The Reign of the Undefeated! Week 5 in Div 5A/B

Well hello again Div 5! It has been a stupendous week in FPF. Some upsets in 5A and just a crazy amount of games 5B. Double games for teams are beginning to pop up more frequently! Week 4 flew by before I could even catch my breath and now Week 5 is already upon us! Thanks for your patience in getting these articles out. There are just too many athletes in these divisions for me to keep up! I’ve got tons of things I gotta talk about, so let’s dive in quick to the shenanigans of 5A/B:

FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH:

5A: IN N’ OUT beat VULTURES!? I spoke about VULTURES on the last Calling The Audible and had mentioned that they needed to solidify their QB position. 3 TDs and 9 Sacks in 3 games is rough. That’s not to say that I don’t think Owen Bujarsky is able to turn things around, but he is having trouble shaking off the rust this season. His last run as a QB was back in 2019, so of course it will take some time to get used to the talent that FPF has acquired in the past seasons, but I worry that they won’t recover in time to get themselves out of the Elimination Zone!

5B: The missing game between WIN DIESEL and BREWERS got posted (for those who were worried like I was). Unfortunately, BREWERS could not contain the DIESEL train at all and allowed 54 points. HOWEVER, in the game I don’t pick them to win, they get their First win!!! Jeffrey Lefebvre put up 4 TDs and was the mirror to his opponent – Raphael Dufour. Great job to the BREWERS for getting a last minute TD and the convert to take the win! I hope it continues!

Random Thought – Speaking of the Elimination Zone above, it’s actually a bit insane to me that the Elimination Zone is currently filled up with teams that are still chasing their first win (good job BANDITS in 5A for being the outlier). Some of these teams have played 5 games, while others have only played 2. Obviously, teams will drop in and out of the Zone throughout the rest of the season, this does certainly lower the wins needed to get into the playoffs. I thought initially a team would need 4 wins to be in, but I think it might be closer to 2-3(ish).

5A: Not only has VULTURES lost, but PASTA ARRABIAT pulled a fast one over DUCKS, and LES PETITES CAROTTES made STRAPAHOLICS stop in their tracks! It’s been a bit of a crazy week that shook up the rankings. They took on RICO RYDERS so let’s see if they can capture lighting in a bottle and beat another good team! Unlike 5B who still has like 6 undefeated teams, 5A is losing its undefeated status rapidly. Only IN N’ OUT is still undefeated, but that’s because they have a tie, and LES PETITES CAROTTES are just revving up, but their win against STRAPAHOLICS is impressive. Will we still have an undefeated team by week 14, or will 5A be balanced enough to not have a large cap at the top of the division?

5B: STOP THE PRESSES!!!! My pick for finalist, RAMPHINS, were bested by THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT!!! I was wondering where 2 of their touchdowns came from, considering that Jonathan Lemieux scored 6 TDs but only 4 are recorded on Offense. Turns out, the main man – Hugo Stensland, caught the rest of those passes to help win over the RAMPHINS, but was wearing an off colour jersey. FPF has sometimes been notorious for their insistence on a same colour uniform with numbers, and this is a prime example of it! Despite my belief that if you know about the rules, you have to accept what follows when they aren’t followed, but I also think rules are meant to be broken! Muahaha. #FreeHugoStats… but also watch out and wear the same color jersey.

WILD WEST WRANGLERS scored only 2 points in their actual debut (their first game having been a forfeit) this week. This could be a disaster for their tie-breakers if they finally do start winning as the season progresses. Pair this with WIN DIESEL scoring another big 42 points, and we have a 150 point difference between the highest and lowest team!

MACCABEES didn’t let me down! They were able to put up the exact 38 points I predicted! I should go buy a lottery ticket with this prediction power (ignore the fact that i’m doing terrible predicting the Games of the Week lol). KICKING ASSETS has struggled this season but they were consistent in the fact that they put up 3 TDs! I think it has become obvious that when they can break into that 4+ TD range, they will begin to see more and more success.

A QUICK GLANCE AT THE COMPETITION:

LES PETITES CAROTTES

These tiny carrots started off in Division E of FPF in the spring of 2022 and made it all the way to the Finals. I believe most of their players were new to FPF, and having gone 8-2, losing to THE PRAETORIAN GUARD in the Championship Game, the crew then decided to jump up 5A where they found less success, but some success nonetheless! Jason Rayes threw for them their entire run and continues to do so this season, and is helped by a returning cast of CAROTTES vets. Alexandre Manes returns for his 3rd season with the team, Gabriel Jobin – offensive stud – is back again for his 4th season with the team, and Julien Morin brings up the tail end of returning but new players. Antoine Pelletier is a regular name on this team but has yet to suit up this season – is he injured? Missing? Let’s see if he shows up next week!

