Tip Top Shape make a statement; and the INT king is back

If you blinked, you missed it. Week 3 is in the books, and we are only one week away from the mid-point of the season. Due to the occasion, next week’s article will be a bit different. For those of you who are new to the league, or to my column, I will bring back my Mid-Season All-Star Awards. In it, I will give you my picks for best Quarterback, Wide Receiver, Two-Way Player, Rusher, and Team at the midway point this season. The article I did last Winter and Spring season was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of feedback before and after I revealed my selections. F.Y.I, I usually don’t take bribes, but if your offer is creative enough, I just might consider it.

Before we get there however, let’s get to a quick re-cap of last week’s action.

Last time out, I picked the Ravens vs Tip Top Shape as my choice for Game of the Week. Despite the Ravens scoring two TDs in the 2nd half, this game was over by halftime, as Tip Top Shape jumped out to an early 20-0 lead and never looked back.

In last week’s article I also talked how Ravens Wide-Receiver, Marc-Antoine Vallee, was making his case for Mid-Season WR of the year, as he led D6 in both yards and touchdowns. After the dust settled, Tip Top Shape who I also said had the best defense in the division, showed exactly why, as they mopped the floor with their opponents, and completely shut down Vallee, as he didn’t catch a single pass. In talking to T.T.S snapper Marc Belhomme after the game, he said, and I quote: “We swallowed up Vallee. I actually forgot he was even playing in the game.” Big shots fired by the FPF veteran, but the proof is in the pudding.

Luckily for all of us, these two teams both play in Conference A. Tip Top Shape sits in first place, while the Ravens are tied with Sabrfc for 8th. The latter teams actually face each other tomorrow night at 7 in Brossard, in what should be a highly-contested affair. Needless to say, the matchup we witnessed last Saturday could just be a Round 1-playoff matchup between both squads. For now however, T.T.S made a huge statement both on and off the field.

Another team throwing their names into the hat for best defense is Jean Guy. While I, as well as other members of the FPF media staff, give rusher extraordinaire Simon Laporte his due, it is the JG defense as a whole that has played lights out so far this season. Even with Laporte struggling a little bit by his lofty standards, (Trust me, I’m well aware that 5 sacks in 3 games is impressive, but this is the pass rush king we are talking about) the D, led by familiar faces Kien Pieton and Carl Doyon, and new member Jeremy Cloutier, has more than picked up the slack. In 3 games so far, they have only given up an astonishing 20 points. Yes, they haven’t played a murder’s row of teams, but 20 points is still 20 points. What makes that even more impressive, is the fact that they are doing it without all that much help from their offense, who besides putting up 31 against the Bricksquad in Week 1, have failed to score more than 2 TDs in their following two games. Good job gentlemen.

The Smokin’ Axolotls finally got their first win of the season, with a 39-12 win over the Trojans. The Rossie connection that a lot of people including yours truly expected a lot from this year, finally delivered, as Jordan threw for 4 TDs, 2 of which went to his brother Jason. Jordan also ran for a TD and picked off a pass from Trojans’ QB Marc-Antoine Douillard as well (more on him later). Also helping the cause on the defensive end was two-way player Joseph Sifakis. His 2 INTs, one of which was returned for a pick 6… (yes more on him later as well) not only frustrated the Trojans’ offense, in particular Douillard, but it really set the tone for the game. Let’s see if the Smokin’ Axolotls can keep the ball rolling when they take on the Spartans this Sunday at 9 in Lachine.

Speaking of the Spartans, they finally got their first check in the W column as well this past week, with a 34-18 win over Team Laval. The Spartans tore apart the Team Laval defense with dynamic duo of Andrew Grant (one of my favorite players to cover in D6 last Winter) and Alexis Bessette who put his name into the conversation for my Offensive Rookie of the year. Both WRs combined for 7 catches for 167 yards and 5 TDs. They also rode the strong pass rush of Charles-David Martel who put up a week-high 4 sacks. His pressure against a very good Team Laval QB in Samuel Saumure made a huge difference, as the pivot seemed to not have any rhythm, and really struggling all evening. Hats off to the Spartans.

Top 3

James D’Andrea (Spartans) – With the exception of his playoff game last Spring Season as a member of Loyalty, where he threw 6 TDs in a Divisional Round loss to Flight of the Conchords, D’Andrea had the game of his life this past Sunday, as he threw for 5 TD passes and surprisingly outduelled opposing QB Samuel Saumure. D’Andrea only completed 8 passes, but he made every one of them count. I picked Team Laval in the game, and I was definitely wrong on that one.

Georges Elie-Voyer (Diablos) – For the rest of the season, or until he stops making huge plays, I am going to call Georges Elie-Voyer the momentum thief. I stood on the sidelines in awe Wednesday night at Stade Hebert, as I witnessed him make back breaking play after back breaking play for his team against the Sabrfc. Whether it was toasting the opposing secondary for a TD, or coming up with an INT right in time to stop a promising drive in its tracks, the momentum thief was all over the field, and he was unstoppable. He even opened up things for his teammates including snapper Michael Deguire who was killing the Sabrfc defense underneath with hook and out routes.

Erik Ciaccia (Fourth And Twenty) – Another dominating performance right here, as Ciaccia was a one man wrecking crew Wednesday night against the Nighthawks. The long armed Receiver caught everything thrown in his direction. Jump balls, corner routes, and go routes for touchdowns, and quick slants for conversions and first downs, it seemed like Ciaccia was a vacuum. What makes his performance even more impressive, is the fact that he is also his team’s rusher. Most guys would be sucking air after having to go both ways, fuill-time, let alone rushing; the second year player didn’t blink, and added 4 TDs, a sack, two batted passes, and a tackle to boot. Impressive indeed.

