Categories: Division 4ADivision 4BGeneral

The Div 4 Playoffs, Round 2, Fight!

Okay, okay, there’s no snow on the ground, but there was less than one month ago. Instead, it feels like the middle of July, but honestly, it’s great football weather, as it was on Monday night in Laval.

But here we are, Round 2! The playoffs teams in Div 4A and 4B went from 12 teams in each division, down to 8. Goodbye Bruins, Big Fun, Centaures, Les Blues Branleurs (who were no-shows to their playoff game🤦‍♂️) Los Locos, Mofos, Golden Eagles and Arouch. Congrats to Blackouts, Small Giants, The Stoics, Takeover, Team Ethnik, Les Verges Folles, Honey Martin and Voodoo; you all survived the first gauntlet in what is the 1-game elimination format in the playoffs. We’re off to Round 2, where 8 teams coming off their bye week are entering the mix. So let’s get right to the matchup breakdowns because there’s many to look forward to.

The next set of games will take place less than a week after Round 1. The matchups are set for Sunday May 15th in Lachine’s Main Facility which is right around the corner, so let’s dive in.

Div 4A – Sunday May 15th – The Clash at Lachine

The first games kick off at 7pm, so let’s begin with the 4A matchups this time with a quick storyline going into the game for every matchup, a look back at a previous matchup (if any), 3 keys to victory for each team, and of course Iggy’s prediction for who is moving on to the Conference Finals/Division Semi-Finals.

KGP Ra vs. Blackouts– Sunday May 15th, 7pm, Lachine (Main) Field 3

Overarching story:

Blackouts are coming off a Divisional Playoff victory over Big Fun which was much closer than what they expected. They had whipped them 41-8 in the regular season and narrowly escaped with a 34-31 victory on Monday night. Throughout the year, Blackouts were battling for the top spot in Conference A against TOPSZN and KGP Ra, and would have been the division winner had they beat KGP Ra in the regular season (more on that later). At a quick glance at the playoff boxscore, you would think that Evan Ely Nolet actually out-quarterbacked Adam Sinagra, at least statistically. I’m here to temper those quick analyses, and suggest that Sinagra had 1 less possession to work with, given that the strong defensive effort of Ryan Vanslet took his pick back for 6. Sinagra also had a 9-yard running TD to compliment his 3 passing TDs. The good, different and surprising thing was that he got players in the playoff game, involved when they hadn’t been used much in the season. Case in point, Matthew Ferrante made 38% of his season total in receptions in just 1 playoff game and 46% of his season total in yards. He played the role of X factor that Big Fun and no one was expecting. Sinagra did a great job of spreading the ball and never letting the Big Fun defense from zoning in on where he was going.

As for KGP Ra, they come in as the #2 seed, finishing the season at 8-2, and must be eagerly awaiting their playoff debut. The question everyone will be asking asking themselves, is whether or not Ryan Garber can continue his dominant regular-season play into the postseason. He is statistically, an inexperienced playoff quarterback, as he has 1 appearance, last spring, in which he struggled, throwing just 1 TD and 3 INTs. Of course, that was a different team, in a different time, but the pedigree is both not much and not very good, so something to keep an eye out for. The receiving core and defensive unit are both led by one Jonathan Garfinkle, as he led the team in yards (484), TDs (15) and INTs (7). Look for the #1 defensive unit in Blackouts to constantly know where he is on the field, and limit the damage he can do.

Previous Matchup: KGP Ra 39 – 25 Blackouts (Week 5)

Back on March 19th, which feels like an eternity ago now that it feels like summer this week, it was KGP Ra’s defense, and not Blackouts, that made its mark on the victory. As previously mentioned, Blackouts know all the damage that Jonathan Garfinkle can do, as he lit them up in the regular season, catching all 10 balls thrown his way for 123 yards and a hat-trick of Touchdowns. Impressive as that stat line is, he added another 3 tackles, 3 interceptions, one of which he took to the house. Blackouts would obviously remember that kind of performance against them, and might just look to game plan entirely against Garfinkle. Dylan Garber added to the nightmare night for the former U Sports star QB, with 2 picks of his own. Sinagra must have taken that personally, as he went on to throw for 25 TDs and just 3 INTs the rest of the way.

Keys to Victory:

KGP Ra will win if:

  1. Jonathan Garfinkle runs wild on both sides of the ball.
  2. Ryan Garber limits the turnovers to 2 and can put up 5 TDs.
  3. Cooper Young can step up if Blackouts decide to man Garfinkle with Vanslet all game. Young is the X factor for KGP Ra.

