The Div 4 Playoff Run continues – Shocking Upsets and Semi Final Previews

With 9 days since the Quarter Finals that went down in Lachine on Sunday May 15th, the teams that advanced are now mentally getting prepared for the Semi-Final showdowns on Tuesday May 24th in the outdoor field at Loyola campus.

It’s a cool vibe when 1 location has the entire division playing do-or-die playoff games. You can come a few hours earlier than your game or stay after your game to see who’s moving and who’s been eliminated. People you’ve faced off against in the regular season are watching alongside with you, especially when games go into overtime, the way the Voodoo vs. Beer Belly Brigade game did. Teams and even refs from the other field were standing in the middle of the green dividers to watch the late-game drama and overtime magic unfold.

First, let’s do a quick recap of the Quarter Finals games so we can then move to the Semi-Final previews. Let’s do it.

Quarter Final Recaps – 4A

Both top dogs in Conference A were eliminated last Sunday.

First, KGP Ra. Despite throwing 2 INTs, Blackouts QB Adam Sinagra was able to convert 2 more XPs than his counterpart in Ryan Garber. KGP Ra did take advantage of the turnovers, getting 6 points off 1 INT (the other was a last play of the half INT). After 6-0 lead KPA, Sinagra answered on the very next play, hitting Ryan Vanlset for a 40 yard TD. 4th down was a big factor in this game, particularly for KGP Ra in the 2nd half. They had a 4th down TD to Cutler, Garber was sacked on 4th down by Andy Louis and the Blackouts defense came up big with another 4th down stop. After that 4th down stop, Sinagra marched 34 yards in just 3 plays and hit Anthony Mungiovi for the TD and converted the crucial 1 point attempt to go up by 20-12 with only a few minutes remaining in the game. KGP Ra’s Cooper Young and his 28 yard reception on 4th down kept their season alive, and would score on the next play, a 10 yard TD pass to Garfinkle, but the 2 point conversion was no good. KGP Ra saw their season come to an end when Sinagra ran for a first down.

Then it was TOPSZN, the favorite going into the playoffs, ousted by a feisty Small Giants squad. The game was a tight one, despite Small Giants having a 19-6 halftime lead. And despite that 19-6 lead at the half, the game didn’t start so hot for the Small Giants. After just crossing the half on their first offensive possession, Lerner was picked off by Brandon Parent. Brandon wasn’t done just there. After QBOY Shawn McGrath converted a 4th-and-10 play to brother Ryan McGrath for 18 yards, he then connected with Brandon Parent for his first of 3 TDs on the night. That TD would quickly get its answer, as Theo Bekelis responded with a 34 yard TD grab, and Lerner converted the XP1 to Nick Madimenos, which would loom large by the end of the game. The Small Giants defense would come up huge the next 2 possession, with Emmanuel Sarikakis sacking S. McGrath on 4th down at his own 1 (the next play, TD punched in Greg Kritselas) and then Justin Lerner picking off McGrath on 4th down, later capped off for 6 points by Daron “The Wrangler” Migdesyan. Down 19-6 at the half, TOPSZN wiped that 2-score lead quickly. They scored to start the half and then stopped Lerner on 4th and 3 on the Small Giants 17-yard line, later punched in by B. Parent. Unfortunately, the convert game was not on-point, so the Small Giants would still hold on to a 19-18 lead. After Lerner would add 6 by finding Kritselas for his 2nd of the game, McGrath would be intercepted by Nick Madimenos. Luckily though, TOPSZN’s Andel Thomas-Gordon had a huge defensive effort with a tackle and a sack, forcing a quick 4-and-out to save his teams season. TOPSZN had the final possession of the game and scored on the last play of the game, but like KGP Ra, could not convert the XP1 to tie and send the game to OT. Small Giants hung to their 1 point lead to move on to the Semi-Finals.

