The Sarwar Report (D1) – Semi Finals

 

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO! Someone pinch me, because I think I might have been dreaming when I saw Express defeat the Montreal’s Finest to advance to the finals. Patrick Chénard is now known as the giant killer. For all those who were laughing at me when I put Patrick Chénard in the ALL-STARWAR SQUAD, look who has the last laugh now! Let’s try to forget for a second, although impossible, about his offensive performance last weekend and realize that even defensively, he had a crucial interception in the game. Gabriel Côté who is usually a quiet contributor, played well in this game and ended up silencing his opponents by catching the game winning touchdown. On the other side, Expos took care of the Rainmakers in a very close game. Ryan Kastner was no doormat in this game and proved he can play with the likes of Chad Byers, however, he came up just short. As a result, the Expos, with great efforts from the entire team, are going to the finals, when at one point in the season, were 0-4. This week and next are reserved for media and game film for both teams so there will be analysis. Regardless, congratulations to the Express and Expos for making it to the big dance!

 

The EX-Factors

 

EXpos and EXpress played some great football last weekend and accordingly, they’re both in the finals. Starting wit the Expos, they defeated the Rainmakers in a close one. Ryan Kastner played at the level of Chad Byers which proved me wrong. He didn’t throw an interception, completed close to 80% of this passes and was only sacked once. So the difference was an extra point or two. Chad Byers did what he had to do to win the game and his supporting cast followed suit. Now he’ll get a chance to showcase his talents on the ultimate stage of FPF for the first time.

 

As I already mentioned before, Express defeated the Montreal’s Finest on the last play of the game. Gabriel Côté was open in the back of the endzone and Patrick Chénard threw a perfect pass; the rest is history. The turning point was the offside penalty given to the Montreal’s Finest defense with two plays left. Mr. Moe Khan himself was not rushing, for whatever reason, and Zan Symonds (who replaced him) was flagged for being offside. That infraction brought Express closer to the end zone and gave them new life they desperately needed. I will always believe that had Moe Khan been the rusher the last few plays, the outcome could have been different but I guess we’ll never know!

 

In any case, congratulations to Expos and Express for making it to the finals. As for Montreal’s Finest and the Rainmakers, it was a great season but they’ll have to wait another year to have a chance at the Division 1 trophy. For the Montreal’s Finest, surely this is a great disappointment and hopefully they’ll have Kishon Thompson and Mike Harrington back healthy for 2011. For Rainmakers, being a couple of points being away from Division 1 finals shows they can play ball with the best of them. They played well all year long, made the playoffs as the third seed and put up a hell of a fight in the semifinals without arguably their most consistent player in Michael Chitayat. It won’t be long before we see them hoisting the Division 1 trophy.

 

 

Who Will Step Up?

 

Every Winter season we debate on which teams in Division 2 should move up to Division 1. Therefore I have decided to look at five Division 2 teams who are capable of making the jump up to Division 1 in Winter 2011 and what they’ll need to be successful.

 

Texas All-Stars

 

Strengths: The Texas All-Stars finished with a 9-1 record in a competitive Division 2 season. They have all the elements to be a successful Division 1 team with speed, route running, aggressiveness and play making abilities. They have a great QB in Benny Goodfriend, who has the ability to play at the Division 1 level (Division A finalist with Ruff Ryders of Happiness). Nathan Taylor has now played two seasons with Montreal’s Finest and has won one championship so he has the necessary experience to be a great leader for the team as well.

 

Must Improve: Their roster, although quite potent, is too small for Division 1. To be successful at the highest level, they will need 9-10 players on their roster but I am sure they’ll have no problem recruiting. A few possibilities are Mike Harrington, Rochdi Benabdelkader and a few others. Furthermore, they’ll have to be more organized because Division 1 is more competitive than ever so there is no room for sloppiness.

 

Result: If they can acquire the players mentioned above with a few more, they have a great shot of being an eventually dominant team, providing they stay composed and everyone is on the same page.

 

Shockers

 

Strengths: Michael McNair has already played Division 1 ball with the Hurricanes so he has the experience. What is more important is that he has built chemistry with the Shockers’ receivers. Andre Knights, similar to Nathan Taylor, has now played two seasons with Montreal’s Finest and won one championship. Plus he is probably one of the best two way players in FlagPlus Football and an excellent leader so he can definitely guide and lead his Shockers to the elite stage. Furthermore with supporting cast of Jon Young, Phil Cutler and Rick Cummins, they have added depth to their roster.

 

Must Improve: Although they have great chemistry, they will definitely need some help because a few players on the current roster aren’t Division 1 caliber. Additionally, they lose the services of Zan Symonds and Karim Binette. My suggestion would be to mix with some of the Hurricanes players because inside sources tell me, Michael McNair is close to the Hurricanes players. Therefore, if Shockers can grab a few of those players, they’ll have a strong enough roster to be competitive in Division 1.

 

Result: If they can merge with a few of the Hurricanes players namely Shane Williams, Jay Ulley and possibly even Tont Khoury and make be able to all mesh together, they have a legitimate shot at finishing at or above .500.

 

Click Clack

 

Strengths: Their biggest asset is that all their players are homegrown which means they don’t have to give up anyone to a higher division. Furthermore they’ve learned to play well together for many seasons and are in the Division 2 semifinals for a second straight season. Paul Kamel is playing his best football and it is scary because I still don’t think he has hit his full potential. The same can be said for Danny Gentile who had an excellent season and could hold his own in Division 1. Not to mention, they have the ability to run half back plays.