Blackouts will win if:

  1. Adam Sinagra continues rolling with 6 TDs and forgets about the regular season game INTs.
  2. The offense is spread out the way it was against Big Fun.
  3. Sinagra is the better 2-way player than Garfinkle.

Prediction: Wow. What a matchup, it’s a little sad that one of these juggernauts is going out in the Quarter Final Round, but that’s how strong Div 4A was this season. Man, this one is so close, I’m thinking this one goes to OVERTIMEEEE! And you know what, gimme Sinagra who will have more poise than Garber in the overtime session. Final score, 39-38 Blackouts win.

Mongoose vs. The Stoics – Sunday May 15th, 8pm, Lachine (Main) Field 3

Overarching story:

From middle of the pack, to #1 seed, Mongoose surprised many by taking the top spot in Conference B. Alexandre Gaudet didn’t have an all-star season, but far from a bad season. He produced a 400-yard receiver, two 300-yard receivers (almost 3), as one of the most balanced attacks in the division. The defense has been average, and nothing really stands out from them. That said, they are coming out of the playoff bye week and facing the battle-tested Stoics.

The Stoics themselves are coming off a comeback victory in their first playoff game against Centaures, after they were down 0-12 early in the game. They went on to score 26 unanswered points and never looked back. Rivest played a clean and calm game, never letting the deficit and score dictate his game. Between that and a strong defensive performance, which included 2 pick 6’s (one from Micky Mensah and another from Denzel “The Glitch” Eadie-Lowe), they managed to eliminate Centaures to advance to the 2nd round.

Previous Matchup: Mongoose 40 – 18 The Stoics (Week 4) – https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/match-report/W22/1/15/20961

Looking at only the score, you would think Mongoose obliterated The Stoics back on March 14th, but really, the game was lost on two early 4-and-out drives by Rivest. The Mongoose offense was clinical, taking all 6 drives the distance for a 100% scoring rate. This will be interesting to see this time around; whether The Stoics defense can stop what was a well-oiled offensive machine led by Alexandre Gaudet. And if you didn’t believe me about the balanced attack, it was on full display against The Stoics in Week 4:

But really, the adjustments from this game won’t be too many. Rivest has proven that he can score. Since the loss to Mongoose, he’s put up 40 points twice and 30 points three times, so I’m not worried on that front.

Keys to Victory:

Mongoose will win if:

  1. Mongoose keeps the balanced attack on offense which will keep The Stoics defense guessing.
  2. Alexandre Gaudet can replicate his 26/31, 189 and 6 TD performance vs. The Stoics in the regular season.
  3. Wade Jr. Shallcross has the most TDs in the game.

The Stoics will win if:

  1. Chris Rivest matches the # of TDs thrown by Gaudet.
  2. “The Glitch” can disrupt Gaudet and the Mongoose offense with his speed, leading to a turnover.
  3. Cesar Garcia-Diaz has another low-key/ sneaky-good playoff performance. 3 receptions for 38 yards with a defensive INT against Centaures. He’s the X factor for The Stoics.

Prediction: I think this one is an offensive fest, with both Quarterbacks scoring 5 TDs, so it will come down to converts, and I like Rivest‘s gambler approach, going for 2 points more than any other team (other than The BrotherHood). Mongoose 33-34 The Stoics.

TOPSZN vs. Small Giants – Sunday May 15th, 10pm, Lachine (Main) Field 2

Overarching story:

TOPSZN had an incredibly strong regular season, and ended it with an exclamation mark with a 32-18 victory over KGP Ra. They finished as the team that scored the most points (without any 60-0 forfeit victories), so all their points were accounted for on the football field. And their defense? Not too shabby either. They allowed the 3rd least points and these ballhawks on D had the 2nd most INTs as a team (22), the 2nd most Pick 6’s (5), and were tied for the most sacks in 4A (14). They come into the playoffs on a 4-game win streak, so it’s not a stretch to say that this team is firing on all cylinders and must have championship aspirations. The road to the finals starts here for them.

