The End is Here: Championship Preview

This is it ladies and gentlemen, the last column of the FlagPlus Football Spring Season. I would like to take a quick second to thank you guys for reading my column. It was a pleasure to write for you guys every week. I got a lot of positive feedback and shout-outs by various players and staff members, so it appears that more people liked my articles than not. As a writer, that’s all I can ask for.

As we saw this past weekend in Lachine, the Conference Finals took place not just for Division E, but for all of FPF. We got to see a bit of everything as the games were intense, action-packed, and definitely memorable to say the least.

Up next is the granddaddy of em’ all. The Division E Championship this Sunday at 4 PM at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.

 

Before I get into the Finals preview though, let me take you back to Week 5. During that week, I wrote my Mid-Season Awards article. Well, since this is the last bit of business for the season, as promised here is my end of Season Awards article.

QB of the Year

Jonah Cohen (Smash Bros)

Matt Bytalan (Looney Goons)

Jesse Racine (no name@)

Jordan Bellemare (One Man Show)

Etienne Guilmain (Flight of the Conchords)

Nicolas Blais (Bloodmachines)

Winner: Cohen – As if there was any doubt. It’s too bad he didn’t get to play in the post-season, and an even bigger shame that he won’t be able to take part in championship Sunday due to his move to London, England but while he was here, he threw for an astounding 51 TDs and only 4 INTs. Case closed.

 

WR of the Year (Category #1)

Vincent Bastrash (Smash Bros)

Jonathan Garfinkle (Falcons)

Akeem Gordon (Tigers)

Paul Santache (Smash Bros)

Jameel Greenidge (Tigers)

Jean-Sebastien Renaud (FOTC)

Gabriel Poisson (Fuzzy-Kittens)

Mathieu-Paul Poisson (Fuzzy-Kittens)

Daniel Lazzara (Royalty)

Jerson Previllon (#Baton)

Winner: Santache – This one was close, as any one of the candidates could have come away with the trophy. While J.S Renaud plays a position which in this league is usually open, his 11 TDs and nearly 10 YPC mean that he had to do beat at least a few defenders. The Poisson brothers, Garfinkle and Previllon carried their team‘s offenses on their respective backs. Garfinkle made not one, but two QB in P.J Belec and Dylan Garber look good. Previllon really played a big role in the success of QB Jason Dupuis once he took over as the starter in Week 6, and the Poisson bros did their thing all season long. Gordon and Greenidge are definitely talented. Imagine if they had a more talented option at QB to throw them the ball this season…It came down to Santache and Bastrash. While the former put up impressive numbers all season, the latter simply put up better ones.  

 

WR of the Year (Category #2)

Danny D’Amour (One Man Show)

Isiah Allard (TDs and Beer)

Zach Zwirn (Redmen)

Patrice Lindor (Bloodmachines)

Winner: Allard – While Dangerous Danny D’Amour fans will say that he has one less TD (22 to 21)on 5 less catches (48 to 43), Allard’s nearly 200 yard advantage (806 to 624) is too hard to ignore.

 

Two-Way Player of the Year

Jonathan Garfinkle (Falcons)

John Papadimitriou (Redmen)

Jameel Grennidge (Tigers)

Isiah Allard (TDs and Beer)

Paul Santache (Smash Bros)

Daniel Lazzara (Royalty)

Danny D’Amour (One Man Show)

Zach Zwirn (Redmen)

Eddy Rousseau (Smash Bros)

Matthew Da Silva (Looney Goons)      

 Winner: John Papadimitriou – Everybody on this list was more than deserving of the award, but just like with my Mid-Season Award pick, I once again have to go with the Redmen two-way threat,  because he produced the most TDs (28 throwing, 1 via INT, and 5 rushing)

 

Rusher of the Year

Naim Goulamhoussen (#Baton)

Carl Boileau (Smokin’ Axolotls)

Kevin Choo Foo (Los Guapos

Simon Laporte (JeanGuy)

Anthony Lucarino (Royalty)

Winner:  Simon Laporte – During the Mid-Season Awards article, I mentioned how empressed I was with Lucarino’s performance. That still holds true at the end of the year, as he gave Laporte a run for his money. The other candidates on this list also delivered strong numbers as the year went on. Is Laporte slowing down, or are there simply a rising number of good pass rushers in Div 6/E? I think it’s the latter. The king still has his crown, but for how long?

