The Easter Bye Week and a Shake up in the Power Rankings

Hey Div 4, it’s that time of the season to heal up those injuries and get some rest as many teams are on the Easter bye week. The rest is good for everyone, but especially teams that are looking to get any injured and 5-day quarantined players back into the lineup to make a playoff push, as well as teams that need to rest up for their long playoff runs.

Well, let’s get to it, because the standings are far from being set in stone, so there’s a lot to breakdown! This week, we’ve got your Division Highlights, a Game Recap, Fantasy Team of the Week (new segment from last week), Power Rankings and Game Picks. So let’s dive into the week that was!

4B – Pulse of the Division

• Les Montagnards are still perfect at 9-0, even with Marc-Antoine Viens coming in to start in place of Fiset-Cyr.
• Facing Les Montagnards without their starting QB; Finessers missed out on their chance at getting a much needed win to secure their playoff spot. Now they have a very difficult matchup next against Beer Belly Brigade.
• The good news for Eastside Boys and Team Ethnik? Los Locos can only get a max of 9 points on the season and Eastside has 3 games remaining while Ethnik has 2 games left.
• The bad news? Both of them squandered opportunities to jump over Los Locos. Eastside lost on the 2nd-to-last-play against Sphinx, while Ethnik lost on the last play against Los Locos themselves. Rough Week 8 games for both teams.
• After writing off Sphinx early on, they are still mathematically alive to make the playoffs!
• Voodoo has dropped 5 in a row after getting rocked by Mofos 48-6 and now sit on the outside of the playoff picture.
• The bottom 4 teams of Conference B all have 4 points: Ballers, Voodoo, HSS and Golden Eagles. Only 1 can make it in. Time to play your best football!
• Beer Belly Brigade and Vultures have officially wrapped up the top 2 seeds and with it, a 1st round playoff bye. Congrats!
• Golden Eagles gave everything against Beer Belly Brigade and actually had 2-score leads twice in the game. The turning point was a bad snap by the Golden Eagles that went for a safety. The safety gave BBB the ball back, leading to 7 points, and the 2 points were the difference, as a pick 6 put BBB up by 9 points instead of 7 with 3 plays remaining.
• Golden Eagles made up for it on Wednesday though, as they beat Arouch 24-21 to keep their playoff hopes alive.
• Only 3 games on tap in Div 4B this week: Sphinx vs. Arouch, Team Ethnik vs. Eastside Boys and Eastside Boys vs. Golden Eagles
• CTA analysts have mentioned the development of Alex Fafard‘s rapid improvement, but let’s not forget how far along Ben McMahon has come since his first full season back in Winter 2018 in Div 6. He has considerably dropped his INT numbers, is less reliant on his wheels and has significantly improved his throws and his reads to become the complete dual-threat. Check out his numbers in 2 less games and against way better oppositions!

4A – Roundtable Discussion

• The Brotherhood made a statement against KGP Ra, especially that defensively, Quaysie can scare off Ryan Garber and shut down half the field.
• Small Giants haven’t won a game in 2 weeks and find themselves in the #5 seed, though they have played 1 less game than everyone else in Conference A.
• So Centaures… ANOTHER 1 point game… but they finally find themselves on the right side of things this time, beating a very good Takeover team 26-25.
• The Stoics are now your South division leaders, and deservingly so, beating out the Small Giants this past week to claim the #2 seed and clinch themselves a playoff spot. They now play Blackouts and The BrotherHood to close out their season, which are great measuring stick games before heading into the playoffs.
• As things stand right now, Takeover would be playing Spera’s Cougars in the 1st round. Last time they played it, Spera’s Cougars took Takeover by surprise, so now Takeover know what they are up against. Is it just a terrible matchup for Takeover? Or could they come out victorious?
• LBB and Nomads are running out of real-estate. They both have 3 games remaining, but likely have to win out if they want to make the playoffs, and have tough matchups to do so.
• Backyard Bullies are lucky that despite their loss, both teams behind them, Big Fun and Hurley & Sons also lost their Week 8 matchups. The Bullies still hold onto that last playoff spot.
• Only two 4A games on slate this week: Les Blues Branleurs vs. Mongoose and Small Giants vs. Nomads.
• With 3 INTs this past week, Quaysie Gordon-Maule is now T-1st in picks with Rory Semerjian (8 INTs) and both defensive studs have returned 3 of those 8 picks for TDs.
• Santino Sparagna went off like AP in his prime, running all over the Nomads for 126 yards and 2 TDs on the ground, averaging 25 yards per run! Dang! He now leads the Division with 5 rushing TD in 6 games.

