Week 3 Highlights From FPF Junior

After a two-week break for the holidays, the FPF Junior season resumed this past weekend. Teams came back from the break well rested and ready to perform. Unfortunately, some teams still had players on vacation. I saw one team play with just five players and another forfeited because they were not able to field a team. Despite having only five players, the Sophomore Bulls managed to keep things close against the Wolves. That game is our first game of the week.

Week 3 Games of the Week:

Sophomore D

Wolves (47) vs Bulls (30): Even though their opponents were unable to field a full team, this was a statement win for the Wolves. I expected the Bulls to run the table in this division and finish the season with a perfect 8-0 record. For any team to beat the Bulls, even if they only had five players is quite an accomplishment. No one was happier to see the Bulls depleted roster than Wolves’ quarterback Adam Bateman. For most of the game, he had as much time as he wanted in the pocket since the Bulls decided to drop all five of their players into coverage and have no one rush. This made Bateman’s job too easy. He had all day to sit back and find the open receiver. That is exactly what he did. He completed 15 of his 23 passes for a phenomenal 252 yards. His leading target on the night was Stavros Dikeacos. When you see Dikeacos, your first thought is not necessarily “wow he must be an all-star.” However, Dikeacos is most definitely an all-star. He is probably the quickest player in the division and uses his speed and fantastic football IQ to ensure that he is always open. On Saturday, Dikeacos had a career game with six catches for 116 yards and an impressive four touchdowns. The Wolves other two touchdown receptions came courtesy of Joshua Leznoff. He finished the game with three catches for nearly 50 yards.

Defensively, this was not the best game for the Wolves. They conceded 30 points to a five-man team. However, one player on the Wolves defence single handedly assured that they did not concede more than 30 points. Adam Bateman picked off the Bulls three times and even ran one of those scores back to the house for six. Without Bateman’s heroics on defence, this game would have definitely been a much closer affair and who knows, the Wolves might have lost this one.

On the Bulls’ side of things, they clearly knew that this was not going to be an easy game. They were without their first-string quarterback, their backup quarterback and their best receiver. With just a five-man roster and so many crucial playmakers out of the line-up, I was impressed to see the Bulls keep this game as close as they did. The Bulls turned to William Savard at quarterback. While Savard is more of an athlete than a quarterback, he was able to march the ball down the field. His main assets were his legs. When his receivers weren’t open, he did not hesitate to scramble around in the pocket in an attempt to buy more time. His arm strength and ability to scramble let Savard tally nearly 125 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. What Savard was not able to accomplish with his arm, he accomplished with his legs. He ran on four occasions and accumulated a staggering 108 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Yes, that means he scored a TD on 75% of his rushing attempts and averaged over 25 yards a run. Those are staggering numbers. When Savard wasn’t running the ball, he was passing it to Marc-Olivier Bourgault. Bourgault finished the game as the Bulls leading receiver. He accounted for 80 of the Bulls’ 124 passing yards and caught both of their touchdown passes. The only other Bulls receiver to catch a pass on Saturday was Jaiden Alexander who managed three receptions for 44 yards.

This wasn’t a great game for either one of these team’s defense. The Bulls spent the game playing with no rusher and playing man coverage across the board. The problem with this is that the Wolves quarterback had as much time as he wanted to find an open target. Man coverage is effective for 3-5 seconds. After that, you need your rusher to have sacked the quarterback. However, since the Bulls were playing without a rusher the Wolves had all day to watch the Bulls man to man defence crumble. With no pressure on the passer, Wolves’ receivers had all day to get open. Eventually they would get open and catch the ball. One player on the Bulls defence that was able to shine was Marc-Olivier Bourgault. Despite everything stacked against him, he still managed two interceptions and a defended pass. Without Bourgault who knows what the score would have been.

Pee-Wee G

Gladiators (33) vs Flight School Pee-Wee (26): Flight School and the Gladiators put their perfect records on the line in this week 3 match-up. Things were not looking good for the Gladiators. They were without the division’s best quarterback Kingston Paquet. This was the third consecutive game I was scorekeeping with a Flight School team playing and the two previous ones had been blowouts in Flight School’s favor. When I saw the Gladiators without their quarterback, I was mentally bracing for another lopsided affair. The Gladiators quickly proved me wrong. On their opening possession, backup quarterback Noah Swaminadham completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Justin Swaminadham to give his team the early lead and set the stage for a dramatic game. Noah Swaminadham had a game for the ages and the Gladiators quickly forgot they were missing their star QB. He passed for over 250 yards and completed a staggering 86% of his passes. Justin Swaminadham accounted for 104 of those yards. While Luca Fonsato wasn’t the leading receiver, he definitely caught the most important pass of the game. With just two plays left in the game, the Gladiators were at Flight School’s 8-yard line. They needed the score to win and it was Luca Fonsato who hauled it in to give his Gladiators a statement victory.

Despite conceding 26 points, the Gladiator’s defence had a great game. This Flight School team scored at will in their opening two matches so to hold them to 26 points is quite an accomplishment. When you think about a defence, you generally think about athletic corners and dynamic safeties making diving tackles and interceptions. While the Gladiators do have great players in their secondary, their defensive MVP was definitely Emile Kilbride. This remarkable athlete was a nuisance to Flight School’s quarterback all game long. On every single play, Kilbride was in the opposing backfield applying pressure. He was rewarded for those efforts with a herculean four sacks. FS is a team that relies on run plays and scrambling in the pocket. Kilbride limited their ability to scramble and nullified the threat of the quarterback running. Without Emile Kilbride and his fantastic rushing, this game would have ended very differently.

Flight School were in this game until the second to last play. It was the solid play of quarterback Dave Lileka Bolombe that kept things close. While he did not pass for a ton of yards, he avoided making mistakes. He completed 8 of his 15 attempted passes for  127 yards and three scores. Most importantly, he avoided throwing any interceptions. That ability to protect the ball is what kept his team in the game. When Lileka Bolombe needed a big play, he knew exactly who to look for: Malik Sabourin-Danglade. Sabourin-Danglade was by far the quickest and the most elusive player on the field. Whenever he had the ball in his hands, you had this feeling that he was about to make a defender miss and create a big play. He is such a talented player that Flight School kept on finding more and more creative ways to get Sabourin-Danglade’s hands on the ball. He started the game as a receiver where he caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. FS also used him as a running back on two occasions. He ran for 33 yards. Finally, FS put Sabourin-Danglade in at quarterback where he completed three passes for 40 yards. Essentially, this Flight School offence revolves around Sabourin-Danglade. In theory, if an opposing team wants to slow FS down, the formula is very simple: stop Malik Sabourin-Danglade. In practice, however, stopping Sabourin-Danglade is just about impossible.

Unsurprisingly, Sabourin-Danglade was also a showstopper on defence for Flight School. He led the team in tackles with four and in sacks with two. His most crucial play came when he picked off the Gladiators and returned it for a score. The only category he did not lead Flight School’s defence in was defended passes. Ben Christin was the leader in that category with his 1 PD. Despite this loss, I still consider Flight School to be one of the best teams in the division. However, while Flight School teams in other divisions are the undisputed favorites, the Flight School team in Pee-Wee fill face a harsh challenge for the title.

That concludes your week 3 action in FPF Junior. As always, if you have any comments about the article please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Good luck to all the teams in week 4!