Playoffs baby.

It’s been 10 weeks. Everyone signed up a few months ago with the hopes of going all the way. Out of 26 teams in Division C, only 16 are now qualified. I’d like to take a moment to thank La Sauce, Gotham Knights, TOPSZN, Killa Beez, Evolution, Varennes, Brunch Buddies, Keyport Lock, Les Blues Branleurs and Warhawks for their participation; this season would NOT be the same without you guys.

For the 16 teams remaining, the real season begins. This is where things become interesting. Go get it.

Let’s get started.

 

Week 10

 

To see spots come down the wire is exactly what FPF is all about. I’m really thrilled to see how excited certain players were about the last few games in Tuesday. There’s nothing I love more to see guys from other teams travel to Brossard to see the action in person.

 

Thoughts of the Week

 

• This week’s article features the very last of many of my segments. Power Rankings, Players of the Week, Fantasy Football is all over as the playoffs begin. It was fun, really. I enjoyed it probably more than most of you.
• You know she’s crazy when she announces the amount of time you’ve been together in days and it’s 3 digits long.
• It’s been two weeks now and I still do not know what an Assiette Casso could be. I went to this ghetto casse-croûte out of town and they offered both an Assiette and a Burger Casso. It’s been 2 weeks; I’m still clueless and intrigued. It’s obviously food poisoning, but…
• I see you Sean Avraam.
• Broccasion’s last drive against Gotham Knights was special. A pure hope crusher.
• It sucks to see a team forfeit after such a nice playoff push, but at least they were decent enough to let us know ahead of time. Kudos to them for that.
• I’ve said it before; No Name’s defense is good. It showed this week against NFZ.
• In one of those “must win” game, MVE and Brunch Buddies played flat. Weird way to finish a season.
• Warhawks finally looked like themselves in back to back weeks. Sadly, it was the last two that didn’t matter anymore.
• The nightmare is over for Evolution. No jabs at them, they battled for 10 weeks.
• Talk about spreading the love on that BearSkins’ offense huh!
• I find it kinda boring how there’s very little “previous matchups” in this week’s playoff games.

 

Players of the Week

 

• Sean Avraam (The Commission): 6 TDs and no picks is pretty good by itself, but going 22/22 is simply retarded. Well done, Sean.
• Yoni Lehrer (Keyport Lock): Okay, this is just plain dumb. 21 catches (yes, that’s the new record), 178 yards and 6 TDs. I do not understand how a defense can let that happen.
• Matthew Rupcic (Stockton Slap): Rupcic knew his team needed him on defense and he showed up big with the hat trick (3 picks). He also scored on offense, so there’s that too.
• Kevin Smuda (Coyotes): In the absence of the other key offensive pieces, Smuda saw his amount of targets sky rocket and dominated most of the night for 110 yards and 3 TDs. He’s one tough dude to cover.

 

Recaps

 