Stoics could not keep pace with the Mongoose offense. Alex Gaudet, like in Round 1, was all about spreading the attach across his 5 receivers. Marc-Antoine Bigué had a big game both ways, catching all 6 balls thrown his way for 2 TDs and caused a killer interception on Chris Rivest that iced the game for Mongoose. The early shift in momentum in the game was the Mongoose defense stopping The Stoics on their 2nd possession on 4th and 4 at The Stoic 16-yard line. Mongoose capitalized on that turnover on downs to go up 14-6 and never looked back. They had the all-important stop before the half and started with the ball in the 2nd half to take a 27-12 lead. After the teams exchanged touchdowns (first Stoics then Mongoose), the Rivest interception came on the 1st play after Mongoose scored their 5th TD and put the game to an end.

Takeover come away with a bloody 1 point victory over The BrotherHood. Takeover looked great on the first possession, driving it down the field with 5 straight completions by Ian Einheiber, capped off by a Vincent Benjamin 4 yard TD, plus a Will Power XP1 conversion. Will then followed it up on D with a interception on The BrotherHood’s first offensive possession. Thankfully for The BrotherHood defense, they forced a 4-and-out on Takeover a big 25 yard gain. However, The BrotherHood offense couldn’t punch it in, after Quaysie ran every 2nd play, but 4 straight incomplete passes fizzled the drive out. Takeover took a big drive near the end of the half for their 2nd score of the game and thought they had a 13-0 lead going into the half. Or so they thought. They left 1 play remaining and The BrotherHood capitalized, as they caught Takeover off guard, as Nathan Nyandro fed it to Quaysie, who took it 40 yards to break the goose egg on the scoreboard. The BrotherHood then took advantage that they started the game on D, as they scored on the first drive of the 2nd half. This is where the game opened offensively. Takeover responded with a Will Power TD with a Julien Wilson XP2 convert on a long drive. The teams then traded quick 40-yard TD scores, as Quaysie connected with Connor Lafferty in 1 play. While Einheiber caught the speedy Benjamin in stride for one of his 3 TDs on the night. With time against them, The BrotherHood did exactly what they needed to do. They scored in a 2-play drive capped off by Rahman Khan ‘s 16-yard TD + XP2 converted by Nathan Nyandro). With so much turmoil this season for Takeover, why not add more drama in their playoff game? Einheiber was picked off by by Lafferty to keep his team’s season alive. Quaysie instantly put them in Takeover’s end, running it 33 yards into the redzone. But the game took a turn as Quaysie was sacked by Ryan Dobbs-Garnett, who got a Quaysie elbow to the forehead and drew blood, but did get The BrotherHood to move 5 yards back. Now on 3rd and 4th down, Quaysie could not connect with his receivers, as on 4th down his pass was batted down by Will Power for the win.

Quarter Final Recap – 4B

Ethnik went score for score with The U, which was probably the only way they were going to win their game against The U. As athletic as The U is though, they could not match the speed of Will Bissonnette who had a monster game with 6 receptions for 132 yards and 4 TDs! David De Andrade also did all he could for his team, with 7 receptions for 87 yards, 1 TD, and picked off Evan Frank in the redzone. For The U, they usually end up having a 3-headed monster at receiver, where 2 of those heads are Tim Horner and Nikki Papich and the 3rd is any of their other receivers. Last Sunday it was Justin Peress as monster #3, who ended up with the most receiving yards (70) and tied for the most receptions (6) and TDs (2). At QB, Frank executed the best version of The U offense to the top of his game which includes a healthy mix of short, intermediate, deep passes and runs. That unpredictability of what the next play is, or where the ball is going allows his receivers to get open for that split second that Frank needs to make safe and high percentage throws. Case in point, he ended the game 22/26 for an 82 completion percentage. So it was no surprise that after Team Ethnik scored to go up 37-33, that The U drove down the field in just 3 plays, punched in for 6 points by Tim Horner for the game-winning Touchdown.