Small Giants are coming off a battle-tested playoff game, one that saw them build a 19-0 lead with 2 picks early from Theo Bekelis and Nick Madimenos. In fact, they were also up 25-6 and were given the playoff sweats, as their leads against the Bruins evaporated into a 32-31 deficit. Luckily, Justin Lerner is as cool as they come from under centre as the refs whistled the final 5 plays of the game. He led a late game charge, connecting with Greg Kritselas on the 2nd-to-last play of the game for the game-winning TD. So now they face TOPSZN after letting two 3-score leads slip away, but showed character in coming up big in the big moments.

Previous Matchup: TOPSZN 52 – Small Giants 25 (Week 4) – https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/match-report/W22/1/15/20928

I remember this game. I remember being shocked about the score. That TOPSZN racked up 52 points on a decent defense, that Small Giants could only put up 25 points. This is when I started realizing that TOPSZN was the real deal. This was Ryan McGrath‘s first breakout game of the season, going 6/6 on receptions/targets for 93 yards and 3 TDs, and both Shawn Mcgrath and his receivers showed their ability to make the most yardage with each other of their catches. 204 passing yards on 13 completions? That’s a whopping 15.7 yards per catch. Let me remind you that the FPF field is 50 yards and teams start at the 10… that’s an AVERAGE of driving the field in 3.5 plays. And what about the defense? They were doing their thing, being aggressive by batting balls as well as picking off Lerner 3 times, returning 2 of those picks to the house.

The good thing for Small Giants? They still made the playoffs, have now seen what TOPSZN excel at and won’t be surprised by it, and also did not have Greg Kritselas there for the game and had 3 subs come play for them, which isn’t easy for any number of subs to come into a Div 4 game against a lethal attack like TOPSZN’s

Keys to Victory:

TOPSZN will win if:

  1. They continue baiting Justin Lerner (which is not easy to do by the way) into throws he shouldn’t be making and convert them into turnovers.
  2. Shawn Mcgrath plays to his season statistical average. 5 TDs and 1 INT for 200 yards.
  3. They build a 2-score lead early. Small Giants can go score-for-score, but if they fall behind by 2 TDs, that’s a deficit they can’t overcome.

Small Giants will win if:

  1. They slow the game down. Like I mentioned, Small Giants can go score-for-score, so if TOPSZN scores quick, they must take 8 minutes off the clock every offensive drive to limit the number of possessions TOPSZN has.
  2. Lerner limits the INTs to a maximum of 1.
  3. I said it in their last game, and I’ll say it again… If Theo Bekelis goes beast mode and gets over 80 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT.

Prediction: TOPSZN is just too strong. The game will be closer than the regular season matchup, but still, TOPSZN is a class above many teams in the div. TOPSZN 44 – 35 Small Giants.

The BrotherHood vs. Takeover – Sunday May 15th, 10pm, Lachine (Main) Field 3

Overarching story:

The BrotherHood had a tale of 2 seasons. They started 5-1 out of the gate where Quaysie Gordon-Maule was in the running for QB of the Year he was that good. In those first 6 games, Quaysie played 5 and had thrown 25 TDs and only 2 INTs. The team was strong as a balanced attack, and the defensive was (and still is) very, very strong, led once against by Quaysie in the safety position as well as by one of the division’s best rushers, Rahman Khan. And it’s not just me who says it, even Chris Rivest said it to me while I watched a Stoics vs. BrotherHood matchup. “He’s a really good rusher, no wonder why he’s amongst the leaders in sacks” – Rivest. That’s when things were rolling and The BrotherHood even reached the #1 team in the Power Rankings. Enter the 2nd half of the season. They are now going into the playoffs having lost 3 of their 4 games, Quaysie in his last 3 games? 5 Passing TDs and 3 INTs. It seems like this team will go as far as Quaysie succeeds or fails at the Quarterback position.

For Takeover, we looked into their season highs and lows last week, and the W.T.F moments continued for them. This time, with the anticipation all day, thinking about how your playoff game is gonna go, and the itch getting stronger as the hours close in on game time… 1 hour left, 30 mins, 20 mins, 10… where’s the other team? They aren’t here yet… 5 mins…. no… don’t tell me they aren’t gonna show up… 1 min… game time.. and there’s no game to play. LBB didn’t show, so Takeover automatically move on to round 2 this week.

Previous Matchup: None

No previous matchup? Damn, well, I’m not gonna short change these 2 teams with a shorter preview. So let’s break down the matchups.

