his right and had an out/crossing route at the front of the endzone that was covered (I believe Ramphins were playing lanes) and he just lobbed it to the front of the endzone. He threw another pick 6 to Jesse Dumeignil. Ryan Stephan had a couple of nice drag plays where he made some guys miss. Charles Barbeau was absolutely brilliant. He had some very dynamic routes and runs after the catch. He ended with 9 catches, 93 yards and 3TDs. 

For Ramphins, I have to talk about Jesse Dumeignil first. Man, this guy is so athletic. He’s a truly elite safety as he covers so much ground. He had a pick 6, a PD, but was also hard to cover on offense, with 3 catches for 62 yards and 2TDs. Sheldon Dumeignil looked like a Div C QB out there at times, especially on those 2 point converts where he was hitting guys on crossers in the back corner of the end zone. He was also able to make the rusher miss a couple times and ran for almost 30 yards on 3 attempts. Ramphins truly looked like a contender, and man are their uniforms nice. The chemistry and energy on this team is almost unmatched and I truly saw why this team has been unbeatable recently. That is now 7 wins in a row.

Hail Marty’s vs. Satriales (19-12)

I was playing during this game so I couldn’t catch any of it, but after the game Satriales looked absolutely defeated. For a new group of players, what you have accomplished is truly special. Raff told me the guys played an amazing game, especially defensively. Perhaps that’s why the team was so defeated, because they knew how far they’d come and how close they were to moving on. Satriales’ defense was the key, limiting Marty Freedman to only 109 yards passing and 3TDs. Freedman did add a solid 27 yards rushing, but holding the best offense in the division to only 136 total offensive yards is spectacular. More so on that point, Brandon Vickers was shut down almost entirely. He only had 4 catches for 20 yards and a TD. JF Noel did come down with 9 catches and 61 yards. Luca Castellano picked off Freedman twice. Unfortunately for Satriales, Kalavritinos struggled. He completed less than half his passes and only scored twice and getting picked off as many times. Raff Morelli threw the other pick for Satriales. Satriales had 4 plays at the end of the game to come back, but 4 straight incompletions for the team sealed the deal and Hail Marty’s end up moving on. 

Show Me Dem TDies vs. Bend Don’t Break (14-20)

On the first drive, a bad snap led to a 12 yard sack which killed Show Me Dem TDies’ first possession. The team decided to go for it on 4th and 19 and didn’t get it. Luke Moreau completed a 3 yard pass to Josh Notte for the first TD of the game. Show Me Dem TDies got an important pick 1 on the convert. Caruana threw an 11 yard TD to Denis Koutavas to bring the scoring 7-6. Both teams turned it over on their next drive and the half ended 7-6 in favor of Show Me Dem TDies. Luke Moreau threw an interception to Denis Koutavas on the first drive of the 2nd half. Daniel Caruana found Yanakoulias in the endzone and got the extra point to give themselves an 8 point lead. Now down 8, Luke Moreau needed to score quick and he did, finding Dominic Weidner for a 27 yard TD. They then were unable to convert and SMDT were in control, up 2 and with the ball. On the 2nd play of their drive, Caruana threw a costly pick to Tristan Boyer on 2nd and 2. SMDT did a good job bringing Moreau to a 4th and 5 situation, but a 30 yard bomb to Dominic Weidner put Bend Don’t Break up 4. After a successful 2 point convert, Caruana and co. had one last drive to make it count, but Caruana was unable to convert on 4th and 1 and Bend Don’t Break escape by the skin of their teeth. Denis Koutavas and Dominic Weidner were the two most dominant players, but those two 25+ TDs by Weidner won them the game. 

This now sets up two formidable semi-finals, with season-long favorites Hail Marty’s and FSU facing surging and gritty teams in Ramphins and Bend Don’t Break respectively. Ramphins started 1-4 and Bend Don’t Break started 2-3, and they now have great chances to make the finals. Will they be able to take down the giants?

Hail Marty’s vs. Bend Don’t Break

Our first David vs. Goliath matchup is looking more and more even as time passes. Hail Marty’s have looked more vulnerable than ever, after a struggled win versus Satriales. Marty Freedman has being playing it more safe recently but he’ll need to push the pace against a very good defensive team in Bend Don’t Break. BDB haven’t had many interceptions, but their 13 PDs in 3 games are encouraging. Brandon Vickers will need to be a threat in the intermediate and in the deep zones in order to open up the field. Hail Marty’s rushers aren’t their strength, and so extending plays with his legs will need to be a huge part of Luke Moreau’s game tonight. I think this is a great matchup for Bend Don’t Break, whose defense has really stepped up recently, and who can decently match the great receivers Hail Marty’s have. Hail Marty’s defense has picked it up recently though, and if Marty Freedman finds his offensive touch back, it will be hard for Bend Don’t Break to come out of this one alive. Josh Notte and Dominic Weidner will need to be dominant once again. I predict a close one, and it could really go either way. 

Prediction: 34-28 Hail Marty’s

FSU vs. Ramphins

The Goliath in this one is also weaker at this moment in time. Barely scraping by against Cover 3 Inches Long was worrying enough, they only managed to beat Pasta Arrabiat by 6 despite having one more player on the field the entire game. This is coming after back to back losses to end the regular season. Needless to say FSU have to find their groove back if they want to win the whole thing. It won’t be as easy as it was against Pasta Arrabiat for Justin Schwartz. He absolutely needs to use his feet tonight, whether it’s by scrambling or running. With Jesse Dumeignil at safety, Ramphins should be very aggressive underneath to try to create as much chaos as possible. Chad Dumeignil will need to have a bigger impact defensively than he did in the quarters, and disrupting Justin Schwartz won’t be an easy task. Sheldon Dumeignil will also need a big game, limiting the turnovers, and going to his trusted receivers. I have to go with the team with momentum at the moment, the team that has been undefeated for almost 2 months now. 

Prediction: 32-25 Ramphins

We’re now down to the final stretch of the season. There is a very real possibility that seeds number 10 and 14 will face off in the finals, something we have rarely seen. Good luck to all you tonight!