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Game Recap

Spera’s Cougars 44 – 39 Nomads

Alright, so you are used to seeing huge Game Recaps with specific details, where I mention things that stand out beyond the Play-by-Play: A huge sideline tip-toe catch on 3rd or 4th down, an interception that actually was deflected off of 2 receivers, highlighting one-handed nasty grabs. Well, that’s because I scorekeep some games. I do long and detailed recaps because I know I would want the same if someone recapped one of my games. Anyways, unfortunately Covid kept me locked down last week, so the game recap and game preview will be shorter than usual, so I’ll do a couple.

This game was full of offensive fireworks, with every type of score: Quick scores, long drives, 40-bombs, redzone TDs, long runs, any type of offensive TD, this game had it.

Santino Sparagna did his best Mike Vick impression against Nomads, and started it off with a 40 yard TD run, where I can just see him juking out the entire field, coupled with some bad tackling, but there’s no doubt in my mind he made 1 if not 2 defenders pick up their shorts. So not only did Santino end the game with 126 rushing yards and 2 TDs, he also went 12/15 for 173 yards and 5 Passing TDs for a WHOPPING 154.3 Quarterback rating! Talk about a Mike Vick performance like when he put a licking on the Washington (back then) Redskins on Monday Night Football.

The Nomad first drive was the opposite; a more methodical drive and all passing, mainly led by Tony Khoury and Lucson (or is it Lusson? – Duplicate profiles!!) Pierre. Justin Lavallee was very good on the drive, and very good overall in this game. He finished the drive 4/5, 40 yards, and his TD to Pierre ended the drive with 6 points and a tie game, 6-6.

And how did Spera’s Cougars respond? How about another 1-play score, this time a Nic Groppini 40-yarder. Apart from this long bomb, Nic’s 3 other receptions went for 16 yards as the early deep ball stretched the defense and was able to work the underneath stuff. He would finish the night with 4 receptions on 5 targets, 56 yards and the hat-trick, 3 TDs!

Not only did Santino have himself a game offensively, on the next Nomads drive, he picked off a deep ball from Lavallee to add a pick and 3 tackles to his defensive stats. The next Cougars drive would start at the 3, and after a 9 yard catch and run by Vince Pisano, the next 37 yards were a repeat of the 1st touchdown run, so yes, a 37-yard TD run by Santino.

At this point, Nomads knew they needed to pick up the pace, and did so by scoring in 3 plays, this time led by Derek Zackard, who had 37 yards and the TD on the drive. And Spera’s Cougars realized they were better served killing the clock while driving the field instead of scoring so quickly, and did this perfectly, still scoring, but this time in 5 plays instead of 1 or 2. And while Nomads tried scoring quickly, as evidenced by Andrei Zolotukin‘s 40-bomb TD, Spera’s Cougars kept the mix of deep balls, 14+ yard runs and short/intermediate balls on point, ending all 7 of their possessions in touchdowns.

While Justin Lavallee had a great game too, that 1 interception ended up being the difference in the game.

Spera’s Cougars Player of the Game: Santino Sparagna – 12/15, 80% completion, 173 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 154.3 QBR, 5 rushing attempts, 126 yards, 2 rushing TDs, 3 tackles, 1 INT.

Nomads Player of the Game: Justin Lavallee – 20/26, 77% completion, 260 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INTs, 131.4 QBR, 1 rushing attempt, 26 yards.

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Game Preview

Eastside Boys (3-4) vs. Golden Eagles (2-5)

We’ve got 2 desperate teams that are both currently outside the playoff picture. In fact, the playoff is so close that if either team were to win, they would jump into a playoff spot, so you know the intensity will be high in this Week 9 matchup!