A lot of this hinges on the play of both quarterbacks. Quaysie needs to remember what worked for him and his squad from earlier in the season and stick to that. He obviously needs to use his legs, as that’s a crucial part of his quarterback play, as almost no one can keep up with him when he decides to run. The thing is, and he did it a lot this season, but he needs to pick and choose when he is running to go downfield vs. when he is running to open different throwing lanes. This will play perfectly against Takeover, as they lack a natural rusher, so the opportunity is there for Quaysie to have a very good game.

For Takeover, Ian Einheiber has to just match the scores that The BrotherHood puts up, but likely will need to do it 1 or 2 scores better, since the strength of The BrotherHood is their strong, tight defense that causes a lot of turnovers. So the job is two-fold for Einheiber: limit the turnovers to just 1, and put up 1 more score than what The BrotherHood’s offense does.

For the rest of the offense, it’s interesting, because both teams have good receivers, but I think I like Takeover receiving core more. It gets interesting because both defenses have great players, but the edge has to go to The BrotherHood. Connor Lafferty, Jeremy Ronsin, Nathan Nyandro and Nick Cenacle all had multiple INTs, and of course, I’m missing Quaysie, who by himself had more INTs (10) than the entire Takeover roster throughout the season (9). Because I can see Vincent Benjamin and Will Power getting blanketed by Quaysie and Nick Cenacle, the matchup that Einheiber will have to win is with Ryan Dobbs-Garnett and Julien Wilson over BrotherHood’s DB3 and DB4. What will be tough is that if they are running routes that are his 3rd and 4th reads, that’s where Rahman Khan plays a pivotal role for BrotherHood and can make his mark.

Keys to Victory:

The BrotherHood will win if:

  1. Quaysie makes the right decisions at QB and combines for a total of 5 TDs.
  2. Rahman Khan gets 4 or more sacks.
  3. The BrotherHood defense combines for 3+ INTs.

Takeover will win if:

  1. Ian Einheiber protects the ball. He can only throw 1 INT.
  2. Benjamin and Power take advantage of the plays where The BrotherHood plays a zone defense.
  3. Whoever rushes Quaysie needs to contain him and force him to beat them with his arm.

Prediction: This too is actually be another close game. So close in fact, I think it goes to OVERTIME. And in the extra frame? Takeover comes out on top. The BrotherHood 32 – 33 Takeover.

4B – Round 2 Playoff Previews

The first games kick off at 7pm, so let’s continue with the 4B matchups, this time with a quick storyline going into the game for every matchup, a look back at a previous matchup (if any), 3 keys to victory for each team, and of course Iggy’s prediction for who is moving on to the Conference Finals/Division Semi-Finals.

The U vs. Team Ethnik – Sunday May 15th, 7pm, Lachine (Main) Field 2

Overarching story:

The U quietly went 8-1-1 this season, and maybe it’s because we expect them to be atop every division they play in, but they weren’t talked about much. While Evan Frank didn’t put up the highest numbers this season, he statistically had his best season with a 121.0 QBR and completing a career-high 72.3% of his passes. It shows he has focused on his passing game since Spring 2019, as every season since, he has less rushing attempts than his previous season. Focusing on passing, plus running at a lower yards/attempt than ever (4.5) had Frank staying in the pocket, and why wouldn’t you when you have guys like Justin Peress, Kyle Pedvis, Tim Horner, Dylan Catellier, and Nikki Papich where catching the football is second nature and they use their athleticism to either win one-on-one battles in tight or beat you with their speed. Their defense is Top 3 in Conference A and Top 6 in the entire division in terms of allowing points, and that’s no surprise to me as these guys cover a lot of turf very quickly. After a bye week, I’m sure these guys are chomping at the bit to get their playoff story started.

As for Team Ethink, they got the sweet taste of a playoff victory and played a nearly flawless game. They scored on 5 of their 6 possessions (they punted on 4th down at the end of the game to leave Mofos with 1 play remaining) before the game was whistled in via mercy rule by leading by 18+ point lead. The offense was rolling with their 5 main receivers all contributing to the stat line, but the guy stepping up his game recently is Simon Dufort. In the last game of the regular season, he had his best game, 60 yards and 2 TDs and rolled that into the playoffs, leading the team with 49 yards and added a touchdown for his team. Defensively, they got 2 huge sacks by Will Bissonnette on 4th down, which Lawlor jumped all over and capitalized for 12 points off those turnover on downs. In fact, despite 0 INTs, they forced Mofos to turn the ball over on downs 3 times on their 7 possessions. Another performance like this, and they could upset The U as the underdogs in this matchup.

