Categories: DivisionDivision ADivision BMen'sSpring

Week 1 Recap: Streaks Are Made to be Broken

Six.

Of the eight Div A/B games that took place this past week, that’s how many were decided by seven points or less. Among those were offensive shoot-outs and defensive struggles; game-sealing goal line stands and game-winning touchdown passes; wild upsets and second-half comebacks; controversial calls and, well, more controversial calls. Basically, Week 1 offered a little something for everyone. Kind of like that gelato stand I went to in Rome the other day. Except, having bought a small cup for 4 euros, I’m not so sure I got my money’s worth… But I digress.

Recap

A Specktacular Win

Legends’ first-ever Div A game was a QB duel, pure and simple. Legends QB Corey Pecker looked plenty comfortable throwing the ball to a roster featuring Shawn Haney, Carmine Pollice and Aleksander Papich in place of his usual trio of Robbie Pecker, Dave Chitayat and Ryan Lelinowski. Meanwhile, Maniax QB Rapha Beladjat was sharp as ever, finishing with a pristine 6-0 in the TD-INT department.

But this battle will be most remembered for its ending: with a couple plays left and down 40-41, Beladjat tossed a bomb down the left sideline intended for Jean-Richard Verger, who came down with it for what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown – only for Verger to be called for offensive pass interference on Haney on the play. It was a controversial call, if only due to the fact that in the first half Verger thought he himself was interfered with when Pollice appeared to knock him down on an extra point attempt. But in the end Maniax were left fuming and Legends walked away victorious. I’m already looking forward to Part II five weeks from now.

 

Pulled a Fast One on ‘Em

The word “fast” is no longer in the team’s name, but 6+R were just quick enough to steal a win from under Darksiders’ noses last Sunday. It was a game marred by sloppy offense, with both 6+R QB Fred Viens and Darksiders’ Fred Morissette struggling to get into a rhythm for most of the night. It came down to execution in the end: facing goal-to-go situations on two separate occasions, Darksiders managed to find the endzone on just one attempt, while making just one of four conversions.

On the other side, 6+R made plays when they mattered most, notably moving the chains on 4th and short in Darksiders territory while down 25-19 late in the second half. 6+R went on score on that drive and tack on the conversion to go up by one. Darksiders couldn’t respond, and that was the game.

A bitter loss for Darksiders no doubt, but they have plenty reason to be excited for the season going forward, especially considering Peeze may have finally found the solid rusher his teams have so desperately lacked in seasons past. Jonathan Lyristis finished the night with two sacks and countless other pressures on Viens, all while adding two long-bomb TD grabs and a short one on a slant on offense. There’s a reason this guy was a 2015 Hall of Fame candidate.     

 

41-1

First, congratulations are in order. It’s not every day a team ends a 41-game winning streak. I said in my preseason article that Roosters & Donkeys were the team with the best chance to beat the Finest, and not only did they beat the Finest – they beat them soundly. Don’t let the 32-26 final score fool you – this was a two-score affair right up until the game’s final moments. R&D were in control for much of the night, rolling on all cylinders and making key 3rd and 4th down conversions. The Finest on the other hand looked nothing like the Finest we’ve come to know, with the offense notably looking out of sync as Kevin Wyeth threw two uncharacteristic picks in the first half alone (to give you an idea of how crazy that is, that’s the number of INTs Wyeth threw in the entire regular season last spring).

Now, it must be mentioned that this game came after Wyeth threw all weekend long at a touch football tournament, essentially playing his sixth game in three days on Monday night. For some that might provide an excuse for the Finest’s first loss in years. Others will argue that there is no excuse. I’ll let you form your own opinions, but I will say this though: the season is far from over. Don’t crown R&D champions already or count out the Finest just yet – there’s still tons of football left to be played.