Honorable Mention:

Brad Evans (TDs and Beer) Yes, he and his team were playing a Goon Squad that has yet to find its footing, but 7 TDs is still 7 TDs. The same goes for their defense that picked off G.S QB Mubshar Mohammco (more on him in a bit) 6 times.

After this week’s game against the Trojans, the schedule gets a lot tougher for TDs and Beer, as from Week 5 to Week 9 they face the Smokin’ Axolotls, Diablos, Ravens, Tip Top Shape, and Jean Guy. Enjoy the softer schedule while you can.

Charles-David Martel (Spartans) I won’t repeat what I wrote above, but his 4-sack performance really helped propel his squad to the upset over Team Laval, and more importantly, went a long way to helping them capture their first win. Don’t look now, but Martel has 5 sacks. That’s the same amount as Simon Laporte. I am just saying…

Step It Up

Diablos – As hard as it is to rain on someone’s parade after they win a game (unless of course you play for the Mercenaries in D3) I have to do that to the Diablos who tried SOOOOO hard to lose or even have their game with the Sabrfc end in a tie. Let me give you the brief explanation. Up by 2, with 4 plays left and in possession of the ball, instead of just throwing the ball at the feet of his WRs and ending the game, Diablos QB Francois Martin decides to run 4 actual plays. Here is what happened: a sack which puts the ball at the 3 yard line, an incomplete pass that almost gets picked off, a 1-yard run, and finally another incomplete pass (on a bobbled snap in the endzone) that was purposely thrown away. Now, Francois is a veteran in this league, and is a smart player, but that series was not what I call very good game management. They almost got caught for a safety on 2 of the 4 plays, and almost threw a pick that would have been 1 missed tackle away from giving their opponents the lead. That’s football 101. Step it up Diablos, you guys got VERY lucky.

Max Marini (Sabrfc) – After going toe to toe with Brad Evans and arguably outperforming him in Week 1, and then looking good in his team’s Week 2 win over the Smokin’ Axolotls, Marini looked pedestrian Wednesday night against the Diablos. In all honesty, besides the aforementioned pick by the Diablos’ Elie-Voyer, and a couple of big plays by Vincent Lajoie and Benoit Millette, Marini would have to bear the poor fate of his squad. While Marini is extremely fast, and more than capable of keeping plays alive with his feet, his vision is limiting his full potential at QB. As is the case with many run-first QBs in any level of football, Marini makes his first read, and then looks to run, and not always even in that order. His constant rollouts buy his WRs time to get open, but Marini cuts off half the field in the process, and becomes way too predictable as he tries to go back to the same play too often. During his team’s final drive, in which they were down by 2, I counted at least 1, and sometimes multiple WRs open on each play. On the final play of the game, he ignored a completely wide open Rahul Mohan at the left front pylon, and threw back across his body to the middle of the field to a player who wasn’t fully open. While Mohan did drop a wide open pass on the right sideline on the previous drive, the throw to him on the final play would have been the higher percentage throw because Marini was also rolling to his left. Hopefully, the super-athletic Marini will step it up and learn from his mistakes.

Mubshar Mohammco (Goon Squad) – After leading his team to an upset win the previous week over the Spartans, Mohammco, the FPF rookie, came crashing back down to earth hard, as he went 8 of 28 for 90 yards, with 1 TD pass, and a Jake Delhomme-like 6 picks. Sorry my man, but you know the formula.

Matchups

Marc-Antoine Vallee (Ravens) vs Mickey Marini (Sabrfc) – Both guys are coming off of a loss, and they both should be mad about it. Two of the most talented two-way players in all of D6. What more can you ask for? This one should be nasty.

Jean Guy vs CMS Laval – I know this is cheating a bit here, I am really intrigued by this one. As I stated earlier, despite an amazing defense, Jean Guy can’t really score. With the exception of their Week 2 showdown with the N.W.O, CMS Laval has only scored against subpar defenses, but they have a ball-hawking defense that has already put up 5 INTs. Which offense will give their team the push it needs? We’ll find out Monday night at Stade Hebert.

Georges Elie-Voyer (Diablos) vs Maxime Turpin-Lalonde (Team Laval) – This has big matchup written all over. After eating the Sabrfc defense alive, Elie-Voyer plays against Mr. INT Maxime Turpin-Lalonde (he had 9 last Winter Season as a member of Beast Mode) in his first game of the season this past week against the Spartans, Turpin-Lalonde recorded a pick. If they end up matching up against each other tis Monday night, it will be a battle worth seeing.

Picks

Sabrfc vs Ravens – Ravens

TDs and Beer vs Trojans – TDs and Beer

Smokin’ Axolotls vs Spartans – Smokin’ Axolotls

Bricksquad vs n.W.o. – N.W.O

Gronky Kong vs Nighthawks – Nighthawks

Tip Top Shape vs Goon Squad – Tip Top Shape

Jean Guy vs CMS Laval – *(upset special) CMS Laval

PB n’ Jelly vs Victorious Secret – PB n’ Jelly

Diablos vs Team Laval – Diablos

Gamecocks vs Fourth and Twenty – Gamecocks *(My pick for Game of the Week. I have a feeling about this one)

Last Week: 5 out of 10

Season: 10 out of 20 (Don’t worry guys I am just as disappointed as you are about my horrible start to the season. This time last year I was killing it. The season has just begun however, have hope. I know I’ll turn this around.)

That’s it for this week! Be sure to tune into Division 6’s weekly podcast ‘Super Flag Bros’ featuring Peeze, David and Antonio. You can stream it live between 7:00 pm and 7:30 pm every Thursday, or watch it at your convenience afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/flagplus

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt I left something out, don’t be shy. You can shoot me a tweet at @BADNEWS51.