Previous Matchup: The U 40 – 13 Team Ethnik 13 (Week 1)

How much stock would you put in a blowout victory back in Week 1 of the season? Coming off 3-4 months of another lockdown without any activity on top of the regular rust. Obviously, The U had no rust, so the question is geared more towards Ethnik. They have looked better as of late, as we know that in the middle part of their schedule, they fumbled the game management component of games. Hopefully they’ve learned from their lessons, because they can’t afford to lose that part of the game since they are already losing the athleticism element of their matchup (almost all teams facing The U are losing the athleticism component).

The game was won and lost on Lawlor’s 2 Pick 6 INTs he threw to Nikki Papich and Kyle Pedvis. That, and the rust really showed in his touchdowns, completion percentage and QBR, as he had his lowest Passing TD output (2), 2nd lowest completion % (46.2%) and lowest QBR (55.1) performance of the season. Look, I think it’s fair to say that Benoit Lawlor has cleaned up his performance since Week 1. In fact, in his last 6 games (including playoffs), he’s thrown 30 TDs to 5 INTs for 1,183 passing yards (an average of 197 yds/game), so he’s heating up at the right time and primed for a performance that’s very different from Week 1.

Keys to Victory:

The U will win if:

  1. Evan Frank plays within himself and no more, no less. Drive the field, chew the clock, and ends up with a stat line that looks like 19/25 (76% completion) for 160+ yards, putting up 4-5 TDs and 1 INT.
  2. Nikki Papich and/or Tim Horner capitalize on the deep ball for a combined total of 3 receptions of 20+ yards. This will stretch the Ethnik defense so Frank can attack the intermediate 10-12 hooks, ins and outs.
  3. The U defense forces 2 or more turnovers.

Team Ethnik will win if:

  1. If Team Ethnik’s defense can hold The U to 26 points or less.
  2. Benoit Lawlor spreads the ball the way he did against Mofos.
  3. Sylvain Follenfant will need to pressure Frank so he runs out of the pocket, but not down field. In other words, force him outside of the pocket but and throw the ball off balance that can set up the INTs for the Ethnik defense.

Prediction: There’s about 10 ways I see this game playing out, and 8 of them see The U taking the game. I’ll go with those odds, but it won’t be a blowout game. The U 33 – 26 Team Ethink.

Vultures vs. Honey Martin – Sunday May 15th, 8pm, Lachine (Main) Field 2

Overarching story:

Ohhh babby! The storylines with this matchup are plentiful and go far back. Want a recent storyline? Vultures had been scoring an average of 38 points per game and when meeting against Honey Martin in Week 11 on April 30th, Honey Martin held them to a mere 6 points. They definitelt want a second crack at that. How about an older storyline? These 2 franchises actually started both playing in the Winter 2018 season and actually met in the first round of the 6D playoffs. Both teams were 7-3 and Ben McMahon was the new kid on the block in FPF, but he was already turning heads with the offensive flair everyone knows he brings to the QB position. In that Winter season, they had met in the regular season, which former Honey Martin team name (Sunday Touch Boys) beat Vultures 43-30 in an offensive battle. Like I mentioned, they then played in the playoffs, which the STB’s (Honey Martin) took 32-12. So these 2 teams have a history. Now it’s 4 years later and both teams have grown from their Div 6D days and are now battle in 4B. So? Which team has improved more over 4 years? Will Vultures figure out Honey Martin and turn the tables on them? That’s the question going into this matchup, which should be a tightly contested affair. Plus, both teams have loads of talent in James Drysdale, Kevin Donnet, Ben McMahon, Anthony Drysdale, James Langshaw, David Roaldi, Mark Bellini, Jason Hervieux, Damien Jean-Jacques, the list goes on and on, etc, etc, so the game should not only be tight, but be filled with both offensive and defensive highlights.

As for how the teams are coming into this one, Vultures are coming off a bye and are anxiously awaiting to get their playoff run started. For Honey Martin, they are coming off back-to-back stellar defensive performances, giving up a total of 12 points in their last 2 games. One was against the Vultures, the other against their Round 1 playoff matchup against Arouch.

