Week 4, the Qualification Round, Back in MTL and heading right back out

Hey hey! Iggy Magnets back in Montreal, but, as I just found out today, I will be back in, you guessed it, St. Louis. So we’re done with the Preliminary round and are moving onto the Qualification round across all Tiers, so that means, at least for Tier 2 and 3, that teams will now be playing against teams that are closer in their skill set and record after 4 games.

Tier Headlines

I usually do this as my opening segment for those who haven’t read my material. So let’s feel the pulse throughout the Fall Cup.

Tier 2 Headlines

The top 4 teams, all with a 3-1 record, have positioned themselves well for the Cash Bracket: Chocolate Thunder, Team Ethnik, Grim Reapers and Bruins.
After losing their Week 1 matchup, Chocolate Thunder have rolled out 3 straight wins, although their last win was a forfeit victory over Centaures.
Grim Reapers too have pulled out 3 straight wins after making a Quarterback change in Dilan Daoust, but have scored only 18 points in each of their last 2 games. Their defense has stepped up big during that transition at QB.
After a surprising Week 1 victory over the Bruins, Pincellos have felt the struggle in moving up in FPF, losing 3 straight.
I believe Centaures and Mean Machine will do well, even though they play each other in the next game.
Joel Houle is having a fantastic first 4 games in terms of QB stats, as he has yet to throw an interception and has thrown 14 TDs for an 118.3 QBR.
David De Andrade, a former teammate of mine last spring season has a Tier 2-leading 5 interceptions on the season.
Dylan Catellier and Dany Ostiguy are leading the Tier with 4 XP converts. All 4 of Catellier‘s have been for 1 point while Ostiguy has caught two for 1-pt and two for 2-pts.

Tier 1 Headlines

Blessed remains undefeated with a 3-0-1 record as they moved up to Tier 1. Most points scored by all Tier 1 teams.
Top 4 teams make the playoffs in Tier 1, so as of today, EZW and Mangoose are on the outside looking in.
Stephen Harripersaud continues to dominate every Tier/Division he plays in, as he is #1 in Passing Yards (851), Touchdowns (19), Completions (94) and Completion % (74%). It begs the question… where does he stand in the ranks of top Quarterbacks in FPF?
The Apocalyspe’s Quaid Johnson is making his case for 2-way Player of the Year; tied for 1st in the Tier in INTs (3) and has the 3rd most receiving yards (220) and tied for 2nd with the most receiving TDs (5).
Terry Babalis already was one of the great rushers in FPF and is quickly becoming one of the ELITE rushers, leading Tier 1 with 11 sacks.
Urgence Medic can claim to be the most “clutch” and efficient team in Tier 1, with the highest 3rd and 4th down conversion % (56.5% and 66.7%).

Co-Ed Cup Headlines

As mentioned on Calling The Audible, EZFun (4-0) is the favorite to win the Co-Ed Cup, with Kiss My End Zone (3-1) and Y&Y (2-2) as the next 2 teams that can possibly upset them. KMEZ finish off their season with a matchup against EZFun, while Y&Y play EZFun this coming Sunday.
Jonathan Hared‘s 4TD performance this past Sunday has halted him to the #1 receiver with Touchdown receptions.
Marie-Christine Gauthier of The Rock is in the top 10 receivers in both receiving yards (125) and TDs (3) after 4 games.
Anne Riopel, also of The Rock is leading the Co-Ed Tier with 7 sacks.
The top 5 extra point reception leaders come from 2 teams: EZW (Veronique Beaudoin, Maxime Boucher-Cyr, Jean-Christophe Ferland) and Kiss My End Zone (Abigail Cockerton, Alexi Dubois), all with two 1 point conversions.
As you can see in the table below, and to pick up on something that was talked about during Eagle’s 4 down segment on Calling The Audible, the two teams at the bottom of the standings have significantly more punts than the other teams. I think it’s time they start going for it for often on 4th down.

Tier 3 Headlines

They got a lot of love this past week on CTA, but I can claim to have witnessed Save a Horse’s talent before Moe, Peeze and Eagle, as I played them in a preseason scrimmage and could tell these guys were good. I didn’t think they would be 4-0, but I also had no idea which teams they would be facing. Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy!
Whodathunk Free Agent Squad would be 4-0 at the end of the Preliminary Round!? I had a game end at the same time as theirs this past week, and from the screeching sounds and looks from the bench-clearing sights, I’d say they won their game against the Killer Rays on a last-play touchdown heave caught by Manuel Allard-Roy (I see you Manuel, you gave my posts a like, I see you!).
FSU has quietly gone 3-1. Let’s see if they can continue their good start to the season in the Top Half Pool as they have a very tough schedule in the Qualification round.
Save The Turftles needed to win both their games this past week, and did exactly that to salvage their 0-2 start to the season.
Two receivers with already more than 300 yards: The Killer Rays Curtis Ryan (332, 9 TDs) and Save the Turftles Thomas Chaussé (303, 7 TDs).
Vincent Rizzolo (The West Yard) leading Tier 3 with SIX 1-pt converts.

