Categories: DivisionDivision ADivision BMen'sSpring

Week 3 Recap: Just Win, Baby

Week 3 of this FPF season is now officially over, and whether you realize it or not, the midway point of the season is fast approaching. For those teams still struggling to compete, the clock is ticking, and the gap between top and bottom widening. For everyone else… be happy you’re already pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot. Now let’s get to business.

Recap

Getting a Boust

A week after struggling to both score and stop their opponent from scoring, the Legends called over (as in, literally called him over from the sidelines) lower division star Kevin Boustany a.k.a. K-Boost a.k.a. Beastany a.k.a. Kevin “Anyday” Boustany (your opinion is irrelevant, these are awesome nicknames) just before their game on Monday. Boustany proved to be just the difference they needed to overcome the Rainmakers, as he lead the team in tackles with seven, won numerous 50/50 balls and threw in a sack to boot, while equally contributing with a pair of receptions and a TD on offense.

Also helping out: a Pick 6 thrown by Ryan Kastner to Sean Kennedy right off the bat, giving the Legends the momentum they needed to cruise to victory led by Cory Pecker’s methodical gameplan.

But as the Legends’ light shines bright, the Rainmakers’ is quickly fading. Despite seeing Kastner’s sack total drop and having Teddy Frenette on the roster this season, Rainmakers still have trouble closing out games, always seemingly a step behind. Their playoff hopes are not over yet despite their 0-3 record, but it’s evident they are no longer the Rainmakers of old.

Da Raidasss

You were supposed to read that title in Chris Berman’s voice. No matter if you didn’t, the point remains the same: the Raiders enter Week 4 coming off a much needed and hard-fought win over The Commission. Both sides knew the stakes were high, with Commission captain Brent Bodkin even scouting the Raiders last week.

It seemed to have paid off early on, as despite the likes of Leon Holder, Rob White and Sean Kennedy all knowing The Commission in and out after having played for them last spring, an opening drive turnover by the Raiders allowed Zan Symonds to find Keeshon Mayers for a touchdown a few plays later.  

The Raiders answered back with some solid play from Leon and clutch catches from Kennedy, but it was their defense that won the game for them in the end. Namely, Alex Moreau made a red zone interception in the second half on a night that saw Raiders force The Commission into 2nd, 3rd and 4th-and long situations all game long.

In the end, The Commission were left visibly frustrated to have lost a game they could easily have won.

 

Players of the Week

Division A:

QB – Marco Masciotra (Roosters & Donkeys): 21 for 28, 227 yards, 8 TDs, 0 INTs. The first time Marco makes my list this season, and certainly not the last. Talk about carving up a defense.   

WR – Jordan McLaren (Roosters & Donkeys): 4 catches for 70 yards and 3 TDs. It’s not always easy to stand out when your QB spreads the ball around as much as Marco did in R&D’s game, but McLaren did just that this week, racking up the most receiving yards in Div A this week while tying for 1st in the touchdown department.

D – Sean Kennedy (Legends) 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD. Kennedy recorded the only defensive touchdown in Div A this week, and that’s good enough for me.

 

Division B:

QB – Fred Morissette (Darksiders): 20 for 27, 290 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs. Three of those 20 completions went to Peeze, so you can imagine how much better those numbers could’ve been.  

WR – Aleksander Papich (BearSkins): 4 catches for 110 yards, 2 TDs. Props to Ryan Aridi and Nic Gendron-Vallée for both scoring 3 TDs on 5 catches apiece, but Papich gets the spot not only for leading the way in yards this week, but also for getting the numbers he did against arguably the best secondary in the division.

D – François Raymond (Lightweight): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PD. To notch Fred Viens’ first pick of the season—and only his 19th in his last 784 attempts (for an average of one INT per every 41 passes) is no small feat. 

 

Power Rankings

Division A:

  1. Roosters & Donkeys (3-0) /–/: Is it too soon to start thinking about a perfect season?
  2. Montreal’s Finest (2-1) /–/: Montreal’s Finest say yes, yes it is.
  3. Gladiateurs (2-1) /–/: They kept it close against R&D the entire game. There’s no doubt they remain better than everyone below them on this list.
  4. Legends (2-1) /–/: With back-to-back games against the Finest and R&D coming up next, we’ll find out soon enough whether they truly have what it takes to compete in Div A.
  5. Rainmakers (0-3) /–/: I look up and down this roster, I look at past seasons and for the life of me I can’t find a reason for Rainmakers’ struggles this season.
  6. Maniax (0-3) /–/: Rapha Beladjat has more rushing attempts this season (12) than he had completions in each of the past two weeks (8). That’s not exactly a winning formula in FPF’s highest division.