Previous Matchup: Honey Martin 19 – 6 Vultures (Week 11)

In that game, both offenses were not rolling at their peak, but Ben McMahon did not have a good night. 9/18, 62 passing yards… 1 TD and 3 INTs. A very uncharacteristic night for Ben. The game was won and lost on 4th down. Both teams failed to convert several 4th down conversions, but Honey Martin was able to convert a 4th and 6 scenario to ice the game, where Roaldi was able to hit a streaking Kareem Anthony Chilcott for a 33 yard TD after he had dropped an almost identical pass earlier in the game. Chilcott redeemed himself with that play and sealed the win for HM.

Keys to Victory:

Vultures will win if:

  1. Ben McMahon plays like Ben McMahon. Mix the pass and run to keep the defense on their toes.
  2. The Vulture defense can help McMahon with 2 turnovers. That’s on KD, Anthony and James Drysdale.
  3. The Vultures can put up 40 points on the board.

Honey Martin will win if:

  1. They get into Vultures heads early with a few stops on defense for the doubts to start creeping into the Vultures offense.
  2. David Roaldi plays his game and (like I said last week) plays with a clear mind.
  3. James Langshaw and Damien Jean-Jacques can contain James Drysdale and Kevin Donnet. 1 or 2 picks from both DBs/Safeties will assist HM to their path to victory.

Prediction: Sorry boys, not giving a prediction for the final score, but I predict a tight game that will come down to the last 5 plays. Get ready for a great game here.

Les Montagnards vs. Les Verges Folles – Sunday May 15th, 9pm, Lachine (Main) Field 2

Overarching story:

There’s actually quite a few storylines here as well. One of which has to be that Les Montagnards are coming in as the only undefeated team in all of Division 4 (4A and 4B combined). That, and the last they played? Les Verges Folles. That game was actually 3 weeks ago, which is another story. 3 weeks without playing together is a long time, so will Les Montagnards be a little rusty on their first few possessions? Or will they be rested and run as crisp a route as Julien Fiset-Cyr needs them to run?

For Les Verges Folles, they are coming in after a nice victory over Los Locos that actually got close (19-17 lead for LVF) with 5-7 minutes left in the game. Los Locos picked off a pass and had a chance to go up but couldn’t convert on 4th down. The interesting callout here though was that Thomas-Charles Paradis actually quarterbacked in this game and not Nassim Ouadhi. Did he get injured prior to this game? Away for work? Covid? We don’t know, but he was not present at the game. So, LVF have a predicament here. If Ouadhi is ready to suit up, do they go back to him at QB? Or do they pass the reigns to Paradis now that he won them a playoff game. Whichever way they go, they need to decide who gives them the best shot at beating Les Montagnards.

Previous Matchup: Les Montagnards 26- 12 Les Verges Folles (Week 10)

I will put some stock into this game, but not a whole lot. Les Montagnards were without Antoine Gagnon-Griffin and Marc-Anotine Viens, 2 big pieces of their offense, while Les Verges Folles were without their star play, Guillaume Beland. These 3 pieces can MASSIVELY swing things for their respective teams. That said, just looking at the stats, that’s kind of the completion stats Julien Fiset-Cyr would put up, but was on the lower end of the average yardage he gets, which makes sense because he was missing 2 weapons on offense.

For LVF, Ouadhi was only able to muster 82 passing yards and 1 passing TD (albeit he gained another 53 yards on the ground and added a rushing TD). Still, gaining 135 yards is OK, but putting up only 2 scores will not win them many, if any games in Div 4. Especially when you have the 2-way player of the year on the other side in Fiset-Cyr.

Keys to Victory:

Les Montagnards will win if:

  1. They show no rust and keep executing their season-long gameplan.
  2. Julien Fiset-Cyr plays to his 2-way player of the year caliber: 4 TDs, 175 yards of offense, no INTs thrown, but a defensive INT to his name.
  3. They build an early 2-score lead. After that, even if LVF go score-for-score with them, they are already up 2.

Les Verges Folles will win if:

  1. Guillaume Beland has another 9 reception, 106 yard, 3 TD (note he had 2 in their last playoff game, he will need 1 more if LVF will win).
  2. Whichever quarterback throws for LVG, they throw 0 INTs. Can’t afford any turnovers against Les Montagnards.
  3. The LVG use the regular season game to pick up on some Montagnards tendencies, but will need to pick up how they use MAV and AGG and stop that as soon as possible.

Prediction: Les Montagnards are all business and like a well-oiled machine, even with the time off, they will operate at 100%. They are just too much for LVG, but Les Verges Folles will keep it close. Les Montagnards 33 – 26 Les Verges Folles.

