Time for Championship Weekend in FPF Junior

The first week of the junior playoffs is on the books and we have already seen a few surprises. The first surprise was the Crimson Tide losing in the first round to the Raiders. I was sure that the Tide, led by Kaelan Trepanier were going to be title contenders. However, they continued to struggle and that was ultimately what cost them their playoff lives. On the other hand, the Raiders showed off once again their tremendous offence. Riley Element continued to impress with his five touchdowns and his 235 passing yards. The Raiders have an extremely talented quarterback and receivers but what they are lacking is a shutdown defence. The entire team has only managed 7 interceptions this season and 5 sacks. If the Raiders want to be competitive, they need to start finding a way to create turnovers and pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Playoff Analysis:

Atom: The final is set for Atom. The Bears are going to face Flight School 5 in the final we all expected. Flight School 5 clinched their ticket to the final with an impressive 34-0 win over the Jaguars. The key to Flight School’s victory was spreading the ball. Four different receivers managed a catch. Even more notably, Flight School managed to have five different players run the ball. The fact that they kept the opposition guessing as to who was going to catch or run the ball opened up the game and allowed Flight School 5 to rack up the points. The Bears took a slightly less conventional approach to victory. Despite passing for only 16 yards, 73 yards less than their opponents, they scored two more scores than their opponents. One key score came from Elijah Raffoul who ran an interception back for a score. Harley Minzberg also continued to dazzle with another strong showing as a ball carrier. He ran the ball three times for 50 yards a score.

The final between Flight School 5 and the Bears should be an interesting one. Flight School relies on their players to generate yards after the catch. While the ball may only travel a short distance in the air, they have been able to tally yards after the catch thanks to shifty players like Jordel Springer. On the other hand, the Bears are a very well-rounded team. While they may not have the superstars Flight School have, they have no weak links in their defence. If the Bears can find a way to make their tackles and limit Flight School’s yards after the catch, I don’t see why they can’t win this game.

Mosquito: The Mosquito division was host to the biggest upset of the weekend. Most expected Flight School 3 to soar to victory in this division but their championship quest was stopped short in the semi-finals. Flight School 3 did pass for more yards than their opponents but what ultimately made the difference was the fact that they threw two more interceptions. Those two interceptions by the Vikings defence gave them two more possessions than their opponents and ultimately made the difference in this game. When you couple those extra interceptions with the efficient and flawless play of Vikings QB Kevyn De Serres-Payne, you can understand how the Vikings managed to upset Flight School 3. The second semi-final pitted the slumping McCaig Gladiators against the Hurricanes. After their performance in week 8, I wasn’t sure if the Gladiators were going to be competitive in this game. However, they did more than just be competitive. They took the game to the Hurricanes and managed an impressive 14-12 win. Two receivers got the job done for the Gladiators. Noah Swaninadhan was the leading target with six receptions for an impressive 58 yards as well as a score. Despite two fewer receptions, Luca Fonsato also managed a touchdown as well as 50 receiving yards of his own. The Hurricanes might have struggled a bit offensively, but it was their defence that kept them close. Damian Moustache-Cumberbatch was a devastating force. His six tackles on their own would have been an impressive feat. However, he did not stop there, Damian Moustache-Cumberbatch also managed two defended passes and an interception that he ran back for six. The Vikings win and the Gladiators win sets the stage for a very interesting final between these two teams. The two teams only confrontation during the regular season was in week 7 and it was the Vikings who won that game. The Gladiators explained that loss as an off day from their QB Kingston Paquet. What if that win was more than an exception? What if the Vikings have Kingston Paquet’s number? The Gladiators certainly hope they don’t. We will see next Sunday when these two teams meet for the finals in Kirkland.