• In their last game of the season, Eskimo Brothers took on Coyotes in what turned out to be a must-win for them or La Sauce would’ve knocked them out of the playoffs. Well, Eskimo Brothers came to play against a Josh Feder and Andrew Langburt-less Coyotes and it showed. Sammy Feder overfed Kevin Smuda and struggled when he was forced to go elsewhere whereas Zach Stachowski found his groove in the second half as they put up a stomping 31 (it does include a pick-six) on their opponents. For the first time this season, Feder looked unraveled trying to make plays where none should have tried and Eskimo Brothers took control of the game without even having the lead (they were down 24-12 at half!). There is very little doubt Coyotes would love the rematch at full squad whereas Eskimo Brothers are proud of their accomplishment and will need to keep this momemtum going into the playoffs.
• Broccasion managed to fight off a very hungry Gotham Knights in what seems to be the season definer for Gotham Knights. In fact, they end up on the outside looking after suffering more than one of these losses this season. With a chance at getting the W so close at hand, Gotham Knights were up by 7 and quite confident in their ability to, once again, stop Kristian Cerantola’s offense. Guess again. As we’ve seen him do more than once over the years, he led Broccasion’s offense down the field and scored the best way he knows how. After getting the 2point convert, up by 1, and handing the ball over with only one play left, Broccasion were licking their lips at how savoring this win felt over a devastated Gotham Knights who really believed they’d pull up the upset this late in the season.
• TOPSZN knew they were already out of playoff contention, but that’s no reason to not show up and play as that’s exactly what they did giving Top Sauce a scare early in the first half. With guys like Kevin Donnet and Kyle Santana making plays, TOPSZN were only down 5 after a frustrating drive to end the first quarter. Sadly, second half of the game went in a completely different way as one of Lonnie Johnson’s passes were deflected off GM Kolethras’ hands into Vince Nardone’s for six and Top Sauce took a very reassuring lead to seal the deal. Although Nardone did throw a weird interception, his offense looked pretty good as pretty much every single player had an impact (yes, I see you GM).
• Show me Your TDs took the field without Julien Bellavance on Sunday night and looked quite confident in their ability to dismantle La Sauce who can’t seem to show up on time and ready to play. Regardless, Francois Raymond got there JUST IN TIME to take the first snap (the referees were very kind with the time there) and got his offense moving in the right direction. Cory Kennedy was also late to the game, but did manage to have an impact with 2 TDs and a pick as Mike Addona simply struggled most of the night to understand what he was facing and how he could counter it. As advertised, SMYTDs weren’t all worried about the game as they’ve already clinched and La Sauce finished the season on a high note. Sounds like a win/win to me.
• In a coin-toss game, The Commission refused to be knocked out of the playoffs and kept faith in their own hand as MVE allowed Sean Avraam to have a perfect game (22 passes for 22 completions. Quite the feat) and knock them on their bums. With a convincing win 40-13, The Commission looked more than battle ready for the playoffs as MVE’s offense simply couldn’t get anything going most of the night. Sure, Vincent Lauzon continued to dominate, but Gabriel Côté simply couldn’t do much more than hit his playmaker and his offense went nowhere fast. Aside from one sack from Michael Claxton, MVE’s defense looked nothing like the team we’ve grown them to know and it’s the kind of performance you’d much rather have in week 10 than week 11. We’ll just have to wait and see how they’ll bounce back from all this.

 

Power Rankings

 

1. No Fly Zone (9-1-0): First overall.
2. Top Sauce (8-1-1): After doubting them, they showed up big and clinched first seed. Color me impressed.
3. No Big Deal (8-1-1): Their offense scores very often and their defense is a real unsung hero. I’ve been saying it for a while, but these guys are actually a big deal.
4. Coyotes (8-2-0): Suffered a tough loss in the absence of both Andrew Langburt and Josh Feder, but a loss’ a loss boys.
5. Former Tomahawk (8-2-0): Great way to finish the season boys. Awesome 2nd seed.
6. Honey Badgers (7-2-1): They won a close one in what was pretty much a playoff-caliber game. HB could go far this postseason.
7. Broccasion (6-3-1): I’ve said it before, but that last drive was special. Good comeback win.
8. Stockton Slap (6-4-0): Have they finally got over their slump?
9. Show me Your TDs (6-3-0): An ugly loss that didn’t really matter. We’ll see what kind of SMYTDs shows up with everything on the line this week.
10. BearSkins (6-4-0): With a tough matchup ahead of them, BearSkins won’t have any freebies. They’ve done it before, let’s see if they can repeat.

 

 

FlagPlus Fantasy Football

 

The final week of Fantasy football saw two FPF veterans go at each other for braggin’ rights and delicious rhum. Although Sean Avraam gave it a good run, Vince Nardone simply kicked it into another gear and scored THE MOST POINTS not only of the season, but that I’ve seen in this fantasy format in a long time.