Beer Belly Brigade vs. Voodoo – Sunday May 15th, 9pm, Lachine (Main) Field 3

Overarching story:

The Beer Belly Brigade franchise has come a long way since their Browns de Boucherville days as an 0-10 team. Through the years, they’ve added pieces and merged the best players from 2 teams, usually one quarterbacked Ben Reid and the other quarterbacked by Alex Fafard and have gained a wealth of FPF experience. The result is a Beer Belly Brigade squad that went 9-1 in Division 4B and saw Alex Fafard win his 2nd QB of the Year award. The first was in Div 6, but now in Div 4B against much better defenses, as Peeze has said multiple times on Calling The Audible, the guy might just be the most improved player in all of FPF. The other storyline coming into this game, is that with a forfeit win in their final game of the season, plus the first round playoff bye, this team hasn’t played with Fafard at QB since April 23rd. That’s 3 weeks without taking reps together, but honestly, as I mentioned, the core has been playing together for so long, that they would gladly take the rest to heal up any nagging and lingering bumps and bruises.

For Voodoo, they come in as the clear underdog, and as Frank Kaye said to Moe Khan after his Round 1 playoff victory, “I love it when you guys put me in the underdog role! It’s when I play my best football”. In that game against Golden Eagles, while I know Voodoo can put up points, I didn’t think they would be able to drop 40 against a pretty decent Golden Eagle defense. Kaye was indeed playing his best football, and when that happens, Voodoo is tough to beat. He was able to get his 5 receivers involved in the game, with of course, Pat St-Amand leading the charge with his 85 yard, 1 TD performance. But 3 receptions each for veterans Scott Rhodes, Kevin Marcil and Jean-Felix Daloze, plus 5 catches for snapper Martin Bergeron kept the Golden Eagle defense guessing all night as to where the ball was going. And that is exactly what he needs to do against BBB.

Previous Matchup: Beer Belly Brigade 26-19 Voodoo (Week 1)

These teams did meet for a regular season matchup, but damn, that was all the way back in Week 1. Both teams were getting a feel for what kind of team they were gonna be, although Beer Belly showed us early their path to victory throughout the season: They were going to heavily rely on snapper Olivier Claveau on offense, and take advantage of timely interceptions by Defensive Player of the Year winner, Jonathan Benoit. Claveau had a big night to open the season, catching all 13 targets thrown his way for 98 yards and 1 TD.

As for the game itself, Voodoo actually stayed step-for-step against Beer Belly Brigade. In fact, they were ahead 6-0 early, and 13-7 in the first half, and with 5 plays remaining in the game, had a chance to win/tie the game and actually got deflagged at the 1-yard line.

While I believe BBB is a bad matchup for Voodoo, there’s something that tells me that Voodoo can keep this playoff game close and have a chance to pull off the huge upset.

Keys to Victory:

Beer Belly Brigade will win if:

  1. Alex Fafard plays his game. Mix in the run, pass, deep shots, dink-and-dunk to Claveau, sprinkled in with intermediate shots once defenses push up.
  2. Jonathan Benoit plays like the DPOY award winner. 2 INTs should be enough turnovers for Fafard to take advantage and build an insurmountable lead.
  3. Olivier Claveau has a 10 reception performance and can make guys miss and have 50 YAC.

Voodoo will win if:

  1. They take away the Fafard-to-Claveau connection and force Fafard to throw over the top with big bodies like JF Daloze waiting downfield.
  2. The zone defense communicates and properly shifts with the flooding concepts of Fafard.
  3. Frank Kaye replicates his Round 1 playoff performance and spreads his attack so the defense can’t pick up on where the ball is going next.

Prediction: Alright, last game to predict. While there is a path to victory for Voodoo, there are more scenarios that have me seeing Beer Belly coming away victorious. Frank Kaye, you are the underdog once again, so you’re gonna have to prove me and the FPF world wrong here! Beer Belly Brigade 33 – 27 Voodoo.

Epilogue

Well, that does it for the playoff previews, Round 2! Goodluck to everyone tonight in Lachine, I will be keeping a close eye on the games! Feel free to reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger if you’ve got more feedback on the playoffs and how your team did.

Want more FPF? Here’s Moe, Peeze and Eagle with their takes on the playoff matchups and their predictions on CTA! Div 4A, start watching from 56:22. for Div 4B coverage, start watching at 1:11:12.