The Wrath of Khan (Div A) – Week 11

What did I learn from last weekend’s playoffs? The Kingz looked lost without Rey Starwar. The Shockers are a determined bunch, out to prove everyone wrong. The Rainmakers simply were missing their knockout punch all season long. A key member of the Goodfellas roster might be missing this Sunday.

Quick Observations

If I am a member of the Kingz, I would have made sure that Rey Starwar was in uniform instead of trying to win the Asian Stanley Cup.

It seemed on Sunday, the Kingz were lacking the enthusiasm, motivation, and pep in their step that Starwar usually provides this team with. 

Clearly, the Kingz were very lucky to escape their five overtime victory over the Rainmakers. Especially since the Rainmakers had numerous chances to end their hopes.

To sum up the Triple Sixers’ loss to the Shockers, it looked like they were reindeer caught in headlights. Throughout the game, Karim Chaoual made some questionable throws, the receivers had too many drops, and they were emotionally out of it even before they were down 19-0 at halftime.

This was a great learning lesson for the Sixers as they continue on their trail towards the winter season.

Semifinal Preview

Kingz-Goodfellas

Round three of what has proven to be an intriguing battle this season. On paper, this is the ultimate David versus Goliath scenario. However, they split the season series with one win each. Now, who can take the all-important rubber match?

It seemed that the Goodfellas were confident that the Rainmakers would pull off the victory over the Kingz. But that did not happen.

So are they scared of the Kingz? I don’t think they should be. Physically, the Kingz do not have anyone imposing that could knock down the likes of Paul Lapierre or Ricky Martin.

But for the Goodfellas to be successful, they need to be just as patient as the Kingz. They cannot score too quickly, because the Kingz will look to maximize the play clock with their offensive possessions.

If the Goodfellas can stay patient, and be smart with their play calling, they have a great chance to win this game.

Can anyone stop Marc Champagnie? He is arguably the best two-way player in FPF right now. No matter where he is lined up on the football field, he will excel. If the Kingz allow him to catch the ball in the open field, forget about bringing him down, literally. 

Rest, and relaxation! The Goodfellas were physically spent at the end of the season due their mixed FPF and outdoor schedule. With their bye week in the rear view mirror, their batteries should be charged up for another battle.

For the Kingz to win this weekend, they will need a full team effort unlike, their performance against the Rainmakers.

For starters, they need to hold onto the football. Last weekend, it seemed the receivers were a step behind the football, or simply could not corral the ball into their hands. This could have cost them in the overtime sessions when they had a couple of drops, as well.

This is surprising, because on paper, they might not have God given talents with their physical abilities. But they possess a very high football IQ, which has won them a lot of games this season.

Holding onto the football will be awfully important, because of the attacking style the Goodfellas defense. On each play, the Kingz need to be the first team to touch the football. They need to be aggressive on each play. Even if that means getting dirty with the bigger opponent.

The Kingz will have to minimize the number of possessions in the entire game. They cannot get into a shootout. They simply do not have enough firepower to stretch the football field.

Finally, their defense will have to make plays. If there was one positive they had going for them last weekend, it was that their defense came up with huge stops when it mattered most. This week they will need to elevate their level of play even higher, against an angry Goodfellas team.

The final formula will consist of this: “Time of Possession + Timely Scoring = Win for the winning team”.

Shockers-Mercenaries

If there is one team the Mercenaries did not want to face, it might be the Shockers. From the last encounter, it seemed that the Mercenaries were battered, bruised, and mentally exhausted playing the defending champions.

For the Mercenaries to be successful this weekend, they will need Carmine Pollice to play out of this world. Pollice needs to take this game into his own hands and control the tempo. He has a solid supporting cast, but can they match his intensity?

Donald Shepherd can do so. He was one of the best centers in DA as he had 19-touchdowns for the season. To date, no one has been able to conjure a solution to stop him from getting into the endzone. If Pollice can use Shepherd to his advantage, it will be a long day for the Shockers defense.

