Week 1; here we go!

With the snow finally gone for good (I am going to ignore the little bit of flakes we saw earlier this week and pretend it never happened) and the Winter Season well in the rear-view mirror, let me welcome you to Week 1 of the FlagPlus Football Spring Season. I am Brent Bodkin, and I will be covering Division E for you guys this season.

For those of you guys new to this division, and/or to me, I will be giving you guys the 411 on Div E every week. In every article, I will highlight the top performances and in some cases, the worst, put on by you the players in a section of the article called Ball or Fall. For those of you who are not new to my articles, this will be somewhat similar to my High 5 and Step It Up sections from seasons past.

For those of you guys who hate change, not to worry, my Picks, and Match-ups section that I debuted last Winter Season in Division 6 will be returning.

I will also be bringing back my Power Rankings section. Just like last year though, I will wait a little bit to debut it, since I will need a few weeks to see everybody in action.

Last year’s Division E champs the Looney Goons are no more, so no matter what happens, we will crown a brand new champion this year. It’s kind of fitting that we will see a new king of the mountain, given that this season we will have an all-time high 24 teams competing for the right to be called the kings of Div E.

As is always the case every season, we have more than a few familiar teams coming back like Jean Guy, the Spartans, Victorious Secret, Smokin’ Axolotls, TDs and Beer, and even a revamped Tigers squad to name a few. Some of the new teams joining the fray are the Rolling Thunder, Gyr, Les Huards (unfortunately, neither Brock nor Damon are playing for the team).

As for Quarterbacks who are playing this season, we have a number of experienced vets who know what to do with the ball in their hands like Brad Evans, James D’Andrea, Jordan Rossie, and Rahul Mohan, We also got to see some young guns take charge in their first game, or in some cases, their first prolonged stretch under Center like Mathew Yanakoulias, Jean-Felix Daloze, and Michael Solimene.

As Week 1 showed us, with so many teams, there should be no shortage of action, great plays, and exciting football this campaign.

Speaking of Week 1, as we all know, no matter what division you play in, for some teams, there is bound to be a little rust after such a long layoff between seasons. For other teams, this is their first time playing together, so these next few weeks will be a learning experience. For the teams that struggled in their first game, shake it off. The season is long, don’t let a bump in the road knock you off course.

 

Let’s take a quick look at who Balled in Week 1

-Charles-Olivier Lavigne (Beastmode): he threw for 3 Tds, ran for one, and added one via a pick 6. The only thing he didn’t do was pull a Mr. Perfect and throw himself a TD pass.

-Michael Solimene (The Warriors): The FPF rookie had a phenomenal debut as he led his team to their first ever victory by torching Victorious Secret for 5 TDs on the way to an impressive 32-12 win. Let’s see what he does Monday night against a seemingly improved Goon Squad.

-Cedrick Jette-Lemay (Aliens): In 2 career FPF games heading into the season, Lemay had a total of 2 sacks. Obviously if you do the quick math, that averages out to a sack a game. Well, Lemay more than tripled his output last Sunday night against Dirty Mike n the Boys as he sacked their Quarterback Jordan Allard 6 times. I’ve played with and against Allard before, and I have to admit he’s pretty quick. Leamy however proved that he might be a little quicker. Let’s see if he can add to his impressive total this Sunday against the Rolling Thunder and their fast QB Jeremy Dee. In a somewhat related note, I really hope the the Rolling Thunder take care of their snapping issues, which really put them behind the 8-ball in Week 1.

-Justin Lerner (The RoadRunners): It’s pretty safe to say that Lerner was the Most Valuable Player of Week 1, as the 3rd year player led everybody in receiving yards (133), receiving touchdowns with 4, and interceptions with 3. Let’s see what he does this week against a tough and experienced TDs and Beer squad.

-Aliens: When you put up a shutout, you will always find yourself on the list. They beat Dirty Mike n the Boys 25-0, so they deserve a spot on here.

-Gabriel Beland-Lapointe (Les Huards): He only completed 7 passes, but 5 of them went for touchdowns in cluding 4 in the first half, in his team’s 31-13 win over Gronky Kong.

