Categories: Co-EdDivisionSpring

Upset Win Highlights Week 2 of Coed Action

Week two of coed action brought with it the season’s first upset. Last week, I unequivocally predicted that Yin & Yang would steamroll over Funtastic 9. Funtastic confronted me about that prediction after I finished scorekeeping a Johhny Firebal game. For those of you who don’t know, Johnny Fireball is Funtastic 9 minus the women and they play in division D. Anyway, after that game, I promised Funtastic 9 that I would write about their game if they upset Y&Y. Well, they did upset Y&Y and I am a man of my word, so stay tuned because Funtastic 9 vs Yin & Yang will feature in this week’s recap segment.

Before we go any further, I also wanted to mention that FPF will be making its debut appearance on the big screen on July 15th at the Scotiabank theatre downtown. Game of the Week guy Lance Daniel has created a documentary about his team’s championship run which will be aired in theatres. You can help support Lance and the FPF community by buying tickets to the premier here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/noregard-the-greatest-recreational-sports-story-ever-told-tickets-154582990887

 If you still need more convincing, you can find the documentary’s trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ip6gy3kAbiQ

With that being said, coed is already two weeks in so let’s jump into the thick of the article with our week two recaps.

Week 2 Recaps:

Party Mix (30) Fightin’ Tigers (26)

While I might have been wrong about my pick in the Yin & Yang vs Funtastic 9 game, I got this one spot one. I predicted that Francois Deslauriers would win the quarterback matchup and eventually the game and that is exactly what happened. Deslauriers threw for four touchdowns and one interception while the Tiger’s quarterback, Seth Galina threw for just as many touchdowns, but one more interception.

Apart from winning the quarterback duel, Party Mix also had the better women on the pitch. In coed, it is just about impossible to win if your women do not contribute. Luckily for Party Mix, they have some of the best women in all of coed. Leading that group of fearsome females is Emma Racine, who I think is amongst the best players in all of coed. This game, she led Party Mix in receptions with four and in yards with 40. Defensively, it was another woman who stepped up for Party Mix. Maude Racine recorded a team high six tackles and a key interception to help lead her team to victory. While Party Mix might not be the youngest team or have 90 rated players, they manage to keep on winning because of their experience and talented women. I talked last week about their game management skills. When you combine that with a roster that has been coming back year after year and some of the best women in the division, what you get is a smart team that is very hard to beat.

The Tigers clearly learned that this week. Even though Party Mix did not have someone to matchup against Jamie Ojeaha they still found a way to win. Despite Ojeaha being the most talented player on the field, he was held to five catches for forty yards. That in itself is a testament to the strength of Party Mix’s zone defence. I do not think this loss is necessarily a bad loss for the Tigers. They went head-to-head with one of the best teams in the division and nearly came out on top. That being said, if this team is going to win against the best in coed, Ojeaha will need to account for more then 40 yards of offence.

Yin & Yang (7) vs Funtastic 9 (19)

This result was frankly shocking to me. I do not think Funtastic is a bad team, but they do not have the same experience or talent as Yin & Yang. While they did pull off this major upset, I would still not class them as my favorites to win the division. I need to see some more signs of weakness from Y & Y before I would withdraw the title of favorites from them.

The biggest surprise in this game was that Justin Weir, the most successful coed 2 quarterback over the past few seasons, was held to less then 100 passing yards. On top of that, the normally elusive Weir did not get anymore done with his feet. He ran just twice for seven yards. I think that most of this was due to the phenomenal rushing of Felix D’Aoust. Getting a single sack on Weir is an impressive accomplishment. D’Aoust managed three. Over his FPF career, Weir has averaged over 10 yards per rush. In this game he averaged 3.5 yards per attempt. Funtastic might have found the solution to beating Y&Y: a great rusher.

As for Yin & Yang, this is certainly a game to forget. This team seems to be lacking a difference maker. While they have plenty of talented role players, they are missing that one player who can show up and singlehandedly take a over a game. The same applies for Y&Y defensively. They were not able to produce a single interception against a very average quarterback in Edouard Leroux. Leroux does not have a cannon of an arm and he does not have the most complicated play calling. All in all, with a decent defensive scheme and a few playmakers he is easy enough to intercept. The fact that Y&Y finished this game with zero interceptions speaks volumes to the quality of their defence. Thankfully for Y&Y, the coed division is not very deep this year and Funtastic 9 are likely the toughest opponents they face. Yin & Yang still have the most talented roster in the division and I am confident that they will be able to bounce back from this loss.