Golden Eagles are coming off a 1-1 Week 8 record, as they lost a close game to Beer Belly Brigade, but ended the week with a win over Arouch, while Eastside Boys are coming off a disappointing loss to Sphinx. As mentioned above, both teams desperately need the W if they want to be playing football in May.

The first question will be, who will start at Quarterback for Golden Eagles? When they played on Sunday vs. BBB, Sara Parker was able to play for them, but when playing on Wednesday, they had Felix Goulet in. This game against Eastside Boys falls on a Wednesday night, but is no longer in Hebert, but will be played outdoors in Loyola. So the starting pivot is still a question mark. The next question is, will Dawson Pierre be there, or Alex David, since I don’t believe both fit in the lineup or else they would bust the cap. Either way, both are superstar receivers, but in pure analytical form, Pierre is a matchup nightmare. He’s the type where, if you need to, you just throw it up and he can jump over 4 guys trying to tear him down. There’s only a handful of players that have that ability. Names like Jordan McInnis come to mind. The other question of who is going to play seems to be between Vincent Hamel or Xavier Bourgeois-Giroux, both of whom have played 3 games… Are you noticing a trend here? Roster inconsistency has plagued Golden Eagles. Had they built chemistry with a stable roster, the team screams playoff team, yet they find themselves at 2-5.

Whoever comes to play, Kevin Lubin is the captain and pillar that will need to be disruptive on defence, whether he is rushing Anthony Lazzara, or baiting Lazzara into throws that turn into interceptions. It would be the perfect time to get his first INT(s) of the year. In fact, they would take interceptions from just about anyone. They’ve got 6 INTs in 6 games. Only Hot Sauce Sports has less total INTs than the Golden Eagles, so a couple of turnovers will go a long way in helping their playoff push. If it’s not the turnovers they get, then they absolutely need the sacks, as Eastside Boys are the most sacked team in the division (sacked 16 times).

As for the Eastside Boys, they have been more competitive when Nic Gomes-Risso is in the lineup for them. He adds another dimension to their offense and has the ability to read quarterbacks and lockdown a top receiver. So if Eastside Boys want to emerge victorious, get that man on the field! Next, they need Luca De Gaetani to continue at his division-leading sack pace, regardless of whichever Quarterback suits up for Golden Eagles. Finally, they need more out of Anthony Lazzara, as was suggested on this weeks episode of Calling The Audible. Every time I’ve been there to scorekeep their games, he’s looked pretty good, so I get baffled when they lose to a Sphinx team that has really struggled this year. Maybe they need me there to scorekeep… well… I will be at Loyola on Wednesday night, so, we’ll see which field I end up scorekeeping. And last thing, they need their X factor, Augustin Donald to come up with a big game offensively. He needs to better convert his targets, as he’s currently catching 46% of the balls thrown his way. He has game breaking ability when the ball is in his hands, he just needs to first secure the catch to be dangerous with yards after the catch.

Let’s not forget the weather element in this matchup, as we will be playing outdoors on Wednesday night, so the chilly weather may play a role. In the end, the game will be close, and will be a 1 possession game, but I like the Golden Eagles coming off their win against Arouch.

Prediction: Golden Eagles 25 – 19 Eastside Boys

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Fantasy Team of the Week (4B)

Quarterbacks (2):

QB1 – Benoit Lawlor (Team Ethnik): 19/29, 65.5% completion, 234 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 115.5 QBR

QB2 – Thomas Soto (Los Locos): 17/30, 56.7% completion, 217 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 91.3 QBR, 7 Rushing TDs, 50 Rushing yards, 1 Rushing TD

Receivers (5):

WR1 – Kevin Lubin (Golden Eagles – Game 1): 10 receptions, 12 targets, 116 yards, 2 TDs

WR2 – William Bissonnette (Team Ethink): 4 receptions, 5 targets, 85 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR3 – Marc-André Parenteau (Team Ethink): 4 receptions, 5 targets, 83 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR4 – Mathieu Fafard (Sphinx): 10 receptions, 11 targets, 117 yards, 1 TD

