Week 4 of Co-ed action far more Interesting than the Superbowl

After four weeks of games and weekly articles, it felt like we were starting to get into a bit of a rhythm. However, this is Superbowl weekend and that means no games over the weekend. The result for the co-ed division, is a bye week. The way things fall with the scheduling for co-ed, there is also another bye week coming up on the weekend on February 16th-17th.

After I complained about co-ed being predictable in the first two weeks, the past two weeks have definitely been more interesting. The first surprise of the weekend came in the very first game. 3rd Down for What managed to upset my title favorites, Power Rangers. Stay tuned for more about that game later in the article. Another game that was much tighter than I expected was the one between Black Mamba and Hot-Dawgz. I was expecting a more experienced and well-organized team like Hot-Dawgz to have cruised to an easy victory. However, despite only passing for 85 yards, Mamba managed to scrap together 30 points. Those touchdowns came from all parts of the game. They scored two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and returned an interception for a touchdown. While that perfect storm may have come together this week to allow them to put up 30 points, I am not sure it will happen again. The final surprise of the week came when my team, Yin&Yang lost their first game of the season to It’s A Match. I have to say, we were missing the brains behind our defence in Gino Di Fazio as well as one of the best receivers in the division in Andrew Caruthers. Despite missing those players, the rest of us and especially myself, came up short. I did my best to call the defence, but I was unable to find a solution to stop It’s A Match. We were able to take away either Alexis Labonté or Henry Dam but not both. We could not stop It’s A Match from marching down the field on just about every drive and the result was Y&Y’s first loss of the season.

Bargain of the Week:

David Gutkovski (Hot-Dawgz): It seems like every week it is a different receiver from Hot-Dawgz who gets mentioned here. This week, it was David Gutkovksi and his impressive showing versus Black Mamba that caught my eye. After tallying just eight receptions for two scores in his first three games, Gutkovski surpassed both of those marks in a single game. He caught 9 passes for close to 100 yards. Two of those receptions were for touchdowns. This is just Gutkovski’s second season in the league so his offensive cap is still quite low (58) but if he keeps on putting up performances like these that cap will definitively increase.

Kenny Boutilier (Michael Scott’s Tots): The name Kenny Boutilier should not be new to anyone who has followed co-ed. He has been around the division since the winter of 2018 and is one of the more talented players on Michael Scott’s Tots’ defence. In the past few weeks, Boutilier has put in the performances you would expect from someone with a 58 offensive rating and 72 defensive rating. This week however, he stepped up his game and made an even bigger impact than usual. He caught four passes, three of which for scores, for an impressive total of 58 yards. It was the defensive performance that went along with that strong showing as a receiver that made me decide to include Boutilier in this segment. He managed 5 tackles, a sack and most importantly, an interception that he returned for a score.

Kelley Brossard (ATH Squad): This is Kelley Brossar’s fourth season in the league. However, he did not play enough games in those past seasons for him to be given a new QB rating. Luckily for ATH Squad, that means that their talented passer still has a 60 rating. Against Savage, he did just enough to get the job done. Despite only passing for 134 yards, he managed to score five touchdowns. What’s even more impressive is that half of Brossard’s completions were for touchdowns and that the only blemishes on his passing record were a pick and a sack.

Cap Waste of the Week:

Raphael Ducas-Lapalme (Savage): Savage have had a difficult season so far. A large part of those difficulties can be attributed to the struggles of their quarterback. Raphael Ducas-Lapalme has been around FPF since 2011 and has played nearly 100 games as a receiver. In those 16 seasons he has played as a wr/db, Raphael Ducas-Lapalme attempted one pass. I’m not sure why, after 16 seasons as a receiver (a good receiver at that) he decided to make the switch to QB, but that choice is not paying off. This week, things were particularly rough for Ducas-Lapalme since he only completed 7 passes for 80 yards and no touchdowns. Well, that’s not quite fair. He completed nine passes but two of those were to the wrong team.

