The Inaugural 35+ Championship Game: Preview

After many weeks of battling, sweat and hard work, we have arrived at the grandest stage of 35+ division. Congratulations to Monster Football and Relics for reaching the first ever finals of 35+ division. If some of you thought that this division was just filled with grumpy old men who can’t hack it, you better think again (the grumpy part might be true though). Monster Football is led by former Division 1 champion Andy Peterkin and Kevin Wilson, the Relics have former Division B champion Cory Pecker, Tony Lalla and several other FPF hosehold names. The finals will be a great one because both teams are playing their best football.

 

Even though the final is today, don’t forget next week is the unveiling of the winners of STARWARDS!

Before recapping semifinal’s action and gloating that I have predicted every match up correctly so far in the playoffs, let’s look at one of the remaining team profiles as promised. I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of speaking Vince Mancini about Polvige Tech and here is what he had to say.

 

Polvige Tech

What made you guys enter the 35+ division and what was the draft strategy for the Polvige roster from the available KTFL players?

Most of the guys love football and an excuse to get together. 35 + is in our age group (even low for some of us!) It should be 40 + as we all know at least I do things start to break down at 40 !! Once we saw FPF was putting in a 35+ we put out a call and took the first 20 guys who said yes and next year i am sure we can field at least another team with the 20 guys we had we wanted to have balanced teams for the fun of it. I am sure if we took the better of the 2 teams we would have been more competitive.

 

In hindsight, what were some of the adjustments Polvige could have made?

Polvige had attendance issues with myself, jon moodie and chris rosen all missing games and not at the same time created holes that were tough to fill such as getting a replacement qb who gels for 1 game not likely.

 

You guys finished 5th in the season and then lost in the quarters to Relics, why were you not as successful as Dagwoods given that your roster was pretty good on paper?

Dagwoods were more consistent and had the right people in the right places by not having to try to fill the gaps left by missing players. And if you had Rob allen on your team a weapon on both sides of the ball that not everyone can cover.  Look at his production any team would have been successful with a supporting cast

 

Who do you think will win the finals and why?

Monster and Relics is very tough to call. A full monsters lineup will be difficult to beat. Relics are a good team but if a polvige team made up of weekend warriors can give them a run for the money I imagine a team of dedicated ball players from monster should come out on the right side of the score.

 

What are some of the things Polvige needs to work on for next 35+ season?

Polvige just needs a consistent roster we fully expected to be a .500 team or better this season but for reasons already mentioned it didnt happen …we got blown out only in 2 games the rest were competitive at some point.

 All to say we had a blast! We supported our teams, had beers with the enemy, laughed and got to play football with our friends; need I say more? Thank you for your support this season and maybe we will see you in the 35+? (Perhaps you will)

 

Semifinals Recap

 

Monster Football 41 – Hitmen Retro 24

 

This game was not what I had anticipated. At the beginning, it looked like it was going to be back and forth but then a key interception in the first half by Bruo Petrilli on a tipped ball gave Monster Football the break they needed to pull head. Monster Football led by 2 scores at half time and never looked back from that point. Frustration showed on Hitmen Retro’s players who didn’t think they could lose to their rivals, let alone lose by this margin in the semifinals. All season long it was evident they had problems on defense but their offense always made up for it. Unfortunately, last week they only put up 24 points which isn’t enough to beat a team like Monster Football.

Furthermore, Hitmen Retro had three players who won the individual awards for best QB, receiver and defensive player but that wasn’t enough last Thursday to secure a win. Regardless they were a great team to watch every week as they were so prolific on offense and brought great energy so hats off to them for still reaching the semifinals in the inaugural season of this division.

 

Relics 38 – Dagwoods 36

Relics brought their A game on offense and Cory Pecker put up great numbers. He only had 3 incompletions all game. They had a legitimate three-headed monster all game with Tony Lalla, Darnell Lovelace and Ryan Tereskewitz. They were ahead all game against Dagwoods and never wasted any opportunities. With 5 plays left and being up by only 2 points, Relics had the ball in their own zone and decided to punt on the 4th down which gave Dagwoods one play for a Hail Mary attempt. Lonny Johnson launched it as best as he could and it was caught by Rob Allen at the Relics 5-yard line but as he tried to run it in, he was deflagged at the 2 yard. It was a great finish to the game but an unfortunate one for the Dagwoods who had their sights set on the finals.

It would be easy to say Dawgoods lacked depth on offense because Rob Allen had 10 catches and then the next receiver had 4 catches but Lonnie Johnson missed some throws. There were two separate occasions where Lonnie Johnson had an open receiver for the 2-point convert to tie the game but overthrew the receiver. Thus, there were miscues all around but I’ll give credit to Dagwoods for fighting and never giving up till the end.