The Mercenaries cannot fall into the trap of mind games with the Shockers. We all know they have very talented players in Matt Norzil, Jamil Springer, and Gino Di Fazio. But they will have to learn to walk away from any verbal confrontation they might encounter. The Shockers are notorious to get the best responses from an opponent.

For the Shockers to win, they will have to continue with their formula. “Tough defense + timely offensive plays = wins”. That has been their success in recent weeks, and now they have come to their biggest challenge, this weekend.

How will Kishon Thompson fare the second time around against the Mercenaries? Way back in week one, he was a last minute decision to play quarterback due to the then uncertainty of Kevin Wyeth being a Shocker. Nevertheless, the Shockers were able to pull off the victory over the Mercenaries.

Last weekend, against the Sixers, he managed the game well, At times he looked confident in his throws. But then, there were be some errant passes which made everyone remember he is not a true natural quarterback.

On Monday, Thompson, sent me a text message; “The only place that the Mercenaries are better than us by far is the QB position…everywhere else is gonna be a dog fight!!!” I am quite positive there was a vintage Thompson laugh that followed the text message.

Shockers need to use the big bodies of Sean Haney, and Akked Moore. If there is another advantage they have, it’s the size they possess on offense with these two players. Thompson will need to develop a playbook to incorporate both of these players. Haney is quite fast for his size.   

Gary Bloomfield will need to make life uneasy for Pollice. For all the accolades the Shockers defense has received this spring season. By far, Bloomfield has been the unheralded MVP for them. He has made huge plays from week 1 onward. As a result, the Shockers are partly here due to his willingness to essentially play out of position all season long.

Shockers will need to continue on with their Jedi mind games against the Mercenaries. Two weeks ago, even though they lost to the Mercenaries, they feel it worked to perfection as they got under the skin of their opponents. Will it transfer on to this weekend?

The final assessment is, this sets up to be a great battle between two solid teams, however, the team that makes the least unforced errors will win this game. 

Aftermath for the Rainmakers and Triple Sixers

To sum up the Rainmakers’ season, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. They started off slow, but finished off strong, and nearly pulled off an upset that would have sent a ripple-effect through the DA ranks.

Where do they go from here? They will be back in D1 next winter. This team is talented. But their downfall this spring season was a lack of continuity with their roster. There was too much turnover with new faces in the lineup.

Furthermore, they had injuries to their two big threats in Michael Chitiyat and Bobby Mikelberg. As a result, they didn’t have enough talented depth to replace the usual Div A stalwarts.

Ryan Kastner will need to shore up his depth, and hopefully his teammates do not suffer any serious injuries, otherwise, they have a solid nucleus to make a deep run next year.

From all indications from the conversation I had with Karim Chaoual, the Triple Sixers will be making their move up to D2. It is quite the jump for a team that was criticized for being the big fish in a small pond in the lower divisions.

But the ascension to D2 is certainly a leap of the faith from D4, given that they are skipping the middle step of playing in D3. Pat Jerome did win the D2 defensive player of the year. I am certain Chaoual, with his connections in the Quebec football community, will fill the roster with talented players.

I do suspect there will be some growing pains to start off in D2, but with time, they could become a good squad within the next two years.    

No Nate Taylor On Sunday Night?

From all indications from my chat with Goodfellas’ own Nathan Taylor. It seems that he will not be in the lineup on Sunday night.

This weekend is Caribana which is one of the biggest Caribbean events in Canada. If Taylor is not there for the Goodfellas, how big of a loss will he be?

The last time the Kingz played the Goodfellas, they didn’t have Marc Champagne and lost. Will the same result happen again if Taylor does not play this weekend? Hopefully for the Goodfellas, it won’t be the case.  

Percentages%

20%, that the one of the two games will go into overtime.

25%, that it will take a full half for Goodfellas to find their legs.

25%, that Rey Starwar will score a touchdown. No one covers the fifth best receiver on the field for the Kingz.

30%, there will be some sort of after the whistle confrontation between the Mercenaries and Shockers.