 

Players of the Week

Division A

QB – François Lebeau (Gladiateurs): 17/29 for 253 yards, 8 TDs, 0 INTs. Sure, Pat Jérome was on the receiving end for half of those touchdowns. But those passes didn’t throw themselves. Monster day for Lebeau.

WR – Patrick Jérome (Gladiateurs): 5 catches for 135 yards, 4 TDs. Can’t say I’m all that surprised; just another day at the office for Jérome. 

D – Garrett Taylor (Montreal’s Finest): 1 tackle, 2 INTs. It’s not too often that Marco Masciotra gets intercepted – let alone multiple times in a single game by the same DB. Great individual effort by Taylor in an otherwise forgettable performance for the Finest as a whole.

 

Division B

QB – Tony Tabet (Wolverines): 26/36 for 204 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT. Solid numbers of course, but Tabet also gets a little bonus credit for rallying the troops back from a two-score deficit.

WR – Ryan Aridi (Monstars): 4 catches for 74 yards and 3 TDs. Sacking QBs isn’t all Ryan uses his hands for—they also serve him pretty well when his number is called in the huddle.

D – Rod Mashtoub (Monstars): 1 tackle, 3 INTs, 2 PDs. Three picks and two more batted passes in a single game is pretty darn impressive (even if the opposing QB is Simon Dagenais).  

 

Power Rankings

Division A

  1. Roosters & Donkeys (1-0) /+1/: When was the last time you saw a team not named Finest atop anyone’s Power Rankings? The Finest will get their chance at revenge in Week 6, but for now at least the glory is all R&D’s.
  2. Montreal’s Finest (0-1) /-1/: One loss doesn’t discredit 41 consecutive wins. That is all.
  3. Gladiateurs (1-0) /+1/: François Lebeau + Pat Jérome = win.
  4. Legends (1-0) /+1/: Pecker put up six TDs to just one INT throwing to mostly new weapons on offense. I can only imagine the numbers he’ll be putting up weeks from now when he’s built a rapport with them.
  5. Rainmakers (0-1) /-2/: This fall has a lot more to do with the four teams ahead of Rainmakers rather than Rainmakers themselves. I have a feeling they’ll climb back up in due time.
  6. Maniax (0-1) /–/: If Rapha Beladjat can throw the ball like he did last week for the rest of the season, the wins should be coming along very soon.

 

Division B

  1. Predators (1-0) /–/: It wasn’t the blowout I expected, but they took care of business nonetheless.
  2. Wolverines (1-0) /+2/: That they needed a second-half comeback against a team I thought they should’ve handled easily is worrisome. Then again, the fact they came back to win is a much more reassuring sign than if they had lost.
  3. 6+R (1-0) /–/: No Dan Lazzara at QB means no Fred Viens at receiver, but that doesn’t mean this team can’t win in Division B. That said, the offense will need to get in sync soon or close wins like last week’s will turn into heartbreaking losses rather quickly.
  4. Broccasion (1-0) /+1/: I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of Cutler2Brophy this season. Just a hunch.  
  5. BearSkins (0-1) /-3/: For a team coming off an undefeated record in Div 3 just a few months ago, that was a pretty underwhelming Week 1 performance from Neil Etinson and the BearSkins offense.
  6. Darksiders (0-1) /–/: An inch here or there and they’d be 1-0. The talent is there; all that’s missing is the execution.
  7. Monstars (1-0) /+1/: They won, yes, but they only pulled away in the game’s final minutes, and did so against arguably the weakest team at this stage. I still need more proof they belong in this division before ranking them higher.
  8. Raiders (0-1) /-1/: They came up just short against my top-ranked team. The road only gets easier from here.
  9. The Commission (0-1) /+1/: They had the lead and simply couldn’t hold on. They start winning those games and the only place for them to go is up.
  10. Lightweight (0-1) /-1/: Wrong routes leading to INTs thrown on offense, miscommunication leading to TDs given up on defense – in a word, this team is dysfunctional right now. The good thing is that there’s still loads of time to right the ship.