 

Must Improve: Besides Paul Kamel and George Papachristopoulos, there aren’t any big time playmakers. Given the fact the Wolverines will be returning to Division 2, they should reacquire the services of Nareg Yessayan, who will add depth to their roster and bring another element which is sorely needed for Division 1. Furthermore, he has played a few seasons in Division 1 so there is no doubt about his ability to perform at the elite level.

 

Result: It will be a tough adjustment for Danny Gentile because Division 1 is a bit faster however with his smarts, it won’t be too long before he gets comfortable especially with targets like Paul Kamel, George Papachristopoulos and Nareg Yessayan.

 

Mercenaries

 

Strengths: I was impressed with the Mercenaries roster this season because they had a lot of firepower and great team chemistry. On offense, Gino Di Fazio was the heart and soul of this team and unofficially finished second to Benny Goodfriend for the best QB. Donald Sheppard was solid at the snapper position, Carmine Pollice was contributing on both sides of the ball and Adi Sharma was doing his thing as usual on defense. In essence, they have all the right tools to compete at a higher level.

 

Must Improve: Gino Di Fazio has proven he can get it done at the Division 2 level but might find it tougher in Division 1 so perhaps a QB change might be evident if the first couple of games don’t go well. Furthermore most of the supporting cast did a good job but a better solution would be to grab a few players from the Ruff Ryders such as Paul Lapierre, Jason Prince, Jamal Pierre and Marc Champagne.

 

Result: I like this team a lot because there is a little bit of everything present. They will be a tough team to play against and will cause some serious damage by probably finishing a few games above .500.

 

Wolfpack

Stegnths: Pascal Murray has arguably been the best QB in division 2 over the last two combined seasons after struggling in his D1 days with the Yellow Jackets in 2008. The additions of Mikhail Davidson and Gracia Mwembo added youth and athleticism that this team greatly lacked in ‘08. Size is always an important factor in D1, with Alain Rousseau and Remi Pare, they have more than enough. Role players like snapper Alex Cavanaugh and sneaky-good Michel Carriere always get the job done when called upon also.

 

Weaknesses: They’re a very crafty team, but lack some firepower in their depth, and could possibly get exposed on defense against some better D1 opponents. Class-act Alain Rousseau already plays D1 with the Expos, but I’m sure his priority lies with the Wolfpack.

 

Result: This team might have no choice but to move to D1 if they want to keep their two young studs Davidson and (Fred) Rousseau, who are likely to be on the 2011 Ducks roster in D2. D1 is centered on QB play, and I feel that after two years under his belt in D2, Murray is ready to bounce back in D1 (remember he was not quarterbacking the Wolfpack in ’08 when he was asked to fill in at QB for the D1 Yellow Jackets).

 

 

Wildcard: Rick Nincheri. It seems the D1 standout still has the will and hunger to win another D1 championship. With the end of the Hurricanes here, will Rick look to join an existing team in D1, or will he possibly look to start a D1 run with a new group of guys.

 

Honorable Mention: The Renegades always have the possibility to jump up with the recruiting skills of captain Dale Williams. Serge Brousseau stepped in this season and performed admirably. The Ruff Ryders are an interesting team as well. They might have the top defense in all of FPF, including D1. But is Sophomore QB Paul Lapierre ready to make the jump to D1 yet? And even if he is, would his teammates prefer having a Benny Goodfriend or Gino Di Fazio as triggerman for them in D1?

 

 

 

It is important to keep in mind that the Winter 2010 Division 1 season was the strongest it has ever been because every team was competitive; need I remind you that 2 out of the 4 playoff spots were decided in the last week of regular season. Furthermore the Express defeated the Montreal’s Finest, so it further proves that Division 1 was highly competitive from top to bottom. Therefore with the Hurricanes folding, there will be only 5 teams returning next season. The ideal number of teams in Division 1 is eight so from the five teams I mentioned above, only three can make the jump up. However there will be many critics who will argue that by introducing more teams, the talent level will drop. The argument will be the only teams contending are the returnees while the rest will just try to compete.

 

I can tell you that those critics are absolutely wrong! Don’t forget that by removing Nathan Taylor, Andre Knights and Mike Harrington you’ve weakened Montreal’s Finest. Furthermore with Rochdi Benabdelkader and Paul Lapierre possibly jumping ship, the Expos will take a hit too. So already the top two Division 1 caliber teams in Winter 2010 (Montreal’s Finest 9-1 and Expos 5-4-1) will be a bit weaker and that will pave the way for a WELL-BALANCED Division 1 with eight strong and equally talented teams. So it definitely makes a lot of sense for three out of the five teams mentioned above to make the jump up and bring back the parity in Division 1 while also having more than six teams. It does take most teams a year or so to adjust to the jump up. Let’s give the Express credit, they jumped up after winning D2 in 2008, albeit after a mediocre regular season, and two seasons later, they were able to knock off Montreal’s Finest! Great job guys.

 

——

 

A reminder that there are only two articles left so that means STAR-AWARDS categories will be announced next week and winners the week after. Also I’ll have a detailed breakdown for the finals between Expos and Express next week. That’s it for this week’s column. As usual if you have any comments/suggestions, email me at [email protected]. I leave you with the following quote:

 

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-victorious.” – Vince Lombardi