Here’s the breakdown of last week’s results:

 

	Vince	Points Scored	Sean	Points Scored
QB	Rich Humes (No Fly Zone)	27.07	Vince Nardone (Top Sauce)	22.8
Snapper	Yoni Lehrer (Keyport Lock)	65.6	Alexandre Provencher-Rivest (Gotham Knights)	10
WR	Vincent Lauzon (MVE)	25.6	Vinny Gualano  (No Fly Zone)	17
WR	Aleksander Papich (BearSkins)	13	Josh Feder (Coyotes)	0
WR	Anthony Addona (Show me Your TDs)	5.4	Julien Bellavance  (Show me Your TDs)	0
WR	Jonathan Grizzley (No Name)	21	Juwan Edghill (Brunch Buddies)	34.8
Rusher	Alec Cerantola (Broccasion)	15	Kevin Marcil (La Sauce)	0
Defense	Varennes	17.83	BearSkins	28.17
Total		190.5		112.77

 

Last week’s MVP: Yoni Lehrer (Keyport Lock)

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in FlagPlus Fantasy Football this season. It was fun, it was loved and it will be back next season!

 

Playoffs Standings

 

Names in bold: Teams that clinched a playoff berth.

Names strikethrough: Already eliminated from the playoff race

*next to name: Clinched division title.

 

1	Top Sauce*	10	17	8	[4-1-1]	216		1	No Fly Zone*	10	18	9	[51-0]	196
2	Honey Badgers*	10	15	7	[3-1-1]	248		2	Former Tomahawk*	10	16	8	[4-1-0]	232
3	Coyotes	10	16	8	[4-2-0]	250		3	No Big Deal	10	17	8	[6-0-0]	195
4	Broccasion	10	13	6	[3-1-1]	200		4	Stockton Slap	10	12	6	[4-1-0]	291
5	Show me Your TDs	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	197		5	BearSkins	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	220
6	Jagerbomb	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	282		6	The Commission	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	230
7	Eskimo Brothers	10	11	5	[4-1-1]	254		7	No Name	10	12	6	[3-3-0]	243
8	69ers	10	11	5	[3-2-0]	295		8	MVE	10	10	5	[2-3-0]	263
9	La Sauce	10	10	5	[3-3-0]	261		9	Varennes	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	246
10	Gotham Knights	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	241		10	Brunch Buddies	10	8	4	[1-5-0]	295
11	TOPSZN	10	4	2	[1-5-0]	344		11	Keyport Lock	10	4	2	[2-4-0]	321
12	Killa Beez	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	341		12	Les Blues Branleurs	10	2	1	[0-6-0]	365
13	Evolution	10	0	0	[0-6-0]	346		13	Warhawks	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	384

 

Quick notes:

• Congratulations to Top Sauce for clinching the first seed.
• Coyotes “fell” from grace to the 3rd Worry not, it’s still pretty good.
• La Sauce managed to win their matchup and create opportunities, but Eskimo Brothers clinched the spot first over one of the biggest upset of the week. Sucks to be on the outside looking in huh.
• Brunch Buddies failed to overcome No Big Deal and the 8th With a loss from Varennes, MVE’s game became irrelevant and they saved face clinching the 8th seed.
• Varennes fielded a strange roster on Tuesday night and saw their game become the last of their season after a tough loss to Stockton Slap.
• No Name fell hard, but still made playoffs as the 7th
• Stockton Slap managed to regain a good seeding after a disastrous 2nd half of the season and finished 4th in their conference.
• As expected, No Fly Zone finishes first overall.
• Former Tomahawk surprised more than one team and clinched a division title and the 2nd seed in Conference B

 

Season Awards

 

•  Quarterback of the Year

#7 – Sammy Feder – Coyotes

2187 YDS  55 TD  5 INT  70.5%  124.3 QBR

 

•  Receiver of the Year

#7 – Vincent Lauzon – MVE

54 REC  714 YDS  16 TD

 

• Defensive Player of the Year

#80 – Andrew Langburt – Coyotes

32 TKL  7 INT  12 PD  2 TD

 

• Two-Way Player of the Year

#88 – Justin McLean – Top Sauce

42 REC  781  YDS  21 TD / 24 TKL  5 INT  9 PD

 

 

Playoff Matchups

 

• Top Sauce (1st) vs 69ers (8th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: 69ers have grown into a serious playoff team somehow. Every season, 69ers have an above average rating without necessarily standing out of the crowd and making noise, yet, they keep battling their way through the playoffs and upsetting high seeds. Maybe they live for it? Regardless, it’s probably one of the worse teams to face as a 8th seed for many reasons. With guys like Enrico Tulino finally emerging as a shutdown corner in Division C and the duo of Dylan Drake rushing+Dean Demetriou safety, 69ers bolster a daunting defense. Their offense might not be the flashy style people love to watch, but do not underestimate Demetriou’s arm NOR his receivers ability when the game’s on the line.