The Cloutier brothers, Zachary and Nicolas are on the roster for this team this season, but like Antoine Pelletier, Nicolas has not suited up this season. Luckily, Xavier Brault has shown that he can do just as good a job as anyone on offense and can easily pick up where Nicolas dropped off – currently having the most targets and TDs. Defensively, LES PETITES CAROTTES have done a great job at keeping their opponents to only 3 TDs a game. Keeping STRAPAHOLICS to only 13 points is a feat in and of itself, lets see if they can keep up this streak against a hungry RICO RYDERS who are marching in at 2-0! Moe had told me to get behind this Veggie Tale, and I’m compelled to agree. Look out for this on the rise team to start shaking up the division!

PREDICTION: 8-2

PASTA ARRABIAT

Listen, the noodles of PASTA ARRABIAT may change, but the secret spicy sauce forever remains the same! PASTA ARRABIAT boiled the league when they came onto the scene last Spring, and since then, have consistently been playoff contenders and a top team in the division. With a tight core of guys that have changed some pieces here and there, they have been able to consistently put up 220+ points, and compete with high level teams! Nic Delisi exploded into FPF and had a great starting season, putting up 30 TDs and over 1000 yards, and has not looked back since. He now has won every game he has played this season, and even when he missed the game against IN N’ OUT, PASTA was still able to tie that game with Carmelo Di Giovanni at QB. Nic is a solid QB who puts up INTs and takes Sacks, but always finds a way for his team to come out ahead. Marlon Pace returns to the team as rusher extraordinaire, and has already found his way to 7 sacks (just behind Matt Kirouac’s 11). A solid QB and a solid rusher is a great starting point for any team, but PASTA also has depth in their roster!

Anthony Iannancronz returns as an offensive staple that has already done better in 3 games this season, than most of his other offensive showings. It looks like Anthony has found his groove and will attempt to be Joe Morgese 2.0! Joe has been in the league since 2017 and has made his presence felt each season. Averaging 10+ TDs a season with regular 300-550+ yard seasons, I would definitely rank Joe as the #1 receiver of this offense. However, with Joe only playing 1 game this season, Anthony has been able to fill in the gap along with Nicholas Gomes-Risso who has joined this team for the first time! With other vets such as Carmelo Di Giovanni and Matthew Vertullo filling in the rest of this team, every player is versatile and they have the talent to make each season a Finals run. Starting off 2-1-1, I think this team is going for gold.

PREDICTION: 6-3-1

DEATH BATTLE BREAKDOWN:

VICE CITY vs A-SQUAD

It’s the battle of the 1-2’s! Both A-SQUAD and VICE CITY are coming off of impressive wins: A-SQUAD was able to beat THE WEST ISLAND HABIBIS in a last minute touchdown to secure the win, while VICE CITY got the upset over NOTORIOUS C.I.G. by 2 points! These 2 teams are coming into this game hot and I can see this game going either way. I predicted VICE CITY to be 5-5 this season back in Week 2. Jeff Tayeh did indeed take the QB position again, but with 12 INT in 3 games, it’s been very hard for them to close out games. Nick Richard and Max Burah have stepped up on this team and are the lead players on offense and defense – but only scoring 45 points so far may be a problem going up against A-SQUADS athletic players!

A-SQUAD is home to some higher division players and a mix of brand new players. Mohammed Telemaque has played QB the last 3 games and although he was putting up 4 TDs a game, it wasn’t until last week was he able to outscore his opponents and get that 5th TD! Junior Nwosu is clearly their favorite scoring target with 20 Targets, almost 250 Yards, and 6 TDs, but their actual #1 targeted player is Richie Mondesir. I had the pleasure of playing with Richie for a season or 2 in Div 3, along with Shanton Smith, and let me tell you – they are athletes. A-SQUAD’s defense is solid and if Mohammed can continue bringing in 5 TDs a game, I can see them being very successful in this division. VICE CITY will need to limit their turnovers if they want to stay in this game, but more importantly, on defense: They need to pick up more stops. They have a whole lot of PDs, but to turn even a handful of them into INTs would be a step in the right direction! I give the edge to A-SQUAD as long they can have their full roster show up!

