The Last 8.

With only 8 teams left (4 in A, 4 in B), this is the best part of the season for most of us. Emotions are flaring, games are at their best and it’s do-or-die for Everyone.

As a bystander, I must admit, the idea of possible overtime in the Semi Finals is thrilling. I secretly hope one of the 4 games gives us that kind of excitement this week.

Let’s get started.

 

Week 12 – Semi Finals

Braves edged Top Guns nicely, Six Fast continues to dominate, STL got their revenge, Drop The Mic shutted down the doubters and Coyotes proved why they’re a top contender this season.

 

Thoughts of the Week

• STL managed to upset Rich & Famous and saw Incredibles stumble out of the playoffs; their two toughest matchups are now out the window. Could they go all the way?
• This all-FPF teams was much more time consuming to do than I’ve anticipated; remembering where everyone plays required much more than I initially thought.
• Kudos to Coyotes’ defence for making me look awful.
• Drop The Mic’ win kind of surprised me, I’ll be honest, but it also shows how good of a squad they truly are.
• Truly heart-breaking ending for Rich & Famous.
• Braves looked dominant this week. The game was over much earlier than the record shows.
• Shout out to the GOTW guy, Lance, you’ve done a fantastic show all season.
• Am I the only one getting excited about the NFL kicking off soon?
• I still can’t believe the Road Show is in little over a week. Already?
• I ran out of thoughts quickly for this this week. I guess the loss really fazed me.

 

All-FPF Nominations

Amist last week’s chaos, I’ve decided to keep the love/hate relationship going for one more week as I release my very own version of the All-Pro Team for both Division A and B. Mind you, the player who has impressed me the most this season PER POSITION will be named.

I know many of you tend to move around the field, but I take the spot I’ve seen you the most play in as your #1 position. I’d also like to apologize if I got your position wrong; there’s a chance my memory doesn’t serve me as well as I’d like sometimes. 

 

Division A

Offence

• Quarterback: Rod Mashtoub

The way Rod Mashtoub played this season was purely magical. His numbers got him the QBOY award and his play got them the 2^nd seed in Division A by masterfully crafting two two-scores deficit in the second half (the first was on tape vs Rare Bears, the second against DA Finest nonetheless).

• Snapper: Mike Pierrecin

An essential cog to the Braves’ offence, when he’s on, the offence moves the chains with ease and it opens up the field tremendously for the rest of the team to do their thing. He earned his all-star nod via his stats, but he gets the mention here due to his stellar play and his contribution to his team’s success.

• Left Wide Receiver: Jean-Daniel Chevalier

Winner of this year’s infamous two-way player of the year, JD Chevalier broke the Braves’ playbook open and quickly developed great chemistry with his QB. Leading his team in yards, receptions and Tds although he played one game as the QB is quite remarkable; he was also a nightmare to cover.

• Left Slotback: Pat Jerome

His best statistical game came with Patrick Chenard under center, but his overall production was impressive to say the least. A constant threat everyone needs to account for every snap, Pat Jerome might be an even bigger threat now that he’s part of Finest, if that’s even possible.

• Right Slotback: Bobby Mikelberg

Although he isn’t consistently playing from the slot position, I have to give him credit for the season he’s had. Everyone who plays Rainmakers needs to account for Bobby Mikelberg and his connection with Ryan Kastner is special on so many levels. Seeing what he was able to do with Daniel Lazzara really sold it for me.

• Right Wide Receiver: Theo Ojeaha

There hasn’t been a more dominant receiver in FPF in a very long time. There is barely a handful of players who can guard him, let alone restrain him.

 

Defence

• Rusher: Emile Piché

13 sacks in a division that doesn’t really award sacks on a regular basis is VERY impressive. There’s a reason he finished with the DPOY award and he truly deserve his spot here.

• Left Corner: Jordan McLaren

An absolute match up nightmare to face, Jordan continues to dominate regardless who he’s asked to cover on a weekly basis. Considering his season’s stats, needless to say he was a key instrument in Rare Bears’ defensive success this season.

• Left Halfback: Quaysie Gordon-Maule

He might not have finished with the flashiest of stats, but you can ask everyone and they’ll tell you just how important he was to the Monstars’ defence this season. And, for that reason and his ability to break open a play at a moment’s notice, he belongs amongst this list.

• Middle: Kishon Thompson

The heart and soul of the Finest’ defence, Kishon continues to elevate his game and compete at the highest level week-in and week-out. Playing against the Finest defence, this is the first name that comes to mind.

• Right Halfback: Marco Masciotra

Although he moves around depending on the match-ups, there’s no doubting his presence amongst the named players here. Considering he missed 3 games on defence, he had, yet another, very impressive season in the highest division.