Top Sauce is, pretty much, the exact opposite. With only one playoff appearance (and what a crash and burn THAT was), it’s tough to define these guys in the postseason. Sure, they’ve had success individually, but the core hasn’t (small sample size, I KNOW). Vince Nardone has the receiving corps he NEEDS to succeed and push his team to the next level, but can he keep his cool and not crack like he did this Winter? He has the talent (not just his receivers, but himself as a QB) and we all know how good of a defense Top Sauce has grown into, but it’ll really come down to whether or not they can play interception-free football.

Strangely enough, this is the type of game that will look much more like Tackle than FPF; it’ll be played out on field positioning and who controls the pace of the game. There will be stops, there will be frustrating moments, but it’s one thing to throw a stupid pick on a 2nd down and another to punt on 4th down. If 69ers control the pace, they’ll come out on top; it’s what they do best. If Nardone and co. can take control away from them (with players like Maxime Verna-Gagné, Chris Milard, Justin McLean it’s a very executable scenario), they’ll cruise to a comfortable lead in the 2nd half.

Key matchups: Dylan Drake vs Vince Nardone, Dean Demetriou vs Justin McLean

Prediction: 31 – 28 Top Sauce

 

• Coyotes (3rd) vs Jagerbomb (6th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: I had something for this initially, but the game was, sadly, forfeited. It would’ve been a fantastic game if both rosters were full and healthy, but it’s not the case so we could only speculate at this point. Good luck to all the players involved moving on!

Key matchups: —-

Prediction: 30-0 Coyotes

 

• Broccasion (4th) vs Show me Your TDs (5th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Show me Your TDs are a very dominant squad when all pieces are around for Mike Addona to execute his plan. They’ve pushed themselves to a solid 6-4 record, but we saw flaws when guys like Julien Bellavance, Luis Villafuerte or even George Elie-Voyer were missing. With Kevin Lubin no longer part of the roster, SMYTDs took a small blow, but it’s something they can easily manage with just how stacked these guys really are. Mike Addona LOVES to rely on his brother, Anthony, to stretch the field and move the chains, but Julien Bellavance is really where it’s at when there are points to be scored. Take any of these two away and we see things like last week’s struggle.

Broccasion have grown into a solid defensive core, but their offense can’t seem to get things together and perform to their very own high standards. We’d think that Kristian Cerantola should have better success with such ridiculous players around him, but he tends to struggle regardless, somehow. One drive, he’ll look like he’s part of the best and the following one, he’ll throw a stupid interception we all know he instantly regrets. I hate to say it, but he needs to step it up if Broccasion wants to make it past the first round. He has the guys around him, he has the defense (including himself too) to make it happen. I have faith in these guys.

When it’s all said and done, we’ll be discussing how amazing the matchups were all across the board. To see guys like Kyle Lebofsky cover Julien Bellavance and Johnathon Louis cover Anthony Addona should be a thing of beauty (on both sides of the ball too). I expect both QBs to have games they’ll be proud of and their receivers to bail them out when they really need them too. Regardless of how talented these defenses are; this will turn out into a high-scoring affair. Expect the first turnover to turn tides and put this one to bed. It will also come late in the game.

