Tier 2: Football is back!!!!

Welcome to the start of a brand new FlagPlus Football season. I will be your weekly writer for Tier 2. Fall is pretty much here, and from college, to university, the CFL, touch leagues, FPF, and with the king of them all the NFL in full swing, football is back!

The start of a new season always brings about a new change or two in FPF, as the league tries to evolve and keep up with the ever-changing landscape of flag football.

The biggest change we are seeing is the shift from the Fall Cup to a regular season format. With that comes a jump from eight games to ten. I think it is safe to assume that everyone is happy with that, as more football is never a bad thing. Eight games never made any sense. Yes, the college and university seasons are in full gear, as are pee wee, bantam, and midget ball, but players, referees, and people adjust and the move to double-digit games was always the smart way to go. Better late than never on that one FPF.

Tier 2 has experienced some change as well, as this season it features more than a few teams who are jumping into the waters for the first time. Surprisingly, it also resulted in less teams competing (17 to 14) so that should mean more parity, at least on paper.

The top 12 teams make the playoffs, while two will be left on the outside looking in. I expect the battle for those last two spots to go down to the last week of the regular season.

Only five teams return from last fall, and they are Beer Belly Brigade, Arouch, The Infantry, Fins Up, and Kiss My Inlaws/Kiss My Outlaws. Several Division C teams jumped into the fray, as the defending champs Idaho Udapimps are in Tier 2, along with Backfield Penetration, Jagerbomb, Rico Ryders, and The Commission. Never Overtime, who played in Tier 1 this time last year, but in Div. C this past summer, are here too, along with some heavyweights in the Vultures, Les Monsieurs Chats, and a predominantly rookie squad in Shake & Bake.

Tier 2 doesn’t have a lot of teams, but this division is brimming with talent. There are top end Quarterbacks in Stephen Harripersaud, Simon Duchesne, Benjamin McMahon, Jules Regimbald, and William Power, as well as some QBs who are knocking on the doorstep in Alessandro Barazzoni, and Alexandre Fafard.       

The list of Receivers and Defensive Backs is equally impressive, with the likes of James Drysdale, Rory Semerjian, Jean-Felix Daloze, James Langshaw, Matthew Peacock, Quaysie Gordon-Maule, Sanders Armand, Mack Dessources, Marvin Steinberg, Nicholas Groppini, Olivier Claveau, Shanton Smith, Vincent Benjamin, David Centomo, Rhami Aboud, Justin Lerner, and Rocco Christiano among numerous other elite players.

The competition for Receiver, Two-Way, and Defensive Player of the Year awards will be a tight one.

Don’t worry Rushers, I didn’t forget about you. The list of elite Quarterback disrupters is short, as it is headlined by names such as Jeremie Lavoie-Patry, Ethan Adrian, Joey Notaro, Raffaele Morelli, and the best in the game in Isiah Allard. Will we see one of the less heralded names like Marc-Andre Reeves, Julien Proulx, Naz Dhillon, Alexandre Szalipszki, or Karim Madji and others, use this season to put their names with those listed above?

Recap

No Iggy, no problem, as Kiss My Inlaws now led by at Quarterback Stephen Harripersaud, started their Fall Season with wins over Jagerbomb and Arouch. The team’s new QB, looked like his usual dominant self, as he tossed nine touchdowns over the course of both games. There are some things to improve on as points were left on the field, but how much of that can be attributed to rust and the fact that the pivot is getting used to a group of Receivers he hasn’t thrown to on a regular basis?

No Quarterback, big problem for The Commission, as they got blown out by Beer Belly Brigade Sunday night in Chateauguay. TC looked a little better Thursday night in Laval against Shake & Bake, but defensive mistakes, mixed in with a late fill-in at QB in Jared Buck, ended how you would expect when a passer has no chemistry with his Receivers. Let’s see if the team can find a permanent pivot by their next game.

Idaho Udapimpms won the Division C championship, but their dominance didn’t end there, as they upgraded the roster, and looked impressive in their (38-26) win over Les Monsieurs Chats. The addition of playmakers in Andrew Grant, Jules Regimbald, and the criminally underrated Sam Anastasopoulos, make this team a legit threat to make it two trophies in a row.

Despite their setback, LMC, should not be taken lightly. This is basically the same Les Petites Carottes squad that made the Semi-Finals in Division C, and now they added Jean-François Marquis, Isiah Allard, and both David and Nicola Centomo. Yeah, they’re legitimate contenders.

In a game that was filled with turnovers, drops, missed throws, and a high level of rust by both teams, the Vultures squeezed out a (25-18) win over The Infantry Thursday night in Laval.

There were a lot of big names in the game as the Semerjian brothers, theDrysdale/ Donnet/McMahon family were on the field, along with impact players in Charles Olivier Vachon, Marc-André Lapointe, Armand, Adrain, and Gordon-Maule, but it was two rookies that really stood out to me, as Chris Thelasco and Felix Clairmont really stole the show by making big plays on defense to help their team get the win. Neither player had a sack or interception, but both made multiple tackles that helped stop big gains from happened, and they also provided air-tight coverage on some of the top Receivers in FPF, and each had a pass deflection on extra point attempts by their opponents. It’s only a one-game sample size, but it was a promising one for the duo. Let’s see if they can build on it.

Picks

Idaho Udapimps vs Beer Belly Brigade – Idaho Udapimps

Backfield Penetration vs Rico Ryders – Backfield Penetration

Shake & Bake vs Never Overtime – Never Overtime (Upset Special)

Fins Up vs Backfield Penetration – Fins Up (My pick for Game of the Week)

Kiss My Outlaws vs The Infantry – Kiss My Outlaws

Last Week: N/A

That is it for today. Good luck to everyone tonight and this week. It’s good to be back!

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, please feel free to contact me at [email protected], or on the FPF Facebook page.