 

Division B:

  1. Monstars (3-0) /+3/: I doubted them in preseason, I doubted them after they crushed Lightweight, after they beat Predators, and entering their game against Wolverines. They have more than proved their worth.
  2. 6+R (3-0) /-1/: 3-0 is 3-0, but winning two of those three games by a single point remains worrisome.
  3. Predators (2-1) /+2/: It took three weeks, but the Preds offense I’ve been expecting to see finally showed up on Tuesday. Now it’s time to see whether it’s going to stick around.
  4. Darksiders (2-1) /+3/: I better not get any messages from you this week, Peeze. Fourth place is a damn good spot.
  5. BearSkins (1-2) /-3/: So. Much. Inconsistency.
  6. Wolverines (1-2) /-3/: I gave them the benefit of the doubt last week, but two losses in a row is never a good sign.
  7. Lightweight (1-2) /+1/: Their record may not show it, but Lightweight have come a long way in a short time, earning their first win in Week 2 and losing by just a point to one of the division’s top teams last week. But there’s still more work to be done.
  8. Broccasion (1-2) /-2/: Interesting note: Broccasion are 1-0 in the only game they played without Sean Brophy. In the two games he’s been present, he’s been the top receiver and Broccasion have lost by double digits.
  9. Raiders (1-2) /–/: It wasn’t pretty, but the Raiders finally earned their first win of the season. That’s a good sign. That they won by just three points, and against the worst team in the division… not so much.
  10. The Commission (0-3) /–/: Huge roster turnover from week to week certainly isn’t helping team chemistry. That said, the right roster against 6+R this week could give them all the momentum they need to turn things around.

 

Picks of the Week

I went under .500 for the first time this season, going 3-4 this past week. That drops me to 12-9 for the season. Still better than Peeze, Domon and Dagenais though! 

Division A:

Maniax vs. Gladiateurs: Nevermind having an answer for Pat Jérome on defense – Maniax haven’t even been able to field a Div A-worthy offense these past two weeks. Rapha Beladjat has struggled mightily to really get anything going through the air, and unless he can do so this week Maniax could easily be losers of their third blowout in a row.

Rainmakers vs. Roosters & Donkeys: 0-3 takes on 3-0. Rainmakers are better than their record might suggest, but R&D have certainly earned their place atop the division. Barring an absolute flawless game from Rainmakers, I think R&D avoid losing this proverbial trap game.  

Montreal’s Finest vs. Legends: Maniax exploited the Finest’s lack of a dominant rusher last week, but even then they weren’t able to keep things close. I’m not sure the Legends will fare much better. 

 

Division B:

Broccasion vs. Raiders: Broccasion have disappointed me in recent weeks, but I think this is when they bounce back.

6+R vs. The Commission (N/A)

Predators vs. Lightweight: If Simon Dagenais has the services of Marco Masciotra and Matt Kirouac for this game, I think Lightweight actually have a decent chance at an upset here. Otherwise, if Preds play to their potential, it may all be too much for Lightweight to handle. 

Monstars vs. BearSkins: Two teams that love to throw the deep ball, two defenses that are built to stop it. It may come down to who can adapt better to the other team, and I give Monstars the edge in that department, along with having a QB in Mashtoub who’s proven to be more consistent than Etinson up to this point. 

Darksiders vs. Wolverines: Darksiders are starting to find their stride just as Wolverines are beginning to lose theirs. There’s really nothing else to say at this point except Peeze, don’t disappoint me.

 

***

Another week down. As always, be sure to catch the Div A/B podcast “The Sack Exchange” with Moe Khan and Matt Kirouac special guest Marco Masciotra on the FPF YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/flagplus every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. or on demand at the same link afterwards. Don’t forget that you can always reach me on Twitter @JBlanchFPF or by email at [email protected]. ‘Till next week!