 

Best Regular Season Team (Yes, in case you’re wondering, this is an abbreviation of the Elite 8)

Flight of the Conchords

Los Guapos

Bloodmachines

#Baton

Looney Goons

Smash Bros

Winner: FOTC – Despite their playoff disappointment, they beat every team on this list with the exception of the Looney Goons who basically had to make major changes to their squad to get to where they are now. LG also had the luxury of an easier regular season schedule. So FOTC is the pick. Imagine where they would be with a healthy Jonathan Lemieux.

 

Now on to the Finals preview. ..

Representing Conference A we have the Looney Goons. They got here by knocking off no name@, Redmen, and One Man               Show. In their last game, they used stellar goal-line defense and a timely TD by Jesse White who eluded defenders with 13 minutes off the clock in the 2nd half to beat OMS.

Their defense which has been led by Matthew Da Silva, Nick Impellezzeri, and James Donald has been on fire this post-season as they have given up only 49 points, which averages out to two TDs with two 2-point conversions per game.

Their offense has been effective to so far in the playoffs. Despite struggling last Sunday in the Conference Final against the One Man Show, QB Matt Bytalan has thrown 11 TDs passes and only 1 INT so far. They have gotten plays rom not just Da Silva, but guys like Tony Pao, Jesse White, and Impellezzeri.

The Conference B winners the Smash Bros got here by eliminating #Baton, Los Guapos, and the Bloodmachines. Their 26-25 thrilling win over the Bloodmachines that was aided by a huge play by WR  Paul Santache last week, was without a shadow of a doubt the best game of the post-season.

While Santache and Vincent Bastrash as expected have made plays in what I like to call the “real season”, The production of guys like Michael Hopmeyer (3 receptions for 63 yards and 2 TDs  + 2 INTs) and Aaron Ownby (7 catches for 51 yards and 1 TD + 1 INT) this post-season has been crucial for the Smash Bros success in the playoffs.

The play of Eddy Rousseau has been nothing short of amazing as well. The third year Wide Receiver/Corner Back who finished the regular season with 17 receptions for 259 yards and 11TDs which was good for 3rd on the team, along with 6 INTs which was tied for the team lead with Santache, has made a seamless transition into the pivot position after the departure of All-Star QB Jonah Cohen on the eve of the playoffs. In the four games he has started behind Center (he also started the regular season finale vs JeanGuy, but Cohen did play that game as well) he has thrown for 16 TDS and only 3 INTs His QB Rating has been an impressive 101.75, his completion percentage has been a hair below 55%, and he has averaged 12 yards a pass. There are plenty of passers that would love to have those numbers for an entire season, let alone a four game stretch.

The Smash Bros defense has been nothing short of spectacular as well as they smothered an explosive #Baton offense, embarrassed the potent Los Guapos’ O, and came up with big plays when it mattered most against the Bloodmachines.

During the regular season, these squads never played each other, so this game definitely has a sense of freshness to it. Due to the smart schedule making of our captain Rob Campana, both teams played their Conference Finals at exactly the same time, so nobody would have an competitive edge in letting one team suit and watch the other play. I know I complained about this in last week’s article. While it was annoying in the sense that I missed crucial parts of both games because I was going back and forth to watch them, it was actually the best way to set the games up.

 

To make this more fun, and to break the game down properly, I will compare the positions.