After a close 1st half, Vultures were too much and closed out Honey Martin. There were a few things that happened in this game that led to the Vultures victory. First, Ben McMahon was at the top of his game, both passing and running. He was making all the right decisions on the field, passing for 4 TDs, 0 INTs, a 123.3 QBR and running 5 yards short of a 100-yard rushing game, with 2 scores on the ground. Second, snapper James Drysdale was also laser-focused in this one and as fast as I’ve ever seen him. He finished with a game-high 6 receptions and 52 yards, plus a Redzone TD and XP1 convert. Third, he also understood his defensive assignment, tasked with rushing Honey Martin QB David Roaldi. Roaldi had 0 rushing attempts and was sacked twice by James. I’d say that’s a successful night rushing. Fourth, Phil Roberts sealed the deal with two 2nd-half INTs on back-to-back defensive drives, as Honey Martin was in a hurry-up offense trying to get back into the game. The 2nd half defense was key for the Vultures, as they shut out Honey Martin to move onto the Conference B final / Division 4B Semi-Final.

The 10-0 perfect season is over for Les Montagnards as Les Verges Folles are heating up at the right time. It seems like the post-season switch to Thomas-Charles Paradis has paid immediate dividends for Les Verges Folles. No one can challenge that, as they have taken down the only undefeated team in all of Division 4 (4A and 4B) in Les Montagnards. The first half saw both teams score on their 3 possessions. Les Montagnards had a 14-12 lead after 2 possessions each, but once Les Verges Folles scored their 3rd TD, Carl Bernola‘s 2nd TD of the first half and 2nd of 3 in the game, they converted on the 2-point convert, a run by Paradis. This got them to 20 points, but Les Montagnards followed up with the last possession of the 1st half with a Mathieu Girard-Provost touchdown, but could not convert their 3rd XP1 attempt, so we had a 20-20 deadlock at the half. By then, Les Montagnards were probably surprised they were in a dog fight, but likely not panicking. Not until the 2nd half started. They decided to go for it on 4th and 6 on their own 16 and Fiset-Cyr‘s pass to Marc-Antoine Viens fell incomplete. Les Montagnards defense actually forced a 4th down situation for Les Verges Folles, but they would convert. Once again, it was Carl Bernola coming up clutch for his team with the 8-yard TD. Kudos to Nassim Ouadhi who embraced his role on the team, as first he picked off Fiset-Cyr on the 2nd offensive drive for Les Montagnards in the 2nd half, and then followed it immediately with a 40-bomb TD that was even confirmed by Small Giant players behind the endzone getting ready for their 10pm game. Those back-to-back plays broke the back for Les Montagnards and gave the confidence for Les Verges Folles to wrap up the game that they hope to carry into the Semi-Finals.