 

Random Thoughts

-player watch: Scott Charles. With two catches for 24 yards and two TDs this past week, the Maniax receiver already has matched his total number of receptions from last winter, and eclipsed both his number of receiving yards (7) and TDs (1) – and that was in 10 games. A wideout “built like Vernon Davis” in the words of Moe Khan, it’ll be interesting to see whether this performance was a fluke or the beginning of a break-out season of sorts for Charles.  

-to the person that bet Kevin Wyeth would have, after one week, thrown the fewest TDs (4), the most INTs (3), the fewest yards per pass attempt (5.6) and held the lowest QB rating (68.2) in Div A, congratulations, here’s your imaginary cookie. Because you don’t exist. Because there’s no way in hell anyone could’ve predicted that. 

-Apparently, Week 1 saw more history made as Matt Kirouac logged his first-ever sack of Kevin Wyeth. I like to imagine he traded flag belts with Wyeth after the game, went home and hung it up over his fireplace.

-After spending a week in Italy, I’ll never complain about Montreal drivers ever again. I miss you, Montreal drivers.

 

Picks of the Week

I went 4/7 in Week 1 for a percentage rate of 57%. You know, that’s actually a passing grade in the French university grading system.  

Division A

Maniax vs. Roosters & Donkeys: Maniax had the skill but not the luck to win against the new kids on the block last week. They’ll need both if they hope to beat the top team in Div A this week. Even then, I just don’t see it. If Maniax struggled against a team that competed in Div B last year, it’s hard to believe they can manage to beat the team that just took down the Finest.

Legends vs. Gladiateurs: There’s a whiff of upset floating in the air, but I can’t bring myself to make the pick. Cory Pecker’s patience and “take what the defense gives you” mentality neutralizes the threat of Pat Jérome snagging long passes out of the air on defense, but the Glads have some serious quick-strike ability. I’ll side with the proven Div A winners in this one.   

Rainmakers vs. Montreal’s Finest: The Finest have always seemed to have Rainmakers’ number, and I see no reason to predict that trend to end.    

 

Division B

Broccasion vs. 6+R (N/A)

Lightweight vs. The Commission: If this game took place seven, eight weeks down the line I’d feel a lot more comfortable picking Lightweight. But after last week’s disaster, it seems like they’ll need a bit more time before they work together as a single unit. Meanwhile TC are coming off a bit of a moral victory last week; I think they ride that wave en route to a victory that counts this week.  

Monstars vs. Predators: Monstars had it easy last week against a group playing its first game as a team. Things will be a lot different this time. In particular, those fly patterns Rod Mashtoub loves to throw will be more likely to hit nobody or Predator hands than his own receivers’, especially with Vinny Gualano and Kendal Mayers back there. Couple that with a Predators offense that really should be able to score at will, and this one has Preds win written all over it.

BearSkins vs. Wolverines: Consider it my upset pick of the week. I think the BearSkins D has the size, speed, and overall athleticism to make things very difficult for Tony Tabet. It will depend on which BearSkins offense shows up though. If it’s the one that led the team to 10-0 last season, this result isn’t all that far-fetched. 

Darksiders vs. Raiders: I think this game will essentially come down to who wins between Darkside rusher John Lyristis and QB Leon Holder. If Leon is able to shake off Lyristis and buy enough time to find his receivers downfield, there should be TDs aplenty to go around for the Raiders offense. If instead Lyristis is able to keep Leon from getting outside the pocket, this one should be Darksiders’ for the taking. I think there’s a bigger chance of the latter happening.  

 

***

That’s it for me today. If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the first episode of the Div A/B podcast “The Sack Exchange” with Moe Khan and Matt Kirouac on the FPF YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcgY27lmVJmaDkVP98fJSYA. You can tune in to Moe and Matt’s podcast live every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at the same link. And of course you can always reach me on Twitter @JBlanchFPF or by email at [email protected]. ‘Till next week!