Key matchups: Anthony Addona vs Johnathon Louis, Luis Villafuerte vs Kristian Cerantola

Prediction: 38 – 33 Show me Your TDs

 

• Honey Badgers (2nd) vs Eskimo Brothers (7th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Honey Badgers have the kind of roster most people look at and wonder how they fit in our current division. With players like Doug McKernan, Jordan Moses, Dilan Daoust, Jeremy Anderson, Liam Gilmore, they have very little to worry about if ONE guy has a bad game. Their offense is exactly what we love to watch in FPF; high-octane that can kill you with drags and slants as well and go deep and score in an instant. With so many playmakers, it’s no wonder their defense is feared in Division C. They’ve also managed to fight off their recent slump and should be all oiled up and ready for the playoffs.

Eskimo Brothers have high very impressive nights and some not-so-impressive ones. Overall, when these guys are on, they turn heads. With players like Shawn Steen, Corey Oliver, Trevor Ruffner and Chris Cione, there’s no reason Zach Stachowski’s offense isn’t scoring 35+ weekly. Their defense tends to give away points as they learn to adapt to their opponents and play MUCH better in the second half. With last week’s upset over Coyotes, there’s no reason to doubt Eskimo Brothers nor their momemtum going into these playoffs.

There will be matchups to exploit and matchups to steer away from; it’s time to see what these QBs have learnt over the season and who they’ll turn to when the game stands tall. Both defenses will create turnovers, both offense will perform when it matters most, but I think it’ll come down to how efficient these two teams can be on converts and who’ll create a margin overtime.

Key matchups: Trevor Ruffner vs Dilan Daoust, Shawn Steen vs Jordan Moses

Prediction: 34 – 31 Honey Badgers

 

• No Fly Zone (1st) vs MVE (8th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: MVE introduced us to Vincent Lauzon this season. Sure, he played before, but he never made THIS MUCH of an impact on a team before. After winning Receiver of the Year, Lauzon will look to keep doing damage in the playoffs as MVE advanced as the 8th seed. Gabriel Côté continues to have a pretty good season under season (aside from a few hiccups) and will look to feed his playmaker in Laurent Foucault’s absence this season. With guys like Derek Daoust, Johnny Paradis-Wilson and Michael Claxton at his disposal (and let’s not forget his ability to run with ease), he should be more than enough able to move the chains and punch it in.

No Fly Zone has grown into an absolutely monstruous defense that doesn’t allow much and turns the ball over SO DAMN MUCH. With guys like Eddy Martinez, Vinny Gualano, Rich Humes, Steve Sanner and Kevin St-Pierre at rush, it’s basically the best roster on paper in the division and they’re playing like it. Aside from one bad night from Rich Humes at QB, these guys have looked unstoppable out there. It’s tough to imagine bagging a L when your defense gets you 3 pick / game. Nonetheless, Rich Humes has had some pretty impressive games offensively and there’s no reason to doubt his ability under center.

Unless someone else steps up and make plays for MVE, No Fly Zone will adjust to Vincent Lauzon’s dominance and take him away in the 2nd half. It’s simple, Gabriel Côté will NEED to spread the ball and force man coverage to be able to feed Lauzon the way he has otherwise it’ll turn into a bloodbath out there. Michael Claxton should be able to disrupt Rich Humes in the pocket and allow his defense to make plays, but it’ll come down to guys like Johnny Paradis-Wilson and Jovan Cober to make plays defensively if they want to stay in this game.

Key matchups: Vincent Lauzon vs NFZ’s plethora of DBs, Kevin St-Pierre vs Gabriel Côté

Prediction: 34 – 20 No Fly Zone

 

• No Big Deal (3rd) vs The Commission (6th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: No Big Deal’s defense doesn’t get enough credit for how dominant they are with everybody out there. With guys like Jordan McLaren, Dustin White, Josh White, Zach Goldstein, Daniel Farag and Marty Freedman, there’s very little doubt on how tough it is to score on these guys. On top of that, Jake Applebaum built himself an offense very tough to matchup against and learnt to use them properly to propel his team to a 8-1-1 record after a little hiccup week 1. I know first hand how difficult it is to try to stop them AND try to score on them.

The Commission took some time to get going as Sean Avraam hasn’t played QB in a few seasons and some of the guys took breaks between seasons, but they’ve finally found their groove and had an astonishing Week 10 game where, well, their offense was basically perfect. With players like Keeshon Mayers, Jordan Allard and Eddy Lee making plays day in and day out, TC has elevated their game in the second half of the season to bolster a 6-4 record sitting pretty as the 6th seed.