This game may have been the game of the night, as the game provided loads of drama and suspense, the offenses were rolling with both teams scoring on all 5 of their possessions and of course, what’s better than playoff overtime? As mentioned, both offenses had no difficulty driving the field, and almost in similar ways, minus the rushing yards gained by Fafard. Otherwise, both teams used all of their receivers, while they also relied on a WR1/Snapper1. For Beer Belly Brigade, that #1 target was none other than Olivier Claveau, finishing the playoff game with 8 receptions for 59 yards, whereas for Voodoo their #1 target was, surprise surprise, Pat St. Amand, catching 11 footballs for 65 yards and 3 TDs. The body punches were provided by these 2, whereas the deeper shots came from the strong depth receivers like David Enault, Matthieu Pilotte and Jonathan Benoit for BBB and Scott Rhodes and J-F Daloze for Voodoo. In watching this game, you could tell that the game was going to come down to the last possession. With the score-for-score nature of this game, we need to fast forward to the key plays of the game. After J-F Daloze scored his TD on the night, I felt that the first mistake Voodoo made was to go for 1 point when the score was 26-19. By being up 7, had they gone for 2, they would have been up by 9 pints (2 possessions). They went for 1 and didn’t convert, but I find that was a lack of a killer instinct. The second time around, after St-Amand scored his 3rd TD of the night to go up 32-25, they then went for 2, but couldn’t convert. That was chance #2 to knock out BBB, and you just knew that Fafard and his squad would drive down the field and have a shot or 2 in the redzone. And lo-and-behold, they went on a 10-play drive to end the game. With 2 plays remaining, Fafard had nothing and was about to take off but was “sacked” for 0 yards. So the game came down to the final play, a touchdown near the back of the endzone to Matthieu Pilotte! Score was 32-31, so the game was not yet tied. The Beer Belly gang still needed to convert one more time. Fafard was flushed out of the pocket and buying time until he had a lane to throw to, and he found one, at the right-front cone of the endzone to convert for one and send this bad boy to overtime. Here it was interesting to see what Beer Belly would elect, either to start with the ball or allow Voodoo to go first, with the 2nd season of Moe Khan‘s “ABBA” OT order. First of all, for those who don’t know, overtime works in the form of 3 rounds of converts. You can go for 1 or 2 for any of the attempts, and the team with the most points after 3 rounds is the match winner. In the ABBA order, Team A goes 1st, 4th and 5th while Team B goes 2nd, 3rd and last (6th). Beer Belly elected to go be Team B and 2nd. After Voodoo missed their 1 point attempt, Beer Belly converted for 1 point on BOTH the 2nd and 3rd attempts. So now down 0-2, Voodoo had the interesting option to either go for 1 or 2 on attempt #4, and if they missed (whether going for 1 or 2), they would HAVE to go for 2 points in the 5th attempt. They decided going for 2 right away to tie it up on attempt #4, but could not convert. That meant that Attempt #5 had be for 2 points, and Beer Belly rejoiced as Voodoo once again could not convert, sending a clash of titans in the Div 4B Semi-Finals, Beer Belly Brigade vs. Vultures. The playoffs are crazy… Beer Belly held the lead for exactly 0:00 seconds in this game. The only time they lead was at the very end of the game, when they won in overtime.

Div 4B – Tuesday May 24th – The Rematch at Loyola

So no overarching story since I just recapped all the Quarter Final games. We know how these teams got here, so let’s get straight to the breakdown of their previous matchup and get the keys to victory.

The U vs. Les Verges Folles– Tuesday May 24th, 7pm, Loyola (Outdoors) Field 1

Previous Matchup: Les Verges Folles 13- 24 The U (Week 8)

So this must be the worst regular season game to reference as a previous matchup when trying to analyze an upcoming playoff matchup. Both quarterbacks that started the regular season matchup are not the teams QB’s going into the Round 3 of the playoffs. Not only that, but they play completely different styles that they might as well be different teams playing. It’s not as simple as saying “it’s a wash” that both starting QB’s were not playing that day. You get a completely different outcome with these new quarterbacks. I don’t have the full scouting report on Thomas-Charles Paradis, but in 2 games he’s thrown 35% of Ouadhi’s total touchdowns on the season, 30% of his passing yards, and just 5% of his total interceptions. And this is against playoff teams, including an undefeated Montagnards squad. So it’s safe to say he’s the better quarterback of the 2. That means that the game back on April 9th where Ouadhi only had 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) and 2 INTs for 100 yards of offense is not relevant. Plus, based on his past seasons, he seems to be a decent receiver, and in fact, seeing him this past Sunday, I’d say he compliments the team better as a very good deep threat receiver, so that’s another thing The U haven’t been exposed to.

Likewise Les Verges Folles. Evan Frank has a particular style of play, that while it isn’t the prettiest to watch, it is highly effective. One that is different from Nikki Papich‘s side arm throw that reminds me of some of Matt Stafford’s throws. So LVF will need to quickly make in-game adjustments to adapt their defense to Frank‘s designed roll outs and mix of short, intermediate, deep shots and runs. It’s something you just need to play against to get a good idea of how to best try and stop it. Hopefully for LVF, it doesn’t click by minute 40:00 of the game. And also similar to The U, in that they haven’t been exposed to Ouadhi as a receiver, well Les Verges Folles haven’t tried covering someone like Nikki Papich. Oh no, wait, they do. They played against Tim Horner. Okay, now have Horner on one side of the field and Papich on the other. Goodluck! I think Guillaume Beland can have some success against one of them, but then that leaves the other with a good matchup. So look for that to play an important role in the Semi-Final game.