Game of Week:

3rd Down for What (30) vs Power Rangers (29):

3rd Down for What: Remember in week 1 when I doubted Sara Parker? That’s kind of comical now isn’t it? Since that first game when Parker threw four picks, she has not thrown a single interception. More than throwing no interceptions, she has thrown four touchdowns in each of the games she has started . It was her four touchdowns this week to go along with a 60% completion rate and nearly 200 passing yards that helped lead her team to victory. The only blemish on Parker’s record was a sack. While the quarterback play of Parker was outstanding, the play of her receivers, like Jeremy Murphy, was just as good. Murphy was the leading receiver for 3DW with 7 catches for 85 yards. Out of those 7 catches, 3 were for scores. Despite not accumulating the same yards as Murphy or scoring the touchdowns he did, Rachel Beaudoin put in another very solid performance. Beaudoin was a safe pair of hands for her quarterback and accumulated 47 yards over six catches in the process. On the defence, it was the usual suspects who stepped up big for 3DW. In terms of tackling, it was Alexis Gaumont who got the job done with four tackles. However, once again, it was Jeremy Murphy who really made the biggest difference. The interception that he returned for a touchdown made the difference in this game and eventually led his team to victory. Also leaving his mark as a defensive force was Charles Verreault who intercepted the opposition on two occasions.

Power Rangers: Power Rangers looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory in division 1 but it seems as if 3DW has thrown a wrench in those plans. Despite Power Rangers, boasting one of the very best players in FPF on their roster in Serge Pilon, they were not able to overcome 3DW. If we look at the roster of these two teams, 3DW has a cap so low they could play in division 2 while the Power Rangers cap is pressed right up against the upper limit of division 1’s cap. The first factor that explains the Ranger’s loss is the play of their quarterback Tam Vilaydeth. Simply put, he threw two more interceptions than did his opposing number and that is what cost his team the game. He was outplayed by the opposing QB but that is only the start to explaining why Power Rangers lost. Arguably, Power Rangers have the two, if not three most talented players in the division. Unfortunately, Power Rangers don’t seem to be using them adequately. Serge Pilon only managed 28 yards while Chris Millard did slightly better with 59 yards for two scores. On the defensive side of the ball, it was the exact same story. Power Rangers were adequate, but their great players weren’t great. Millard did his best with his four defended passes but Millard, as well as his teammates were unable to produce any interceptions. Ultimately, to win a game where your QB throws two picks, you need your defence to make a play or two and pick off a few passes to keep you in the game.

My Quick Predictions:

Savage vs Michael Scott’s Tots: Let’s be honest, Savage should be in division two and MST could very well be in the higher division; MST will win.

Tigers vs Yin&Yang: Y&Y cruised to an easy victory over Tigers earlier in the season and they will win again this week to get their season back on track after a disappointing loss last week.

ATH Squad vs Power Rangers: While Power Rangers fell this week to 3DW, I don’t see any other team in this division being able to beat them so Power Rangers will win.

A-Town vs Black Mamba: If you have read any of my articles so far, it should be very clear that I don’t like the way Black Mamba play so I’m choosing A-Town to win.

Hot-Dawgz vs It’s A Match: I saw firsthand this week just how talented It’s A Match are and how hard it is to stop them, so while Hot-Dawgz are decent, they don’t have what it takes to beat It’s A Match.

3rd Down for What vs Party Mix: A few weeks ago, I presumed that Party Mix were the best team in the division, then they lost to Power Rangers and then I presumed Power Rangers were the top dogs in this division; now I have a new favorite in division 1 and that team in 3DW and I don’t see Party Mix handing them a loss.

There you have it, yet another week is on the books. I hope you enjoyed this article slightly more than you did the Superbowl. To be fair, Sunday’s game set the bar pretty when it comes to standards of entertainment, so I really hope this article lives up to your expectations.