Pee-Wee: There’s really not much new in Pee-Wee. The only game that happened this weekend was the consolation final between the Black Cougars and the Jaguars which the Cougars handily won. Despite an average season, the Black Cougars finished their season on a high note with a 30-6 win. Jerome Beaudoin had by far his best performance of the season with five receptions for 62 yards and two scores. Ben Li also had a career night with his three catches for 40 yards. For the Jaguars, it was once again Phoenix Thomas who stole the show. With his two catches for 45 yards, Phoenix Thomas was his team’s leading receiver for yet another week. Lawrence Brassard also had a good showing with three catches for 27 yards and his team’s only score. After a slow start to the season, Lawrence Brassard has established himself as not only one of the best receivers for the Jaguars but one of the best receivers in all of Mosquito. It was a shame not to see either of these teams have the season they wanted but there are plenty of lessons to take from this season. Each team improved considerably over the last 8 weeks and if they do come back next year, they will be better and more experienced units.

Bantam: I was lucky enough to see all three of the Bantam semi-finals. I know what all you math geniuses are going to say: three semi-finals doesn’t make sense. There were two semi-final games to see who would play in the final and one semi-final to see who would meet the Islanders in the consolation final. In the first game I saw, Flight School 1 clinched their place in the finals with a dominant 44-0 nothing win over the Rebels. While you may think I would have very little bad to say about Flight School 1 after such a convincing win, I do have a few comments. We all know how good Trey Bentley is and how dominant Koliah Bagordo is as a receiver but instead of singing their praises, let’s take a look at what Flight School 1 does less well. In the semi-finals, they only completed nine passes. Granted, seven of those passes were for touchdowns but they still did not show any ability to move the ball systematically down the field by throwing the short hooks and slants. I’m sure that Flight School 1’s coaches and players will dismiss that criticism by saying they have the talent to complete short passes, but they simply choose to go for the long bomb. However, let’s look at their track record on conversions. They did not attempt a single 1-point convert. Is that because they preferred to go for 2 or because they know they cannot convert in short-yardage situations? Out of the seven 2 point converts they attempted, they only converted one. In my opinion, Flight School 1 is masking their inability to complete short passes with their long-bomb approach. This weekend may be the perfect chance to prove me wrong. Flight School 1 are facing off against an experienced North Shore team. If North Shore are smart, they will take away the long ball and force Flight School to march down the field. This will show Flight School 1’s true colors. Are they able to play smart and methodical football? Or do they live and die by the 40-yard touchdown? I have thrown the gauntlet down, prove me wrong Flight School 1. I know you are reading this Jamil, show me what you can do without that long ball when you face North Shore in the final this Sunday.

Midget: I started my article off by talking about the Crimson Tide and how surprised I was to see them go out in the first round because I considered them to be title contenders. Clearly, the Tide were not championship material but what about the team that beat them? The Raiders most definitely have a championship level offence, the numbers don’t lie. But what about their defence? They have had struggles stopping their opponents all season. Next Saturday, their only chance of advancing past the mighty Nittany Lions will be to improve their defence performance. The Lions led by Noah Lachance have been lethal this season. However, they are not perfect. Noah Lachance tends to pick one receiver a game. Most of his passes will then be directed to that target. Against less talented teams, he can get away with this. However, in the playoffs, his opponents are sure to clue in to this tendency. If the Lions are to make it out of the semis and eventually win it all, Noah Lachance will need to use all of his receivers. The other semi-final is already on the books. The Tigers won a closely fought affair against the Titans. While none of the facets of the Tigers’ play were dominant, they were all just enough to get the job done. Justin Schwartz had a respectable outing with 133 passing yards and two scores. He did throw one interception though. Their defence also did just enough. They held their talented opponents to just 21 points and also managed a pick-six to secure the win. While the Tigers played well in the semis, no matter who they face in the finals, they will need an excellent game if they want to finish their season by hoisting a trophy.

There you have it, the Winter 2019 season of FPF Junior is nearly history. All we have left is one final weekend of action where our five division champions will be crowned. In addition to taking in the Saturday action at Loyola, I will also be making my way out to Stade Hebert on Sunday to scorekeep three of the finals.

See you this weekend and best of luck to all!