Keys to Victory:

The U will win if:

Evan Frank duplicates his Quarter Final performance.
The U turns Les Verges Folles deep shots into turnovers.
They allow 20 points or less.

Les Verges Folles will win if:

Thomas-Charles Paradis comes in and surprises The U’s defense.
The trio of Carl Bernola, Nassim Ouadhi and Guillaume Beland outperforms the trio of Tim Horner, Nikki Papich and pick 1: Pedvis/Peress/Catellier offensively.
Guillaume Beland causes 2 INTs.

Prediction: This one becomes much harder to predict now that Les Verges Folles have proven they can score in big numbers against solid and disciplined defenses. Look, now that LVF took down Les Montagnards, a team that wasn’t flashy but was very solid overall, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took down The U in a close game, but that game would be a 24-21 type of defensive battle. Not that I’ve doubted The U, most of us know how frustratingly good they are, but Evan Frank‘s style isn’t going to win him style points, but dammit it works, and until he proves me otherwise, I’m going with Frank and The U in a 33-30 battle for their chance to fight once again for a Championship title.

Beer Belly Brigade vs. Vultures – Tuesday May 24th, 8pm, Loyola (Outdoors) Field 1

Hot damn! Doesn’t this one feel like it could be the Championship Finals itself? What makes this matchup so intriguing is that both teams plays SUCH a similar style offensively. Both Quarterbacks have a great arm, but have the ability to make guys miss their flags and go for long runs. Fafard is a bit more of a power runner whereas McMahon is breaking your ankles and quickly making you think he’s cutting back inside, and before you can adjust, he’s already cut back to the outside and turned up the sideline. Both Quarterbacks love using their snappers on quick outs to let them do damage on yards after the catch. Both have slot receivers they like sending deep, and the depth at receiver on both sides are strong, reliable receivers with play-making abilities.

Defensively, both have elite rushers that will look to prevent the quarterbacks from escaping the pocket. That will be the key in this matchup. Can the rushers keep the quarterbacks inside the pocket and force them to throw from there. The rusher that can do that better will likely come out victorious.

The teams are so evenly matched, but I see the Vultures offense to be a little more dynamic, but the Beer Belly defense a little more disciplined and stay tighter in coverage. Both teams have a slight, emphasis on slight, advantage on either sides of the ball that make both teams a 91 rated overall team if FPF were a Madden game.

Previous Matchup: Beer Belly Brigade 40 – 32 Vultures (Week 7)

Now this is game sheet that will look VERY similar to Tuesday’s playoff game. Fafard going 22/24 for a season-high 92% completion percentage, putting up a season high 6 Passing TD’s in a 40-32 offensive firework show. Now, for Vultures, they will wish for a similar 1st half on Tuesday to the one back on April 2nd. They twice held a 2-score lead, 19-7 and a 26-14 half-time lead that they saw evaporate. If the Vultures come in a serious as they did last Sunday against Honey Martin, I can guarantee you that they will not let that lead slip away. They had that killer instinct last week to put Honey Martin away, and it’s been brewing since September 2021 when Vultures gave up a 2-score lead against the Bruins with under 4 minutes left in the game.

In the regular season game, starting with the ball, BBB would score to cut the lead to 5, and an Olivier Claveau INT allowed his team to come back and take the lead 27-26. After the teams exchanged TDs, the Vultures had a 4-and-out forced by the BBB defense that they then quickly cashed in to hit 40 points. The Vultures actually had 4 plays and got 7 yards away from the endzone, but Claveau deflected McMahon‘s pass to Phil Roberts to come away with the regular season victory.