Prediction: VICE CITY 26 – 33 A-SQUAD

ZACK’S TOP WEEKLY PICKS:

QB (1): Jason Rayes (LES PETITES CAROTTES) – 28 Attempts / 17 Completions (75%), 124 Yards, 6 TDs, 1 INTs, 3 Sacks // 1 Rushing Attempt, 3 Yards

QB (2): Mathew Yanakoulias (BANDITS) – 30 Attempts / 21 Completions (66.67%), 212 Yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, 2 Sacks

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WR (1): Junior Nwosu (A-SQUAD) – 10 Targets / 8 Receptions (80%), 120 Yards, 4 TDs

WR (2): Max Burah (VICE CITY) – 10 Targets / 8 Receptions (80%), 101 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (3): Nick Zamor (VICE CITY) – 6 Targets / 5 Receptions (100%), 81 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (4): Nicholas Gomes-Risso (VULTURES) – 6 Targets / 6 Receptions (100%), 38 Yards, 2 TDs

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DB (1): Owen Bujarsky (VULTURES) – 1 Tackle, 2 INTs, 1 PD, 1 TD

DB (2): Zachary Cloutier (LES PETITES CAROTTES) – 1 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

DB (3): Charles Dollimore (IN N’ OUT) – 0 Tackles, 1 INT, 3 PDs, 1 TD

DB (4):Sam Anastasopoulos (THE WEST ISLAND HABIBIS) – 8 Tackles, 2 PD

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RUSHER (1): Marlon Pace (PASTA ARRABIAT) – 2 Tackles, 5 Sacks

RUSHER (2): Matt Kirouac (STRAPAHOLICS) – 1 Tackle, 3 Sacks

QB (1): William Sebag (WIN DIESEL) – 23 Attempts / 19 Completions (53.85%), 218 Yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 0 Sacks // 3 Rushing Attempt, 15 Yards

QB (2): Jonathan Lemieux (THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT) – 35 Attempts / 22 Completions (68%), 223 Yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT, 2 Sacks // 1 Rushing Attempts, 3 Yards

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WR (1): Julien Proulx (KICKING ASSETS) – 15 Targets / 10 Receptions (81.82%), 109 Yards, 3 TDs

WR (2): Max Arnovitz (TUNESQUAD) – 7 Targets / 7 Receptions (77.78%), 67 Yards, 3 TDs

WR (3): Felix Sebag (WIN DIESEL) – 6 Targets / 6 Receptions (71.43%), 81 Yards, 2 TDs

WR (4): Nicolas Robert (LES TONDEUSES) – 6 Targets / 5 Receptions (85.71%), 91 Yards, 2 TDs

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DB (1): Michael De Seta (PACK A PUNCH) – 0 Tackles, 2 INT, 1 PD, 1 TD

DB (2): Lewis Epstein (MACCABEES) – 2 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

DB (3): Jessy Dumeignil (RAMPHINS) – 2 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

DB (4): Olivier Bernier (BREWERS) – 3 Tackle, 1 INT, 1 PD

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RUSHER (1): Shawn Graham (WILD WEST WRANGLERS ) – 0 Tackles, 4 Sacks

RUSHER (2): Yan Librati (CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS) – 3 Tackles, 2 Sacks

GAMES OF THE WEEK:

LES PETITES CAROTTES vs RICO RYDERS

SUPER TROOPERS vs IN N’ OUT (CAN’T VOTE ON MY OWN GAMES)

STEPBROTHERS vs THE WEST ISLAND HABIBIS

VICE CITY vs A-SQUAD

VULTURES vs RUDBOYZ

NIGHTHAWKS vs THUNDER BUDDIES

PREDICTION RECORD: 11-14-(1)

THE HOOLIGANS vs PACKING PACKERS

MACCABEES vs CHEZ BENNY EXPRESS

LES SACRIFIES 2 vs MACCABEES

BETWAY BANDITS vs WILD WEST WRANGLERS

PREDICTION RECORD: 26-11

That’s it for Week 5! We are well into the season now and are coming up to the midpoint at neck break pace! With all of the team breakdowns finished next week, I’ll be looking to fill the space with Power Rankings among other things. If there is an idea or upcoming milestone you might want me to write about/cover in my articles, don’t be a stranger, let me know! If you want to see more accurate info about your teams, your players, your rivalries – send them to me! Comments, Criticisms, and Concerns are welcome… unless it’s about my Capitalization of random words. I stand by them! Also, check out the new episode of Calling the Audible – the official FPF podcast – available on Youtube and …. Probably somewhere else too!