Wednesday Night Recap – Laval Edition

Wednesday Night Recaps – Laval Edition

KGP vs. Easy Jake Oven

If you asked Jake Applebaum, he would tell you that the post-holiday rust was a real thing. Put simply, he just didn’t look like the Easy Jake that we’re all used to and never seemed to be able to take advantage of the speed of his team and the larger Laval field. KGP looked to get in trouble early in the game with a first play sack by AJ Rashkovan but Phil Cutler got them out of trouble with a 21 yard completion on 4th down to keep the drive going. After another long pass to Julien Paiement, Cutler found Mathieu Lepage in the front corner of the endzone to go up 7-0.

One name that everybody in Division 3 and under should get used to is Noah Groper. He is probably one of the most underrated players in the division and he was able to sneak behind the KGP defense early in the game to give EJO their first points. It didn’t take long for KGP to answer and Julien Paiement was able to score up the middle of the field to stretch the lead.

The lone bright spot for Easy Jake Oven was Noah Groper who scored his second touchdown of the game on the next drive. The key play in the drive for Applebaum was finding DonnDre Borden on the left side of the field and Borden made an absolute fantastic catch over the defender. If you were watching, you’d expect the ball to be intercepted but Borden simply got up higher than the defender. Sadly, though, these would be the last few hightlights for Easy Jake Oven as KGP kept control for the rest of the game.

Cutler would intercept Applebaum in two straight drives, with the second one being a pick-6 and that would be it. Cutler and his crew would seize control over the game and they never let up in the second half. For Applebaum, the weapons are there and he’ll need to learn to use them quickly so that they don’t fall too behind in the playoff race. KGP have been together for long enough and they didn’t quite show the same kind of rust. Coming off a championship has never looked so good.

The Crew vs. Jagerbomb

Field 1 at 10pm saw a defensive showcase and Ryan Kharouf’s inaugural game with Jagerbomb. When you consider their name, you’d think they would have a little bit more green on their jerseys. Side note, way too many teams seem to be using black jerseys so far this season and I’ll be forced to wash the pinnies more than ever.

Never a good sign either way when both QBs threw for less than 100 yards (worse in Laval), but it’s tough to say whether that’s because both teams are figuring themselves out now or because both defenses have far more experience playing together than the other side of the ball. The Crew’s first drive of the game finished on a missed 4th and long conversion, and Ryan Kharouf threw his interception on his own first drive. Not the start that either team was looking for.

On The Crew’s second drive, they just couldn’t get the ball past the first down marker and came up 2 yards short, turning the ball over in their own territory. Perfect opportunity squabbled for Jagerbomb who couldn’t convert with the short field and The Crew took advantage, finally giving us the game’s first points on a 14 yard catch and run by Samuel Nadon. 6-0 for The Crew.

Ryan Kharouf finally put together a nice-looking drive and finished it off with a solid pass to Vincent Benjamin, who should be his favorite target all season long. Jagerbomb were then able to hold off a score before the end of the first half. The game continued to stay incredibly tight and the throwing lanes were few and far in between. Jagerbomb were able to score once more but we saw the timing off overall on both sides and a lot of bad balls. It’s tough to evaluate both of these teams as they have a few big names on both sides, but nothing seemed to click very well this week.

Loups vs. Bearskins

Welcome to the league, Loups. Your first game was no walk in the park and the not so quiet confidence you showed early and throughout the game may have to wait until you get a win or two under your belt. They are very clearly an athletic group and Emile Skaf was a much better quarterback than I expected, usually seeing him only play with the Warriors. He has a group of talented receivers with him and they’ll continue to improve as the season goes on. I liked what I saw especially from Darren Wiltshire and Jeff Carpentier who should be his big playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Speaking of Wiltshire, he helped the team start off extremely confident and scored a 40 yard touchdown on the second play of the game. Hyped isn’t even the word, les Loups we’re feelin’ themselves. Unfortunately for them, it would be the only points that they scored on Wednesday night. The Bearskins, led by the usual crew of Marco Bertoldi, Neil and Ryan Etinson with additions like the well known Vince Nardone and lesser known Nolan Becker, look to be a contender for the Division 3 crown. Neil didn’t have a great first half throwing the ball but put together a much better second half and it looks like he has plenty of weapons for the season. If you’re reading this, keep an eye out for the unknown Becker – he’s a big, athletic guy who can do a lot of damage for this team.

Neil spread the ball around well, missing Bertoldi twice in the first half that could have been easy walk in touchdowns, but other than that, found the rest of his offense for scores. 4 guys managed to score for Bearskins and it proves that once again, you can be the older more experienced team and maybe slightly less athletic, but still dominate.

I’m looking forward to seeing if Bearskins can keep this up and just how much les Loups can improve. It was nice to get a glimpse as I get to square off with them this week.

Space Apes vs. Wolfpack

I have a few questions. Don’t get me wrong because they’re both awesome players and even better guys, but what are the likes  of Jean-Felix Daloze and Terry Babalis doing in Division 6? And on the same team!? Crazy. They have my pick for early season favorite, and they made things look relatively easy against another experienced team in Wolfpack. It’s the first time I got to see Nelson Pereira play quarterback and he did well and put his team in the best possible position.

That said, Babalis made things incredibly difficult on him, forcing a punt early with a sack on their first drive and this would also cause problems later in the game when he called deeper routes in an effort to fuel the comeback. Louis-Mathieu Dufour took advantage and spread the ball around. I know I mentioned Babalis and Daloze, but two of the better players on the night were Guillaume Dagher and Kemba Katchelewa, who is an absolute beast, especially for division 6. He basically mossed his defender for the first touchdown of the night.

After back to back interceptions, Wolfpack started to drive the field and eventually scored their first points of the night on a 5 yard pass from Pereira to his best weapon, Antoine Huynh. Space Apes felt the presence of Babalis on the offensive side of the ball on their next drive, and after forcing a punt, started to take control of the game.

Wolfpack impressed me in this game but ultimately were no match for a slightly over powered Space Apes team. I haven’t seen many of the Division 6 teams, but I could picture these guys beating a few of the Division 5 teams so I only imagine they should go pretty far in the lower Division. Time will tell.