 

Naturally, the flip side of balling is falling…

-Rolling Thunder: I am not here to pick on teams, especially first year ones, but there is struggling, and than there’s what I witnessed Tuesday night in Brossard. Bad snaps, bad throws, dropped passes, blown assignments on defense, there was a lot to be seen, and a lot of it wasn’t pretty. Like I’ve been saying however, the season is young. Some of these mistakes are bound to happen. First thing’s first, make things easier on yourselves and develop a short passing game. Chucking the ball downfield every second play is a recipe for failure, especially when the throws aren’t all that accurate. Secondly, throw to both sides of the field. that’s football 101. Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, improve the snapping. Having your QB run backwards 5-10 yards on every play to catch the snap won’t help you at all.

-Dirty Mike n the Boys: Once again, I’m not here to pick on teams, but in an offensive driven league like this one, you should at least be abler to score 1 touchdown. Yes, their Quarterback Jordan Allard was trying out the position for the first time, but he is no slouch as an athlete. Step It Up boys. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

-Alex Grey (Suh-Tang Clan): This one applies for both the team and the player. For Grey, he threw 3 interceptions, was sacked 4 times, and didn’t put up any points on the board. The two points his team did manufacture came via a Trinity safety.

As far as the team is concerned, they have the likes of Justin Santillo, Michael Timmis, G.M Kolethras, and the aforementioned Grey. There’s no excuse for getting shut out on offense gentlemen. Step It Up!

-Emile Lamy (Jean Guy): As I watched his performance from the sideline Tuesday night, I felt like I a Quarterback who was playing in his first FPF game. inaccurate throws, bad decision-making, weak play-calling, Jean Guy’s offense was offensive. To his credit though, Lamy kept on fighting to the bitter end. Hopefully his game can match his spirit Tuesday night against the Tigers.

 

Match-ups

Jordan Rossie (Smokin Axolotls) versus Gabriel Beland-Lapointe (Les Huards)

After a average at best Winter Season as a Quarterback, Bleand-Lapointe came out with an ultra efficient performance to lead his team to a win over Gronky Kong. Let’s see if he can do it again against the veteran QB Rossie, who had a solid outing in his team’s 5 point loss to Les Bonhommes Jaunes.

 

Simon Laporte (Jean Guy) versus Rahul Mohan (Tigers)

Two of the fastest guys in Div. E lock horns Tuesday night in Brossard when these two face off. Will Laporte, who is without a shadow of a doubt the best rusher this division has ever seen, and the key behind a traditionally solid Jean Guy defense, have his hands full chasing down the shifty Mohan all game long?

 

Jeremy White and Charles-Olivier Lavigne (Beastmode) versus the Marquis Bros (Jean-Felix and Vincent) (Trinity)

White had a stellar FPF debut, as he had a game-high 6 catches for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns in his team’s 41-6 victory over the Periman Panthers Sunday night.
His teammate Lavigne, as I mentioned earlier had a solid night of his own. You would have to imagine the duo will be seeing a lot of Vincent and Jean-Felix Marquis this Sunday evening when Beastmode takes on Trinity.

 

The brothers who are in their second season after debuting with the Triple Sixers this past winter, had a nice debut week of their own as Vincent intercepted 2 passes, tied a game-high with 4 tackles, and caught a touchdown of his own, while his brother Jean-Fleix threw for 4 TDs.

 

Picks 

Aliens vs Rolling Thunder – Aliens

Gronky Kong vs Les Bonhommes Jaunes – Les Bonhommes Jaunes

Gyr vs Dirty Mike n the Boys – Gyr

Victoious Secret vs Super Troopers – Victorious Secret

Les Huards vs Smokin Axolotls – Les Huards

Trinity vs Beastmode – Beastmode (My pick for Game of the Week)

KRUSADERS vs Jagys & Chill – Jagys & Chill

Suh-Tang Clan vs Permian Panthers – Periman Panthers

Goon Squad vs The Warriors – The Warriors

The RoadRunners vs TDs and Beer – TDs and Beer (Upset Special)

Jean Guy vs Tigers – Tigers

Spartans vs FACE Jazz – Spartans

 

That’s it for this week, I will be back next Friday with a recap of this coming week’s games. Once again, if you find yourself on the losing end, don’t worry too much about it. This is the point of season, where building chemistry working on execution on both sides of the ball is the important thing. If you can take care of those two things, the wins will come.

Take care, see you next week!

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt that I left something out, feel free to contact me at [email protected]