Week 2 Team of the Week:

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. Since this is coed, there will always be a minimum of two women on the offensive and defensive team of the week. When choosing the players for the team of the week, I do not consider the tier that the players are in. I only consider their achievements.

Offence

Quarterback: Sara Parker (3rd Down For What) 16 completions, 222 passing yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Jeremy Murphy (3rd Down For What) 4 receptions, 79 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Daniel Mareux (Fightin’ Tigers) 7 receptions, 51 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Jasmine Farmer (Power Rangers) 5 receptions, 38 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Philippe Leroux (Funtastic 9) 4 receptions, 50 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver:  Marc Antoine Dupéré (Les Semi-Croquants) 6 receptions, 61 receiving yards, 1 TD

Defence:

Rusher: Felix D’Aoust (Funtastic 9) 3 sacks

Defensive Back: Louis-Philip Thibodeau (Les Semi-Croquants) 2 tackles, 3 INTs, 1 defensive TD

Defensive Back: Laurie St-Pierre (Yin & Yang) 4 tackles, 1 INT

Defensive Back: Maude Racine (Party Mix) 6 tackles, 1 INT

Defensive Back: Quaid Johnson (Party Mix) 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 defensive TD

Defensive Back: Serge Pilon Jr. (Power Rangers) 5 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD

Week 3 Predictions

La Secte (0-2) vs Funtastic 9 (1-1)

Funtastic 9 are fresh off the biggest win of their season while La Secte are still looking for their first win. I think the biggest issue for La Secte in this game will be Funtastic’s rusher Felix D’Aoust. He was able to neutralize Justin Weir last week, so I am sure he will be able to do the same against La Secte’s Alyson Francillon this week. I am not sure if I see much of a path to victory for La Secte. Funtastic 9 have the ability to man up with La Secte across the board and they have the rusher to neutralize the run game. If La Secte want to keep this one close, they will need to slow down the game and avoid turnovers.

Prediction: Funtastic 9

Les Semi-Croquants (1-1) vs Party Mix (2-0)

Mariève Girard has gotten off to a fantastic start this season for Les Semi-Croquants. Through her first two games, she has posted a 104 passer rating and thrown for three touchdowns along the way. However, if her Semi-Croquants are to have any hope of beating Party Mix she will need to take her game to a whole new level. Unfortunately for Les Semi-Croquants, I do not think they have the second gear necessary to compete with a dominant coed 1 team like Party Mix. Party Mix simply have better athletes who have been playing together for longer. While this game might be closer than most expect, I see Party Mix winning.

Prediction: Party Mix

Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (0-2) vs Yin & Yang (1-1)

This is my early choice for next week’s game of the week. Even though Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce are a coed 1 team and Yin & Yang are fresh off the heals of an embarrassing loss, I think Y & Y have the talent to compete with SHCS. Ultimately, coed comes down to two things: who has the better women and who has the better quarterback. In this matchup, I think it is fairly clear that Y & Y have the better women. Laurie St-Pierre has been on a tear to start the season with five tackles, an interception and a defended pass in just two games. On the other hand, SHCS have the better quarterback. JF Marquis is amongst my favorite quarterbacks in all of coed. Simply put, he runs the ball better then Y & Y’s Justin Weir, he has a better arm and he has more experience. Ultimately, there is no position more important than quarterback so I see SHCS taking this one.

Prediction: Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

3rd Down For What (2-0) vs Fightin’ Tigers (0-2)

The Fightin’ Tigers got off to a rough start this season, and I do not think that things will get any easier for them this week then they face off against a very talented 3rd Down For What Team. To go back to the same comparison, I used for the SHCS vs Y & Y game, I think that 3DW win both the quarterback matchup and the women matchup. Sara Parker has a far better understanding of the coed division then the Fightin’ Tigers’ Seth Galina and I would go as far as to say that she has better arm strength and accuracy too. As for the women, simply put, 3DW have some of the very best female players in Canada. No team outside of Power Rangers can compete with their cast.

Prediction: 3rd Down For What

Another coed week is in the books. Heading into week three, I think the main story line is the race for first place in the coed 1 division. We have three teams, Party Mix, 3rd Down For What and Power Rangers all with a perfect 2-0 record. If my predictions stay true, none of those teams will lose in week three. That should setup a dramatic week 4 matchup between Party Mix and 3rd Down For What for control of the division.

Good luck to everyone this week and as always, feel free to reach me at [email protected] with any questions or comments about the article.