Quarterbacks

 

Smash Bros:

Eddy Rousseau 16 TDs, 3 INTs, 13 carries for 97 yards (4 games)

Looney Goons:

Matt Bytalan 15 TDs, 1 INTs, 14 carries for 75 yards 1TD (9 games)

Advantage: Smash Bros

 

Wide Receivers

Smash Bros:

Paul Santache 57 catches/ 883 yards/ 18 TDs (Regular Season) / 11 catches/ 87 yards/ 4 TDs (Playoffs)

Vincent Bastrash 32 catches/ 541 yards/ 18 TDs (Regular Season) / 6 catches/91 yards/3 TDs (Playoffs)  

Michael Hopmeyer 9 catches/ 136 yards/ 3 TDs (Regular Season) / 3 catches/63 yards/2 TDs (Playoffs)

Dylan Weiss 5 catches/ 94 yards/ 4TDs (Regular Season) / 3 catches/ 13 yards/ 1 TD (Playoffs)

Aaron Ownby 5 catches 78 yards (Regular Season) / 7 catches/ 51 yards/ 1 TD (Playoffs)

Looney Goons:

Matthew Da Silva 28 catches/ 291 yards/ 10 TDs (Regular Season) / 11 catches/ 99 yards/ 5TDs (Playoffs) 

Nick Impellezzeri 14 catches/ 127 yards/ 4TDs (Regular Season) / 5 catches/ 60 yards/ 1 TD (Playoffs)

Tony Pao 17 catches/ 174 yards/ 4TDs (Regular Season) / 13 catches/ 148 yards / 1 TD (Playoffs)

James Donald 7 catches 93 yards 3TDs (Regular Season) /5 catches/ 60 yards/ 1 TD

Jessie White 15 catches/ 134 yards/ 2 TDs (Regular Season) / 10 catches/ 73 yards/ 3TDs

Advantage: Smash Bros

 

Defensive Backs:

Smash Bros:

Vincent Bastrash 21 Tackles/ 4INTs/ 5PDs (Regular Season) / 5 Tackles/ 1 INT/ 4 PDs (Playoffs)

Paul Santache17 Tackles/6 INT/ 4 PDs/ 1TD (Regular Season) / 5 Tackles (Playoffs)

Michael Hopmeyer 10 Tackles/ 3 INTs/ 8 PDs (Regular Season) / 5 Tackles/ 2 INTs/ 4Ds (Playoffs)

Eddy Rosseau 18 Tackles/6 INTs/4PDs/2 TDs/ 6 Sacks (Regular Season)/ 6 Tackles (Playoffs)

Looney Goons:

Matt Bytalan 15 Tackles/ 2 INTs/ 2 PDs/ 1TD (Regular Season)/ 15 tackles (Playoffs)

Matthew Da Silva 20 Tackles/ 10 INTs/ 4 PDs/ 1 TD (Regular Season)/ 7 tackles/ 2 PDs (Playoffs)

James Donald 11 Tackles/ 2 INTs/5 PDs (Regular Season) / 6 tackles/ 3 INTs/ 2 PDs (Playoffs)

Tony Pao 26 Tackles/ 1 INT/ 5 PDs/ 1 Sack (Regular Season) / 8 tackles/ 1 INT (Playoffs)

Advantage: Looney Goons (Playoffs)

 

Rusher

 

Smash Bros:

Dylan Weiss 3 Sacks (Regular Season) / 3 Playoffs)

Eddy Rousseau 6 Sacks (Regular Season) / 0 (Playoffs)

Looney Goons

Nick Impellezzeri 5 Sacks (Regular Season) / 4 (Playoffs)

Advantage: Looney Goons

 

Picks (I’m bringing it back one last time baby!!!!)

Looney Goons vs Smash Bros – I am going with the Smash Bros because of their offense. Even with their backs are against the wall and trailing in the final minutes against the Bloodmachines last week, they have proven that they can pull it out. After being relatively quiet the first two rounds of the playoffs, Bastrash and Santache have also woken up as well. While the Looney Goons also came through with their backs against the wall in their Conference Final game against One Man Show, the fact that they were only able to manufacture 7 points is concerning.

 

Last Week: 1-1

Season: (Including Playoffs): 66-26-2

 

Well that’s it for this week and for the season as well. I had a great time writing for you guys. I hope you guys liked it too. It was my pleasure. Take care, and I hope to see you guys next Winter Season. Be safe, have fun, and enjoy Championship Sunday!

I’ve been checking my e-mail and twitter regularly for feedback and suggestions from you guys, so keep it coming. If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt I left something out, don’t be shy. You can shoot me a tweet at @BADNEWS51, or do it the semi old fashioned way and e-mail me at [email protected]

Cheers!