Keys to Victory:

Beer Belly Brigade will win if:

The Beer Belly receiving core makes the Vulture defenders miss their tackles for extra yardage.
Jonathan Benoit capitalizes on the few deep shots McMahon will take and picks him off. Just 1 INT can be enough for these 2 juggernaut offenses.
Xavier Tran-Khanh can force McMahon into his zone defenders when he decides to run.

Vultures will win if:

Ben McMahon and James Drysdale play like they did in the Quarter Finals. They were unstoppable in that game.
J. Drysdale as a rusher, forces Fafard in the pocket, not allowing him to buy extra time.
Another unsung hero emerges on defense for Vultures. Last game was Phil Roberts with 2 interceptions. They need another DB to step up with at least 1 turnover which might be enough to win the game in regulation.

Prediction: I alluded to the Spring Final Championship that the Vultures let slip away. You can best believe that McMahon remembers the game well and the interception thrown to give the Bruins the ball back with 1 minute remaining. Now, him and the Vultures are on a mission to get back to the big dance, and I think this game will be Beer Belly Brigade’s 2nd playoff overtime game in a row. The game will be tied 32-32, andd…. the overtime period after 3 rounds… will be TIED 2-2… and the game will go to single round OT elimination. The Vultures will be going to the Finals, winning the shootout 3-2 (final score of 35-34).

Div 4A – Tuesday May 24th – The Rematch at Loyola

Blackouts vs. Small Giants – Tuesday May 24th, 7pm, Loyola (Outdoors) Field 2

Ohhh baby, this too looks like a Div 4A championship being played in the Semi-Finals! What a treat to be able to see these teams battle it out this deep into the playoffs. A big thing to watch out for will be both team defenses. How will they adjust after letting up a combined 75 points the last time they faced off? Let’s take a look at that game and see what else both teams can take away from it.

Previous Matchup: Small Giants 38 – 37 Blackouts (Week 11)

Both quarterbacks were deadly, both throwing for over 240 yards, 6 TDs each and 0 INTs. Lerner spread the ball more (but had about 10 more passing attempts than Sinagra), whereas the Blackouts QB utilized the deep threat of Vanslet more. Other than a 6 yard TD, the shortest reception for Vanslet went for 12 yards, who ended up averaging 17.2 yards per reception. Her definitely needs to be covered more closely by the Small Giants D.

A key aspect to the regular season game was that the Small Giants were the Home teamand had all the “key possessions”, that means that they had the ball to end the half (got stopped at the 8), they started with the ball in the 2nd half (which they turned into 6 points), and had the last possession of the game, which is how they won the game; a TD on the last play of the game to Nick Madimenos.

The regular season game that was played, I’ll argue was way more important for the Small Giants. Had they not faced Blackouts prior to this playoff game, I’m sure they would have question marks about the talent level of Sinagra, asking themselves just how good he really is. By simply playing against him, they got a feeling for his play calling and his strengths. By beating them, they have the added confidence in themselves to know that they can beat the Blackouts. These are a big plus for a team going into a Semi-Final game.

Keys to Victory:

Blackouts will win if:

Adam Sinagra continues to distribute the ball amongst his receivers as he’s done in his playoff run.
Matthew Ferrante continues to be the unheralded hero of the receivers. Low key, he’s leading the receivers in receptions (10), targets (18) and yards (108) in 2 playoff games.
The Blackout defense can cause 1 INT and have the offense turn it into 6 points.

Small Giants will win if:

Justin Lerner protects the ball and throws less INTs than Sinagra.
All the receivers get involved. Small Giants have a great receiving core, but as I’ve said all playoffs long….
Theo Bekelis goes beast mode and gets over 80 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT.

Prediction: This will be a very similar game to the regular season, and like that game and both postseason games for both teams, it will absolutely be a 1 possession game, one that likely ends with the team that has the final possession of the game. A game that will come down to the success rate on converts. That said, give me the team that has played together longer, since converts are usually a deep-rooted familiarity with they play calls. So give me the Small Giants pulling off a 34-32 victory to send them to the Championship Finals on Saturday!

