Semifinals Preview: And Then There Were Eight   

To Creamsicles, St. Lunatics, Green Lantern Corps, Fuzzy-Kittens, Blackshirts, Les Verges Folles, Obamacare, and my teammates on Supply and Command, thanks for playing. 

To the rest of you, let’s just get right to it (I’ll hold off the big, cliché-laced intro for this weekend’s finals).   

 

Recap 

Simply Flagrant (By Peeze Della Reeze) 

Flagrant Fouls 38-Les Verges Folles 34 

This had to be best game of the playoffs.  Division 5 analyst Terry Tam was asked for his comments and he was reduced simply to, “Sick Game”.  Despite jumping out to an early lead Flagrant Fouls showed some vulnerability in the second half as their 26-13 lead was quickly nullified by midway through the second half.  Vincent Morissette overcame 3 early interceptions to take the lead back.  His scrambling style proved to be difficult for Flagrant Fouls to handle as he ran around the pocket like a modified hot wheels speed track and Shawn Lafortune was able to find holes in coverage, on his way to 3 touchdowns and a late 34-32 lead. 

The game would turn however on a beautiful pass from Flagrant Fouls QB Ross Olshansky to Marty Freedman running a 12 yard in picking up yards after the as smooth a catch as you’ve ever seen.  Olshansky sent receivers deep and hit Freedman out of his break allowing his receiver to cut through the recovering defence of Les Verge Folles.  However, while this would a controversial pass interference call and the eventual Olshansky running touchdown it seemed as though Flagrant Fouls had scored too quickly as Les Verges Folles had 4 plays remaining in the game.  With two plays left in the redzone LVF QB Vincent Morissette looked right before breaking left, leaving FF rusher Kyle Greenbaum sprawling.  Morissette stepped up campy and delivered a strike over the middle of the field that was intercepted by a diving Jessie Castiel.  With that Flagrant Fouls would advance while LVF felt as lonely and magical as Les Vierges Folles would after a helpless game of spin the bottle.

 

Obamacare Coverage Insufficient (By Peeze Della Reeze)

Sphinx 32- Obamacare 31

Sometimes a game just gets out of hand.  This was the case for Jesse Applebaum.  Questing for his first championship he had put on for his boys, Obamacare all season (I was desperate to draw that reference and now that song is stuck in my head).  However after allowing 2 pick sixes in 3 throws (with Sphinx’s Julien Laporte and Mathieu Fafard) Obamacare looked to be reeling.  Would seemed to allow Obamacare to return to form was a pick six of their own after an Mike Ambrosino bated a 6 yard hook to the outside and made an lighting quick cut in front of the intended receiver before emotionally taking it back to the house. 

The strangest experience for me was seeing Obamacare stud receiver Andrew Hopkins for the entire first half as he nursed an injury.  He insisted that he would enter the game if necessary and delivered on his promise with a 3 catch, 40 yard and 1 touchdown performance that all but silenced the proverbial lambs (where lambs are spectators I would presume?).  Still the turning point of the game was the strike from mid field from Etienne Clothier to Justin Arsenault who caught the arcing ball over his shoulder and secured it for a huge, second half score.  On Obamacare’s final drive Applebaum connected with Matthew Pisaturo for a short, 4 yard strike.  Obamacare then looked to tie it and as if divine intervention from football dieties destined it so, Jordan McInnis moved toward the middle of the end zone while Applebaum expected him to sit in the zone.  The miscommunication led to a dropped conversion and the game then went to the underdog.  Sphinx move on to the final four, Obamacare wave goodbye, little Sebastian.

 

Sunshine Killed the Cat

Sunshine Island 25, Fuzzy-Kittens 18

In the same week my 5A preseason favorites Les Verges Folles lose a heartbreaker to Flagrant Fouls, Sunshine Island send Fuzzy-Kittens packing in an equally gut-wrenching fashion. Interestingly enough, in a game featuring two teams not particularly known for strong defensive play, strong defense was the theme in this one from start to finish as both teams combined for 6 INTs, 6 PDs and a whopping 10 total sacks.