• Right Corner: Jamil Springer

Although his stats aren’t exactly the most impressive thing, his play definitely merits his spot here. One of the only player that made Marco look away from his favourite target quite a few times, he’s the kind of player you cannot overlook when the defence is playing man coverage.

 

Division B

Offence

• Quarterback: Frederic Viens

Once again, Frederic Viens defies most of the established rules and earned the highest QBR in Div A/B combined along with a ridiculous completion pourcentage to end another marvelous season. Oh, and he’s a receiver? Yaok.

• Snapper: Marc-Antoine Viens

Deceptively fast, MAV has been a key instrument of the 6Fast franchise success over the years and this season has been no different. Undoubtedly a premier snapper in Division B, it’s only a matter of time before we mention his name in higher divisions too.

• Left Wide Receiver: Sasha Papich

It was difficult to decide whether he should be on the offensive side of the ball or defensive side for this All-FPF nomination as he, probably, could’ve been included either way, but his receiving stats stole the show for me. 16 Tds in 9 games is quite the feat.

• Left Slotback: Jacques Void

Finishing the season with 708 receiving yards over 9 games is quite the feat and yet, it felt like he was underused at times. It’s only right that a receiver of his calibre managed to exceed expectations in Division B.

• Right Slotback: Anthony Vendrame

His presence in the Lightweight lineup allowed for offence to tied for 2^nd in most points scored. 17 Tds in 6 games isn’t something you can simply ignore when matching up against him.

• Right Wide Receiver: Yadel Meshesha

Winner of this season’s Receiver of the Year award, it’s only common sense to have his on the All-FPF team at his starting position. He’s been a nightmare to cover all season and was one of the reasons why OTF remained competitive the whole season.

 

Defence

• Rusher: Francois Hogue

It was a really close call when the all-stars were discussed, but his performance in the playoffs on Monday, on tape, really stole the show for me. He’s been a core piece of Lightweight’s defensive success and a rusher I’d hate to play on a weekly basis.

• Left Corner: Alex Pilon

Often overlooked for his offensive prowess, Alex Pilon proved he can ball on defence too finishing the season with the most interceptions and 5^th in tackles. His crazy speed and explosion allows him to make a play on any given ball going his way; avoid him at all costs.

• Left Halfback: Shawn Steen

Splitting reps between HB and corner shows how flexible Steen really was this season. Finishing with a whoopin’ 11 Pds and 4 interceptions, there’s no doubting his ball-hawk abilities even as he moves up divisions.

• Middle: Vince Nardone

Commanding one of this division’s best defence, his ability to adjust on the fly and switch things around in the second half earns him a spot on this list. Let’s not forget he’s had a pretty impressive season too himself.

• Right Halfback: Yafet Meshesha

Finishing his season with only 13 tackles could have him overlooked by many, but it just shows how often Qbs avoided going to his side of the field when they played him. Nudging 4 INTs and 4 Pds in 8 games earned him a mention on this list.

• Right Corner: Anthony Brisebois

This season’s Defensive Player of the Year managed to be second in interceptions although he played rusher twice. An absolutely dominant corner, Brisebois forced teams to look to the other side of the field if they wanted to get any sort of completions going their way.

 

Recaps

Division A

• Top Guns vs Braves: After beating them twice in the regular season, Top Guns must have felt pretty good heading into the opening round against the Braves, but this game went down much differently than anyone could’ve expected. Paul Lapierre started off a bit sloppy and he wasn’t the gunslinger he’s been all season behind center forcing him to turn to his very unusual offence a bit too early to put points on the board. With a 13-6 lead at half, Braves’ QB Jonathan Maheu looked quite confident under center for the first time in weeks and things were about to get even brighter. As Top Guns attempted to get something going early in the second half, Vinny Gualano took the snap instead of Paul Lapierre only to throw an interception that Mike Pierrecin brought back for 6 switching the tide in Braves’ favor even more. Vince Nardone had one of his most prolific outing with the team finishing with the most receiving yards and a 12 yard passing TD to JD Chevalier to add to the mix. The second half saw Top Guns’ give up and Braves put the game away as they now prepare to face DA Finest in the semi-finals.