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Game Recap – Week 4

Tior 1 Recap: Blessed 28 – 25 Urgence Medic

This game worked in waves. To start, Urgence Medic gained a first down, but turned the ball over on the next 4 downs, as Terry Babalis got his first sack of the night early to force a 4th and 10 situation that UM could not convert. Harripersaud would take advantage of the great field position and score in just 2 plays with a 12-yard TD to Kevin Smuda.

From the bad 1st drive, UM would start feeling good and scored on 3 of their 4 next drives, with a mix of long drives and quick strike TDs to keep the Blessed defense on their feet. Anthony Lapointe was usually on the receiving end, averaging 8 yards/reception for the long TD drives, while Emile Beaudoin was the deep threat, catching a 34 yard TD and averaging 15 yards/reception. Not only did UM heat up on offense, but Jesse Dupuis picked off Harripersaud twice.

So from bad, to good… the wave went back down for Urgence, which led to the….

Game-changing play of the game: After being down 19-12, Marvin Steinberg caught a 1-yard touchdown, followed by a Jafar Hassan 2-point conversion to put Blessed ahead 20-19. With Urgence Medic’s next possession, I’m sure they had no fear since they thought they would simply drive the field and score. Terry Babalis had other ideas. On the very next play, he sacked Jesse Dupuis for a 10 yard safety sack to put 2 extra points on the board, but more importantly, he gave the ball back to Harripersaud and the Blessed offense. Blessed would go on to kill time off the clock and score a 19-yard TD strike to Justin Lerner to go up 28-19 late in the game to ice it.

Not only did Babalis have the game-changing play of the game, he had 5 sacks in this one and put UM and Dupuis in deep 3rd and 4th down situations. What a game for Terry, as he was able to turn the tables for his team and give his Quarterback to ice the game, and with an 83.33% completion percentage in this game, Steve put the game away with back-to-back TDs.

Players of the game

Blessed Player of the Game: Terry Babalis – 5 sacks, 1 safety

Urgence Medic Player of the Game: Anthony Lapointe – 11 receptions, 11 targets, 92 yards , 2 TDs, 1 tackle.

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Game previews – Week 5

Co-Ed Preview: La Secte (0-4) vs. The Rock (1-3)

In their last outing, La Secte fell to The Rock, 19-20 back on October 24th. La Secte was actually up 19-12 with 1 play remaining in the game, and The Rock’s Amelie Durocher scored the 1-yard Touchdown, and confidently, they decided to go for 2, and Jessica Gosselin caught the winning 2 point conversion.

Heartbreaking loss for La Secte, but they are showing signs of improvement, and Alyson Francillon is proving he can be an All-Star player in this league. They are calling plays faster in the huddle, which means they are either simple plays (which is a good thing) and/or the offense is getting used to the play calling of Raphael Beauchamp-Desbois, meaning they know where they should be on the field for a given route on his play call. Desbois had his best game when he played The Rock, throwing 3 TDs and 0 INTs. He also did a great job of distributing the ball amongst his receivers. The distribution and the 0 turnovers are keys to victory for La Secte if they will want to beat The Rock and other teams moving forward. As for La Secte’s defense, it is still a little soft as the shorts on zone defenses back up about 2-3 yards too far as the play is developing. They need to stay disciplined and cover the flats.

As for The Rock, Anne Riopel will need to continue applying the pressure like she did last time she faced La Secte, sacking Desbois twice. Carol-Ann Ménard showed poise in their last matchup against La Secte, proving that she can drive the field with 5-6 plays remaining after her opponent scored a touchdown to go ahead. She remained calm and drove her team down the field, and with the last play of the game, hit Durocher for the TD and Gosselin for the winning 2-point convert. If they can cause a turnover or 2 this time around, they won’t need the game to come down to the last play. I think both these team defenses can be more aggressive and make it more difficult for the Quarterbacks to hit their receivers in smaller windows.

All that being said, I believe this game will once again be a close game, in fact, I think the score will be the same as their last matchup!

Prediction score: La Secte 19 – 20 The Rock

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Tier 3 Preview: TuneSquad (2-2) vs. Save the Turftles (2-2)

This game should actually be a lot of fun, with lots of scoring, highlight reel catches and big plays from both teams. Both teams are looking to improve their overall record to 3-2 as TuneSquad has alternated wins and losses while Save the Turftles are starting to heat up, as previously mentioned, winning their last 2 games (back-to-back games in Week 4). Both teams also managed to squeak into the bottom half group and look to finish the season on a strong note.