In a game that will be much closer than most people expect, I can see Sean Avraam struggling a bit, but so will Jake Applebaum. This won’t be a race to 40, but more like a paced game where the last possession might be the dagger. Although No Big Deal could simply feed Jordan McLaren forever, I can foresee Adam Rockman and Dustin White finishing the night with much more impressive stats.

Key matchups: Eddy Lee vs Dustin White, Keeshon Mayers vs Adam Rockman

Prediction: 26 – 20 No Big Deal

 

• Stockton Slap (4th) vs BearSkins (5th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: What a season it has been for Stockton Slap. After starting the season red-hot, they’ve hit a MAJOR slump and couldn’t seem to get anything going. Joey Taylor found his rhythm once again and his offense finally started putting up more than one TD per game to take some pressure off the defense. With guys like Matthew Rupcic, Brent Callender, Sami Beg and Yacoub Telemaque, there’s very little doubt in how cohesive and talented this core really is.

BearSkins have had ups, have had downs, but overall has been pretty solid this season. With guys like Neil Etinson, Marco Bertoldi, Alex Sepasi and Aleksander Papich, there’s something to be afraid off at any given point. Their offense isn’t always striking gold, but we’ve grown used to Etinson’s ability to stretch out plays and find his guys for big gains and their defense takes the big plays away forcing opponents to grind the clock which usually ends up in their favor, somehow.

With a more dink and dunk offense, Stockton Slap might face a tough time trying to move the chains against a gritty and physical defense like Bearskins. On the flip side, Stockton Slap has the ideal defense to counter most of BearSkins plays (anything other than the deep throw to Papich). If Stockton Slap can find a way to take away that one single play they rely upon, they might emerge victorious, otherwise it’ll sting more than once and rough them up the wrong way as they’ll spiral down late in the 2nd half.

Key matchups: Brent Callender vs Marco Bertoldi, Matthew Rupcic vs Aleksander Papich

Prediction: 33 – 26 BearSkins

 

• Former Tomahawk (2nd) vs No Name (7th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Former Tomahawk have grown into a serious contender in Division C although I still feel like I’ve kept them under the radar somehow. Their offense creates plays every drive and James Goulet is quickly turning into a pretty solid QB for the division. With playmakers like Jean-Francois Marquis, Francis Maheu, Mathieu Cauchon and the now playoff eligible Corey Greenaway, there’s very little doubt in their ability to push themselves towards a great playoff run.

No Name hit the ground running early this season after a great 6-1 record start, but have been slumping recently to finish at 6-4 and the 7th seed. Regardless, they’ve clinched playoff and from here, it’s all that really matters. This defense doesn’t get enough credit for the work it’s been doing and just how efficient they are against any given opponents. Guys like Robert White, Jonathan Grizzley, JR Beausoleil and Paul Dodd have found ways to shine in this system and have really found a home in this defense.

Facing off against a team that feels very similar, I think James Goulet’s style will allow Former Tomahawk to grab an early lead that they’ll feel comfortable keeping most of the night. FT has the playmakers to match their opponents and it’ll come down to Michael Roy to shake off the rust once and for all and have the kind of night his team expects out of him. He’s got the weapons and the new addition of Andrew Denis Lynch is only paying dividends. It’s now or never.

Key matchups: Jonathan Grizzley vs Jean-Francois Marquis, Robert White vs Francis Maheu

Prediction: 33 – 25 Former Tomahawk

 

 

That sums it for this week’s article. It’s always a pleasure to write and hear back from you guys. After all, the content is meant 99% for you. I keep a percent for me; ranting here and there is fun after all. You can always reach me via twitter @DagenaisFPF or via email ([email protected]). I’ll be at Lachine every Sunday night scorekeeping/playing and at the new Stade on Mondays so you can stop by and chat. Don’t hesitate. It’s hilarious to see Eagle run for a Pokemon and see him come back sad about what he found.