WR5 – Julian Nelson (Mofos): 4 receptions, 8 targets, 74 yards, 3 TDs

Defensive Backs (5) + Rusher (1):

DB – Xavier Bourgeois-Giroux (Golden Eagles – Game 2): 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 PD

DB – Nicolas Curotte (Beer Belly Brigade): 1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 Def INT, 1 PD

DB – Vincent Savaria-Jutras (Les Montagnards): 2 INTs

DB – Anthony Drysdale (Vultures): 4 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 Def INT

DB – Amadou Diallo (Mofos): 4 tackles, 3 INTs

Rusher – Anis Abbas (Bandits): 4 sacks

Fantasy Team of the Week (4A)

Quarterbacks (2):

QB2 – Santino Sparagna (Spera’s Cougars): 12/15, 173 yards, 5 TDs, 5 Rush attempts, 126 Rushing yards, 2 Rushing TDs

QB2 – Chris Rivest (The Stoics): 19/28, 201 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 4 Rushing attempts, 22 Rushing yards (plus converted 2x XP1, 3x XP2)

Receivers (5):

WR1 – Rory Semerjian (Centaures): 5 receptions, 5 targets, 79 yards, 3 TDs

WR2 – Daron “The Wrangler” Migdesyan (Small Giants): 6 receptions, 6 targets, 81 yards, 2 TDs

WR3 – Nicholas Groppini (Spera’s Cougars): 4 receptions, 5 targets, 56 yards, 3 TDs

WR4 – Alessandro Arciero (Takeover): 4 receptions, 4 targets, 69 yards, 2 TDs

WR5 – Ryan McGrath (TOPSZN): 5 receptions, 8 targets, 66 yards, 2 TDs, 1x XP1

Defensive Backs (5) + Rusher (1):

DB – Quaysie Gordon-Maule (The BrotherHood): 3 tackles, 3 INTs, 2 Def INT

DB – Micky Mensah (The Stoics): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT, 2 PDs

DB – Nelson Pereira (Bruins): 3 tackles, 2 INTs

DB – Brandon Parent (TOPSZN): 5 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PDs

DB – Jeremy Ronsin (The BrotherHood): 6 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT, 1 PD

Rusher – Hasani Worrell (TOPSZN): 1 tackle, 3 sacks, 1 PD

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4A Power Rankings

1. Blackouts (6-2) – Last Ranked #2: Blackouts are on a 3-game win streak and have won 4 of their last 5. In the 3 straight wins, Adam Sinagra has thrown 15 TDs to his 3 INTs. They are hot, which is always good going into the playoffs.
2. The Brotherhood (6-2) – Last Ranked #4: So The BrotherHood made a statement that when their full team is there, they can beat anyone. When Quaysie is in the lineup, The BrotherHood are 6-0. Both their losses came when he didn’t suit up. They were the first to take down KGP Ra this past week.
3. TOPSZN (6-2) – Last Ranked #3: TOPSZN have won 2 in a row since losing to The BrotherHood on GOTW and have won 5 of their last 6 games. The dynamic duo of Brandon Parent and Ryan McGrath is something special. They’ve combine to represent 59% of the TOPSZN offensive yards with their 952 yards and 61% of the touchdowns that Shawn McGrath has thrown.
4. KGP Ra (7-1) – Last Ranked #1: Sorry boys, but it’s not just the loss, but the way in which you lost your first game. Definitely uncharacteristic 3 TD/4 INT game by Ryan Garber, but these are the type of defenses they will see in the playoffs. Hopefully for them, they can re-group and game plan specifically for that type of strong defense.
5. The Stoics (5-3) – Last Ranked #7: This team has climbed the standings with their strong play, all the way into the #2 seed and are climbing the Power Rankings. They have a lot to prove in their final 2 games when they take on Blackouts and The BrotherHood. Also, for as much as we talk Adam Sinagra and Ryan McGrath, Chris Rivest actually has a better QBR than both those guys and has the 6th best QBR in the div!
6. Bruins (5-3) – Last Ranked #8: Bruins are a team that, if they get hot at season’s end going into the playoffs… watch out. They have a Spring championship under their belt, so they have that pedigree and know what it takes to win.
7. Takeover (4-4) – Last Ranked #6: Let’s see how Takeover fare against TOPSZN. If they can takedown TOPSZN, their confidence will be sky high with 2 weeks remaining before playoffs.
8. Small Giants (4-2-1) – Last Ranked #5: So I was concerned last week with the defense… my concern was warranted; they let up 44 against The Stoics in Week 8 and 82 points in their last 2 games.
9. Spera’s Cougars (3-5) – Last Ranked: #9: Santino Sparagna has been a GAME-changer for Spera’s Cougars and actually has the 5th best QBR in the div with his 23 TDs and 4 INTs in 6 games. He’s the reason why they are breathing new life and find themselves in a playoff spot.
10. Centaures (3-5) – Last Ranked: #10: Maybe I needed to give them the “last chance” speech earlier! I predicted another close game against Takeover and did come out on the right side. I think this season has taken a few years off of Jordan Rossie‘s life! Also, Rory Semerjian is feeling it defensively; he has 4 straight games with interceptions.