 

Finals

Monster Football (6-2-1) vs Relics (5-3-2)

Season series: The week 3 match up was a 19-all tie and in week 7 Monster Football won 38-26 however Cory Pecker wasn’t the QB in both those games (week 3 was Jeff Rosenblatt and week 7 was Rochdi Benabdelkader).

 

Here is an analysis of the most important categories for the finals:

 

Passing – this is a tough one because both Andy Peterkin and Cory Pecker are proven winners, even though Andy Peterkin has a Division 1 under his belt, along with countless other touch and flag football achievements. That said, while Andy was winning football tournaments, Cory was playing professional hockey- so I don’t think it’s fair to punish Cory for his lesser pedigree on the turf; he is a better pocket passer whereas Andy is more of a scrambler but highly efficient at it.

Advantage: Even

Receiving – Monster Football spread the ball well but more important, all their guys on offense can make plays. Last week I saw JF Leclair who might run a post corner so well, it made the defensive player of the year Jeff Brown fall. Similarly, Adam Burnatowski (snapper) is a reliable check down receiver if Andy needs to be bailed. Throw in Shawn Costello and Dave Richter who are big physical targets and oh yea, did I mention they have Kevin Wilson too? There is a lot of depth on this offense.

Comparatively, Relics top three guys are enough to carry this team and they are Tony Lalla, Darnell Lovelace and Ryan Tereskewitz. It’s impossible to cover all three but even if you manage to, Ryan Grad and Noah Stern can step in and contribute even when the game is physical which it always is against Monster Football.

Advantage: Even

Defense – This is probably a toughest category to analyze for both teams. Statistically in the regular season Relics had allowed 219 points and Monster Football allowed 214.

In the playoffs, Relics (having played 2 games) averaged 30 points against whereas Monster Football allowed 24. Monster Football held the best QB, best WR and the number 1 offense in 35+ division to 24 points which more than impressive. Relics defense is streaky at best which is tough because there is too much unpredictability.

Another reason Monster Football does well on defense is their pass rush led by Andy Peterkin. He is quick and adjusts well. However, Andy hasn’t rushed Cory Pecker who has only been sacked twice (both came in the semifinals in the last drive when they were just trying to burn plays at the end). Cory has a quick release which makes it hard for rushers to have an impact. His counterpart Joel Shahrabbi rushes well but lacks speed which could prove troublesome against Andy who is quick on his feet.

Where Monster Football excel is their ability to play aggressively which can sometimes go against them but usually it’s in their favor.

Advantage: Monster Football

 

Overall the match up is even in terms of offense prowess. Both teams can put up the points and as cliché as it sounds, it will come down to whoever can manufacture that one stop on defense. Before I can give my prediction, I’d like to give both teams a chance to get a few words in:

Relics

I asked Cory Pecker a few questions and here is how he responded:

What made you guys enter the 35+ division instead of any other division?

We were all over 35 so we thought it would be fun to play!

 

How did you compile the roster? (friends? Colleagues?)

I wasn’t supposed to be the QB but (Jeff) Rosenblatt broke his leg (unfortunately). Ryan Etinson put the team together initially and maintained it well all season.

 

Even though you’re in the finals, what were your pre-season expectations for the team?

I don’t think we knew what kind of caliber we were going to be up against. I don’t think we had high expectations.

 

What are some of the weaknesses you need to address for the finals?

Not being able to stop their QB is our weakness.

 

What will give you the advantage in the finals?

Hopefully our speed on offense, but I think we need to keep playing the same way we have all playoffs.

 

Finish this sentence: We’ll be the first ever 35+ division champions because….

… we’ll get that one key stop.

 

Cory is a man of few but power words. He is no doubt ready to win his 2nd FPF championship!

 

Monster Football

I wasn’t able to get a comment from Kevin Wilson and I attribute that to only one of two reasons: superstition or since I sent him my questions only at 10 pm last night, he has better things to do. Either way, we know these guys are ready and focused for the big finale tonight.

 

Prediction

So far I have predicted every match up correctly in the playoffs and I believe the finals prediction won’t be any different. I am picking Monster Football to win the first ever 35+ division championship. Even though both teams match up well, they have the defensive edge over Relics. This game will come down to the wire. As a columnist, scorekeeper and a fan of this great division, I would love nothing more than to even see an overtime finish.

 

Well there you have it folks. We are hours way from the finals. Good luck to Monster Football and Relics and may the football Gods bring us an exciting and action packed game that goes to overtime!