Spartans win; Week 6 preview

Welcome to Week 6 of the FlagPlus Football Jr Division season. The playoffs are just around the corner, and the intensity is picking up. We’re at the point of the season where some teams are starting to make statements about who they are, and what they’re all about, while others are still struggling to find their identity. Fear not for those of you that find yourselves in the second category, because with 3 weeks remaining in the regular season, there is still a bit of time left for you to figure it out. 

Speaking of making a statement, the Ducks (is there a better defense in FPF Jr?), the Hawkeyes, and the Horned Frogs, all managed to keep the donut in the loss column, and in doing so, showed why they are the class of their respective divisions.  

Congrats are in order to the Spartans on getting their first win of the season, in entertaining fashion, with a 34-33 victory over the Bulldogs. This was a real solid team-effort, as several members of the squad contributed to the win.  

With the playoffs around the corner, this is the type of game that can give the team momentum the rest of the season. Great job guys! 

In last week’s article, I mentioned that I would reveal my choices for the Mid-Season Quarterback, Wide Receiver, Rusher, and Defensive Player of the Year. On Wednesday night, (the podcast is usually on Tuesdays, but due to the nasty weather this past Tuesday, we did the show on Wednesday) FPF Founder Rob Campana and I did so on the weekly FPF Junior Division Podcast. If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage both players and parents alike to do so immediately. It was a lot of fun, let us know what you think.   

 

High-Five 

Trey Bentley (Buckeyes) – This is the performance we’ve all been waiting for out of the talented Quarterback. After struggling a little bit the past two weeks, Bentley, played a great game against the Gators, going 13 of 22 for 180 yards, and 5 touchdowns. The Junior Division QB of the Year last season, is making a late charge to win the award in the Sophomore section this year. Another performance or two like last Sunday, and he just might. 

Jaden Frenette (Buckeyes) – Trey Bentley had to throw all those touchdowns somewhere, right? Second-year Receiver Jaden Frenette, grabbed 3 of those TDs, to go along with 105 yards in his team’s 34-15 win over the Gators. 

(The Hawkeyes) – When you drop a 60 burger on somebody, you automatically make the list. What makes their 60-8 win over the Seminoles impressive, was that Quarterbacks Kaelen Trepanier and Alexandre Blouin combined to complete only 11 passes, 5 of which went for touchdowns. Even more jaw-dropping, was the team’s defense, that recorded 6 interceptions, and ran 4 of them back to the house. 

(Red Devils) – Pitching a shut-out is definitely another way to get on the list, and the Red Devils that by blanking the Hurricanes 39-0 Sunday afternoon in Kirkland. Needless to say, the team’s defense was a force to be reckoned with, as they registered 6 interceptions. Defensive Backs Darrius Johnson and Lorenzo Cormier-Jarbah each received two INTs, and the duo ran back one to the end-zone. 

Adam Bateman (Musketeers) – It was the Adam Bateman Show Saturday afternoon at the Stinger Dome, as the rookie caught a touchdown, ran for one, and returned of his two INTs for a TD in his team’s 18-6 win over the Fighting Irish. What a performance by the youngster! 

Honorable Mention: 

Jayden Michel (Ducks) – The rookie recorded his 4th straight game with an interception. The word impressive might not be good enough.  

Logan Trepanier (Cougars) – The rookie ball-hawk had 2 INTs, and ran them both back to the house, to help his squad squeak out a hard-fought 32-31 win over the Wolverines. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. Trepanier, definitely proved the saying right. 

Sam Mastoub (Bulldogs) – Although his team came out on the short end of the stick against the Spartans, Mashtoub more thsn carried his weight, as the second-year game-changing Wide Receiver had a remarkable 4 catches for 96 yards and 2 TDs. 

 

Picks (Favorites in bold) 

Seminoles vs Buckeyes 

The Seminoles are a hungry team, that despite their (0-5) record, have a talented roster with the likes of Brayden Bevan, the Fleming and Longo brothers, and David Bensemana, among others. Those guys will have their hands full however, as they try to shut down not only the aforementioned Bentley and Frenette, but also Jaeden Edghill, Lucas Piscopos, and both Max and Ben Arnovitz as well.  