4B Power Rankings (Prior to Saturday’s Week 8 games)

1. Les Montagnards (9-0) – Last Ranked #1: Even when their starting QB isn’t there, Les Montagnards can do no wrong! The perfect season is still alive with 1 game remaining. Les Verges Folles, you’re up!
2. Beer Belly Brigade (7-1 )- Last Ranked #2: So BBB are good, but not unbeatable. Golden Eagles proved that last week. Luckily, Nicolas Curotte was able to give them a late pick 6 to seal the deal.
3. Vultures (7-1) – Last Ranked #3: Vultures needed a feel-good game after suffering defeat for the first time 2 weeks ago. A meeting against HSS to put up a 50-burger is exactly what they needed.
4. The U (7-1) – Last Ranked #4: Have The U quietly gone 7-1? They are kind of lingering in the background, but only have 1 loss on the season. Beating Les Verges Folles by 2 scores without starting QB Evan Frank is impressive.
5. Honey Martin (4-4) – Last Ranked #5: Not sure what happened in Week 8.
6. Les Verges Folles (5-4) – Last Ranked #6: The game against The U was a test, and they graded C- in that game
7. Mofos (4-3-1) – Last Ranked #10: The highest rising team in the Power Rankings, Mofos FLEXED against Voodoo. They might just be starting to pick up the FPF thing. Both them and Los Locos were the newbies in the division, so let’s see how far both teams have come when they face off in Week 10.
8. Bandits (4-5) – Last Ranked: N/A: The Bandit receivers must have been happy to have Émile Skaf back, as without him at QB, they stand no chance in Div 4. They beat an athletic Ballers team, but can they beat an more veteran FPF team that happens to be struggling this yea in Team Ethnik? Good test for Bandits in Week 10.
9. Arouch (3-5) – Last Ranked: N/A: Arouch are funny team. They are up and down this season, much like their Power Ranking appearances. They beat the #3 seed Honey Martin, but then lose to the #9 seed Golden Eagles. What does everyone else think of Arouch?
10. Finessers (2-4-2) – Last Ranked: #9: So they didn’t REALLY get to face the real Montagnards team, but they kept it close nonetheless. Unless they play lights out again Beer Belly Brigade, their season will come down to the final game of the season against Hot Sauce Sports.

Week 9 Game Picks 

4A Games (My Picks are in Bold Green)

Les Blues Branleurs vs. Mongoose

Small Giants vs. Nomads

4B Games (My Picks are in Bold Green)

Sphinx vs. Arouch

Team Ethnik vs. Eastside Boys

Eastside Boys vs. Golden Eagles

Epilogue

Well, that does it for this week! Hope you enjoyed the article! Feel free to reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger. Time to rest in Week 9, unless you play, then you can get pumped for Week 9 and leave it all out on the field! LET’S GOOOO!

Want more FPF? Here’s CTA from this past week in a remote location feat. your Div 4 writer!

LOL oops.. we had NFL content… 🤣