 

Division B

• Rich & Famous vs STL: The last time around, STL had a massive lead 28-14 in the second half only to see it strip away from them; they weren’t letting that happen twice. With a 14-6 lead at half, STL’ offence found ways to be creative and move the chains without involving Theo Ojeaha too much and his brother Jamie saw his chemistry with Dylan Taylor re-ignite as the two connected on big gains for most of the night. With STL up by 6 and the chance to put this one away with very little time left, Alex Apostolakis replaced Matt Petrone for one play defensively and came up with a HUGE interception on the goal line jumping a slant pattern and getting the ball directly in his chest. Rich & Famous were now down 6, with the ball, driving with very little time left on the clock. After trying to gain field positioning, Rich Humes attempted to connect on 4^th down, but the ball fell short of the intended receiver Vinny Gualano and, just like that, Rich & Famous saw their season end.
• Incredibles vs Drop The Mic: I wasn’t present for the game as I was playing at the same time, but I’ve heard stories from both sides of the ball and I can tell with conviction that Mario Porreca had one of his impressive games slinging although he finished with 2 interceptions on the stat lines. With the game on the line, with a 19-12 lead, Drop The Mic’s most important drive of the game went flawlessly as Mario Porreca punched it in and got the extra point to really put this one away. Rumors say the DTM QB was mistake-free for most of the game which allowed his team to take a convincing lead and never look back as they upset Incredibles and move on to the Semi-Finals against STL on Tuesday.

 

Players of the Week

Division A

• Mike Pierrecin: With only a one score lead, he jumped the receiver’s route, got a pick-six, and pushed his team to a 2-score lead. Tossing in his offensive touchdown, he had a very impressive game all-around.

 

Division B

• Mario Porreca: Although his stats line isn’t the greatest, the opponents will tell you he had a very impressive game to make his team move onto the semi-finals.
• Frederic Viens: Going 18/20, over 200 combined yards, rushing in a TD and passing 5; he was basically flawless in his quarter finals game.
• Jacob Bernett: 3 offensive touchdowns, a clutch 2-point convert and a huge defensive game that allowed others to shine; very deserving of this mention this week.

 

Matchups to Watch

Division A

• Kishon Thompson vs Jonathan Maheu: Commanding the Finest’s defence, it’ll be intriguing to see what Kishon will do against Jonathan Maheu now that he’s seen him twice this season.
• Rod Mashtoub vs Marco Masciotra: Monstars won’t stop Rare Bears often, that’s a given. It’ll come down to how strong both Qbs will play and how effective they’ll be on converts. Expect a high-scoring affair.

 

Division B

• Anthony Brisebois vs Jacob Bernett: All things considered, both of these guys are leading their teams on both sides of the balls. They’ll naturally line up against each other and will require a big game to elevate their team into the Finals.
• Patrick Chenard vs Theo Ojeaha: STL’s offence starts with Theo Ojeaha. Drop The Mic’s best defender will need to have a huge gain if he wants to restrain him in any possible way.

 

 

Picks of the Week

Division A

• DA Finest vs Braves: After week 1’s upset, I foresaw this matchup. After a tough second half of the season, Braves managed to make the play-in game and beat Top Guns to get here. There’s no way Finest will go down easy, but Braves have the potential match up across the board to “beat Wyeth”. This might be the one game of the 4 that goes into overtime!
• Monstars vs Rare Bears: In a game where both offence should look good, Rare Bears’ defence might actually give its team the edge as it’s most likely the one to come up with the crucial turnover to take the lead. Rod Mashtoub has been fantastic all season, but this might actually be his toughest matchup if he wants to play in the Division A finals in a week time. Clock management will be key as the extra possession per half may counter any possible turnover that occured. Can Rare Bears avoid last time’s comeback fiasco?

 

Division B

• Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan vs Coyotes: An absolute trap game for Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan as this will come down to limited possessions and extra points. Frederic Viens has been money on his one-point converts most of the season, but Sammy Feder tends to push the envelope and put pressure on his opponents by going for 2 pretty much everytime. If Coyotes can get a lead early due to extra points, 6Fast might panic stuck playing from behind; both teams have the players to match the opposing team nicely. Whoever takes the lead post the first score might actually maintain it the whole way through.
• Drop The Mic vs STL: Coming into this game, I must say, it’s an uphill battle for Mario Porreca whereas this is Dylan Taylor’s time to shine. There’s plenty left in the tank for STL and I feel like this is the kind of matchup that will allow their offence to really shine. Drop The Mic will have to adjust themselves as the game progresses and look away from the Ojeaha brothers as they’ll make the deep ball a major concern most of the night. Can anyone contain Theo Ojeaha?

 

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this is what you’ve all grown to love and expect out of me for your weekly readings. If it isn’t, you can send any sort of formal complaint to Paolo Della Rocca via twitter (@PeezeFPF) so I can keep tab and act like I didn’t know about it. Otherwise, if you have any comments, feel free to hit me up either via emails ([email protected]) or twitter (@DagenaisFPF). Until next time.