But ultimately, despite both sides forcing three turnovers apiece, it was when and where those turnovers took place that proved to be the difference, with Sunshine Island QB Matthew Cinquino making the most of relatively short fields for 3 TDs and rushing for another, while Fuzzy-Kittens QB Jordan Robert Chartrand found himself having to rely heavily on quick dump-offs to speedster Simon Bosquet Beaudoin for big YAC to march down the field. It worked well, with SBB going off for 10 catches for 100 yards and 2 TDs. But just not well enough, as Fuzzy-Kittens are sent home packing.

 

You Gone Lern Today  

Small Giants 40, Green Lantern Corps 19

When you start off a game by throwing a Pick 6, then throwing a second to allow another quick TD, then giving up another score to be down 21-0 in the time it takes to make a TV dinner, you know chances are pretty good that you’re not going to leave the field victorious. Green Lantern Corps got front row seats to that experience against a polished-looking Small Giants squad.

Not all teams panic down by three scores that early in a game (shout out Top Sauce and Les Verges Folles), but the shock certainly seemed to hit the GLC side pretty hard. The fact they attempted halfback passes with Mendy Cardichon – with two of his three attempts being picked off – really tells you all you need to know. QB Jerson Previlon was essentially a non-factor in this game, with Small Giants’ tough secondary forcing Previlon to check down often and try to run more than even Previlon himself probably would have liked. 

As expected, Previlon turned to his main man Cardichon quite a bit, with Mendy hauling in 4 catches for 41 yards and 2 TDs. But with just one true deep threat on the GLC side, coupled with a relentless Small Giants offense, it was obvious GLC weren’t coming back in this one. Credit goes to Lerner for largely avoiding Cardichon on the night as he spread the ball around to six different receivers to exact revenge on GLC and more importantly move on to the semis.  

 

Predictions

5A Semifinals  

Conference A:

Dope Boys (5) vs. Gators (7)

Previous meeting: Gators 30, Dope Boys 27  

Is there some bias in this pick due to the fact Gators are fresh off whooping my team’s ass? Yeah probably. But the Gator train has been building up steam for quite some time now.     

Gators’ defense especially has been rock solid since picking up free agent rusher Kevin St-Pierre just in time for him to play six games and qualify for the playoffs. Good luck to QB Eric Lalonde if he hopes to have the time to hit his receivers deep like he did the first time these teams faced off back in Week 4. And even if he does find the time, the size and speed of safeties Eddy Martinez and David Beltrami will have him second-guessing any throw over 10 yards.  

I think Dope Boys’ best chance is to make Gators QB Corey Walwaski, who has now tossed 20 picks in 12 games this season, pay for whatever turnovers he will throw Dope Boys’ way. But considering big plays are likely to be far and few between for the Dope Boys offense, they’ll need to march it up and down the field and get a damn near flawless Lalonde down in the red zone. If that happens, and Robbi Dejean and Felix Menard are beasts as usual, they have a shot to win this.

That being said, I think there’s a better chance that the Eddy Martinez show hits field 3 at Hebert on Tuesday night.  

 

Conference B:

Flagrant Fouls (5) vs. Sphinx (6)

Previous meeting: none

I don’t want to take anything away from Sphinx’s insane win over Obamacare over the weekend. Without a doubt, that was the 5A game of the season, and yes, I’m saying that before even the semifinals take place.

However, I can’t overlook the fact that two of Sphinx’s scores in that game came via (absolutely sick) interceptions returned to the house. The chances of that kind of defensive performance happening two weeks in a row have got to be pretty slim. 