Now, as for the game, TuneSquad looks to have made a switch from Charles Presser at QB to the more natural Quarterback in Garner Ross, which, as much as Chaz doesn’t want to hear it, it’s better for the team with him at WR. Not only is he inexperienced at reading defenses with him slotted as the QB (not that he can’t do it per se), but it also removes him from the receiving weapons (he can’t throw to himself and the team doesn’t have another jump ball specialist). I prefer the makeup of the team with Chaz as the WR1 and Ben Arnovitz and Jonathan Jagermann as the WR2’s. That said, Save the Turftles do have the pieces on D to contain the TuneSquad trio. After having played STT, I can say that Thomas Chaussé as the free safety can easily defend the Ross deep ball from sideline to sideline. And then there’s Vincent Cheung defending the left corner who makes it difficult to squeeze balls into tight spaces, as I tried to do last week, and he made me pay for it with a Pick 6.

Conversely, the Turftles offense is a nice blend of deep balls, short yardage, and intermediate play, that it keeps any defense on their toes. For the deep ball, it’s once again Chaussé and Cheung that are the deep threats, but against Presser, I say it’s a 50/50 chance the ball either gets swatted away or goes for 6, so it’s up to Sébastien Noël how risky he wants to play the game. Of course, that is dependent on the score of the game, the down (3rd or 4th vs. 1st or 2nd) and anything he has picked up/read during the game. As for the short, the reliable hands of both Tony Vo and Jeffrey Tang are the names that keep the chains moving for the Turftles offense. This is where I see the advantage for STT over TuneSquad.

So if I haven’t made it clear, this game will be a fun battle between

Presser

and Chaussé

While it will be a fun battle, I see the Turftles coming out victorious by 9 points.

Prediction score: TuneSquad 19 – 28 Save The Turftles

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Game Picks Week 5

Home	Away	Peeze Pick	Moe Pick	Iggy Pick	Alexi Pick
EZW	Urgence Medic	Urgence Medic	Urgence Medic	Urgence Medic	Urgence Medic
KGP	The Apocalypse	KGP	KGP	The Apocalypse	The Apocalypse
Mangoose	Blessed	Blessed	Blessed	Blessed	Blessed
Bruins	Team Ethnik	Team Ethnik	Bruins	Bruins	Bruins
Grim Reapers	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens
Mean Machine	Centaures	Centaures	Mean Machine	Centaures	Centaures
Glogang	Hot Sauce Sports		Hot Sauce Sports	Hot Sauce Sports	Hot Sauce Sports
Hot Sauce Sports	KGP Ra		KGP Ra	Hot Sauce Sports	Hot Sauce Sports
Tough Lungs	Arouch	Arouch	Tough Lungs	Arouch	Arouch
Los Siete Amigos	Pincellos	Pincellos	Pincellos	Pincellos	Pincellos
Unexpected Diablos	Chocolate Thunder	Chocolate Thunder	Chocolate Thunder	Chocolate Thunder	Chocolate Thunder
The West Yard	Pardon My Swag	The West Yard	Pardon My Swag	Pardon My Swag	Pardon My Swag
Lionhearts	The Penetrators	The Penetrators	The Penetrators	The Penetrators	The Penetrators
Lockdown	Tim Brandy	Tim Brandy	Tim Brandy	Tim Brandy	Tim Brandy
The Stormers	Trailer Park Boys	The Stormers	The Stormers	Trailer Park Boys	The Stormers
Save a Horse	Free Agent Squad	Save a Horse	Save a Horse	Save a Horse	Save a Horse
Post Malone’s Knights	Two Inch’s Gang	Post Malone’s Knights	Post Malone’s Knights
Fighting Cones	Demons	Demons	Demons	Fighting Cones	Demons
TuneSquad	Save The Turftles	Save The Turftles	Save The Turftles	Save The Turftles	Save The Turftles
Killer Rays	7th Rounders	Killer Rays	7th Rounders	7th Rounders	7th Rounders
FSU	Warriors	Warriors	Warriors	Warriors	Warriors
La Secte	The Rock	La Secte	La Secte	The Rock	The Rock
Y&Y	EZFun	EZFun	EZFun	EZFun	EZFun

Of course, above are the individual media Game Picks, but as revealed on Calling The Audible and as seen on Instagram live now, the FPF community can now make their own picks that go against the FPF media!

In Week 4, the Community went 2 up and 2 down, while the FPF staff went 1-3. The Community is now tied at 5-7 with the FPF Staff. Remember to follow @flagplus on IG and vote for the games posted on Saturday evening into Sunday.

Well that does it this week for my Week 4 article, but make sure you read my fellow article writers, Peeze Della Reeze‘s and Alexi Dubois‘ article and catch Calling The Audible and the FPF Games of the Week!

A quick reminder that I will once again be out in St. Louis next week, so who knows if I will have enough time to write an article, let’s hope I do, or maybe I’ll catch a Blues game. Good luck to everyone in the Qualification Round!

Cheers,

Iggy Magnets