Mongoose vs. Takeover – Tuesday May 24th, 8pm, Loyola (Outdoors) Field 2

Alex Gaudet is heating up at the right time. In his last 4 games played, including last week’s playoff game, he’s thrown 18 TDs and just 2 INTs with a low QBR of 102.2 and a high of 139.0. In a game last week’s against The Stoics, it’s so hard to defend 4 different receivers targeted a minimum of 6 times and a max of 10 times. While Takeover’s overall team defense gave up a division high 342 points, they have the individual pieces to match up against Mongoose.

For Takeover, they busted through the aggressive defense of The BrotherHood on the heels, hips and ankles of Vincent Benjamin and his 10 reception, 117 yards and 3 TD performance. While Mongoose may be less athletically gifted that The BrotherHood, they play a more experienced and positionally sound defense that can breakdown the play that’s happening in front of them. A big thing to watch out for will be the Takeover receivers breaking the first tackle. If they can get to the 2nd level after making a first defender miss, that could spell trouble for Mongoose.

Previous Matchup: Mongoose 18 – 39 Takeover (Week 7)

Just another regular season game that doesn’t mean all that much. Both teams were missing players, but Mongoose looked like a completely different team. They were without pillars on both sides of the ball in François Deslauriers and QB Alex Gaudet and were also without the depth of Youcef Ghellache. Instead they had Wade Jr. Shallcross at QB with Alex Pilon subbing for them. Takeover were missing Ryan Dobbs-Garnett in that game, so again, despite losing 39-18, Mongoose weren’t really Mongoose that game. Now, for Ian Einheiber, going 21/30 for 189 and 5 TDs with 0 INTs in a season where he had some ups and downs, playing against the majority of the Mongoose core is a good sign for him and Takeover as they prepare for tonight’s matchup. The real question will be whether the Takeover D will be able to pick off Gaudet twice, the way they did against Shallcross.

The Mongoose offense has scored a low of 32 points in their past 4 games (that’s not low) and have averaged 35 points per game in those 4 outings, so they can clearly score with Gaudet under centre. That, and with Deslauriers manning that defense, I can see them allowing 1 TD less than their previous matchup. Add all that and what do you get? Yet another close game, closer than the regular season game.

Keys to Victory:

Mongoose will win if:

Alex Gaudet continues distributing the ball making it impossible for the Takeover D to know where the ball is going.
Francois Deslauriers makes the necessary defensive adjustments at or before halftime to limit the 2nd half points Takeover will score.
The Mongoose defense can force 2 INTs on Einheiber.

Takeover will win if:

The Einheiber–Benajmin connection is left to do its thing
Will Power gets “The Big 3”: 2 TDs and 1 INT or 1 TD, 2 INTs.
Takeover can get a couple of score quick (2-3 plays) that deflate the Mongoose morale after their 9-10 play drives.

Prediction: We’ve got great matchups in the Div 4 Semi-Finals, and I think all of them are a 1-possession game. Takeover have been here before, usually as the #1 or 2 seed with an 8-2, 9-1 record and end up coming just short. I think this is the year they make it to the FPF Finals, with a 30-28 victory over Mongoose.

Epilogue

Well, that does it for the playoff previews, Round 3! Goodluck to everyone tonight in Loyola, I will be keeping a close eye on the games as I’ll be scorekeeping Field 1 tonight. So again, I’m predicting a 4B finals featuring The U vs. Vultures, a Christmas battle – Green vs. Red, while in Div 4A, I’ve got Small Giants taking on Takeover for the Championship.

Want more FPF playoff previews? Here’s Moe, Peeze and Eagle with their takes on the playoff matchups and their predictions on CTA! Div 4A, start watching from 36:29. for Div 4B coverage, start watching at 49:35.