Wolverines vs Fighting Irish 

The Fighting Irish are another team that is a lot more talented than their record indicates. Nonetheless, the offense needs to score more points than the season-high 19 that they’ve done so far. 

The Wolverines are coming off of a heart-breaking 32-31 loss to the Cougars. Quarterback Trystan Henson, has a lot of weapons to choose from in the form of Aronhiensere Diabo, “Tank” VanDommelen, AJ Campione.  Expect the Wolverines to come out firing.   

Cougars vs Ducks 

Their Week 1 match-up was a defensive dogfight, that the Ducks managed to escape with a 13-12 victory. The re-match has a chance to be a classic, as both squads are clearly the class of the Freshman Division. 

Both squads have big name play-makers on both sides of the ball. The question is, will the Ducks remain perfect, or will the Cougars avenge their only loss of the season? We’ll find out tomorrow in Kirkland.

Hawkeyes vs Hurricanes 

Can the Hawkeyes be stopped? That’s the question the 5 other Sophomore Division teams have been asking themselves all season-long.  

For the Hurricanes to pull off the upset, Quarterback  Nicholas Masella will need to have a bounce back performance, after he was intercepted 6 times by a ball-hawking Red Devils defense last week.  Getting the ball as early and often as possible Carter Soles, Marco Gentile, Peter Karabinis, and Ashtin Philistin, and generating long drives that will keep the powerful Hawkeyes offense on the bench is a good start. 

Spartans vs Longhorns 

The Spartans are riding high coming off their first win of the season, with a 24-19 victory over the Bulldogs. The team from Sparta, will try to make it two in a row as they take on a Longhorns team who got beat soundly (39-6) by the Horned Frogs (More on them in a sec) 

Although Spartans QB Ryan Garber didn’t put up huge numbers through the air, he did throw for two TDs, and more importantly, he ran for a pair of scores as well.  

Longhorns’ Quarterback Samuel Crudo, had a rough outing vs the Horned Frogs, but I think the rookie passer to rebound this week. I also expect the defense to get a big boost by the return of the reigning rusher of the year, Shaylynn Bentley, who missed last week’s game.   

Horned Frogs vs Bulldogs 

Two teams heading in opposite directions, as the Horned Frogs look unbeatable, and the Bulldogs look anything but.  

For the ‘dogs to get the win, they will have to void turnovers, which has been killing them so far this year. Wide Receiver and aspiring Vanier Cheetah, Sam Mashtoub, has been the division’s best WR, but his team will also need huge contributions from Gianni Frassetti, Roupen Djourian, and Kevin Adams Papineau to pull off the unthinkable. 

On defense, they will need their Defensive Backs to limit (no, I will not use the word shutdown, because it doesn’t apply here) Horned Frogs MVP Kaylem Ferdinand, ho has been a juggernaut to opposing defenses all season long. An interesting match-p with be Ferdinand versus Jared Gallant who had two INTs, including one that was brought back to the house last week against the Longhorns. 

Red Devils vs Gators 

The Gators’ Vincenzo Frank is like FlagPlus Football’s version of Slash (Sorry kids, if you have no idea who I’m talking about, that’s why we have Google) Frank throws touchdowns, catches them, runs for TDs, and even scores on defense. While the team’s record isn’t what they or many FPF staff thought it would be, the rookie is a fun player to watch. 

The Red Devils, as I mentioned earlier, are coming off of a dominating performance against the Hurricanes. Hey will have to be dominate once again, if they want to contain Frank. 

Musketeers vs Bruins 

The Bruins, despite losing 20-6 to the Ducks last week, were only down 6-0 at halftime of the contest. For the Bruins to get the victory, they will need a little bit of help at Quarterback, after the team had 3 pivots throw for a combines 24 yards last week. Another solid performance by their defense, against an impressive Musketeers’ offense featuring the dangerous Adam Bateman, would go a long way in deciding the outcome of this one.  

  

That’s it for this week guys. Thanks for taking the time to read the article. I’ll be back next time with a recap of Week 5, and everything else that is going on in FPF Jr.  

Just a quick reminder once again, to tune into the FlagPlus Football YouTube channel, as FPF founder himself Rob Campana, and I, have episode number 4 of the FPF Jr podcast. We encourage you guys to check it out. It airs every Tuesday night from 9:30 to 10PM for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.  

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, feel free to contact me at [email protected]