Sphinx will get their stops on D, without question. But then the issue becomes whether they’ll get enough stops against an offense coming off back-to-back 38-point performances, and whether QB Etienne Cloutier can capitalize on ones he’ll get. Flagrant Fouls QB Ross Olshansky has been on a roll for a month straight, and has the perfect mix of deep threats and dependable short-yardage guys in Matt Leblanc, Zack Goldstein and Marty Freedman. Cover deep, Olshansky will carve you up short. Bite on the short routes and someone’s beating you over the top.

Either way, the points figure to rain down for Flagrant Fouls in this game, and I wonder if Sphinx will be able to keep up. Then again, they did just prove me (and probably everyone following 5A) by surprise so…

 

5B Semifinals

Conference A:

Junkyard Dogs (2) vs. Ghosts (6)  

Previous meeting: none  

After having high expectations for them entering the season, I was pretty critical of Ghosts towards the midway point. Looking back at what they’ve accomplished since then, I really have to tip my hat. Eight of their 10 opponents during the regular season qualified for the playoffs, and they still managed to finish 6-4. And speaking of the playoffs, Ghosts’ postseason resume features taking down Flying Weasels’ high-powered offense and scoring 21 points on a ferocious St. Lunatics secondary that allowed just 15.1 on average on the season.

QB Gabriel Wiseman’s short, quick-hitting attack is his bread and butter. Against Junkyard Dogs’ fast and physical defense, it’ll be more important than ever for Wiseman’s receivers to make plays after the catch – I don’t see Wiseman completing many passes over the head of the likes of Hugo Allamanno and Jason Rossie. He won’t have the time to do so anyway – not with rusher Joseph Sifakis, who notched 15 sacks in the regular season, coming in hot every play.

And speaking of Rossie, I don’t think there’s anyone on the Ghosts roster who can realistically be expected to match up against the shifty mobile QB. If Ghosts give him too much time, it’s not difficult to imagine what Rossie will do when he finds the open zone (hit Allamanno deep, if anyone’s wondering).

If Ghosts found their season up to this point tough, it’s about to get a whole lot tougher against the best opponent they’ll face until the spring season. Time to find out if they’re up to the challenge.    

  

Conference B:

Sunshine Island (1) vs. Small Giants (2)   

Previous meeting: none  

If there’s one thing this game won’t be lacking, it’s excitement. Few opposing defense have been able to slow down Sunshine Island QB Matthew Cinquino this season, whose dual threat ability forces you to pick your poison: death by 30-yard run downfield, or death by long bomb to Alex Fulford and Anthony Cinquino. Close in on Cinquino as he gets near the line of scrimmage and he’ll usually have no problem lobbing the ball over flat footed safeties. Stick in your zones until the last possible second and he’ll just turn the corner on you to move the sticks.   

Meanwhile, Justin Lerner has been nothing short of spectacular since getting stymied by the Creamsicles’ defense back in week 9, tossing 21 TDs to just one lone INT while averaging just short of 190 yards per game through the air while completing 75% (75%!!) of his passes over that four-game span. Whoever is feeding this boy, please, I’ll have what he’s having.

Pit these two explosive players head-to-head, and you’re bound to get fireworks. At that point, the question will be which defense is better prepared to handle them.

Taking a quick look how Small Giants have fared against rushing QBs, I’m inclined to give Sunshine Island the edge here. SG have recorded a so-so 8 sacks on the season as a team, and only four of which came from players eligible for the playoffs. And of those, three came from a single player – Daron Migdesyan, who also happens to be the team’s leading tackler. So basically the question for Small Giants is, do you take the risk of losing a top defender and have him rush, or do you blindly put your faith in someone else to do what few have been able to do all season and contain Cinquino?  

All things considered, I don’t think anything short of a monster game from Lerner would result in a Small Giants win here.

 

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That’s all from me this week. As always, be sure to tune in to this week’s podcast at www.youtube/flagplus. Go Gators! (You’re damn right I’m hoping to comfort myself with the thought that I lost to the eventual champions)