Week Six Review and Long Break Ahead for Co-ed

It’s hard to imagine, but the co-ed season is already into the final stretch. By final stretch, I mean a three-week bye followed by the remaining games of the regular season. Week six games were played on June 16th and teams will need to wait a full three weeks, until July 7th for the next round of games. I find that this pause in the middle of the season really halts a team’s momentum and breaks the rhythm of any winning streaks that teams might have had going. Especially for teams like 3rd Down for What who are on a roll, this long break could have major effects. One team who I am sure will benefit from the long break is Michael Scott’s Tots. They have got off to an abysmal start this season, winning only one of their first five games. If they can find a way to win at least two of their final games, they could gather a head of steam just in time for the playoffs.

As for last week’s predictions, I finally predicted all five correctly. Granted, the game between Midtown and Yin&Yang was a forfeit, but the result was still a Midtown win and that is exactly what I predicted. Y&Y forfeited their game because they didn’t have enough players make it to the field on time. However, their players slowly trickled in and they did have enough players to play in their second game of their double header. After losing the first game by forfeit, Gino Di Fazio was in no mood to mess around, so he took control of the reigns of the offence himself. While I am sure he is frustrated with the two interceptions he threw, he made up for them by passing for 213 yards and five scores. Perhaps the most impressive performance of the night came from Y&Y’s Olivia Sormany. She limited the extremely elusive Jean-Felix Marquis to only three rushes for 47 yards.

 

Week 6 Team of the Week:

Each week, I name 12 players to the team of the week (TOTW). Since this is co-ed and there always needs to be two girls on the field, both the offensive and defensive team of the week will feature two or more girls. If you are on the offensive TOTW, you cannot be on the defensive one.

Offence:

Quarterback: Sara Parker (3rd Down for What) 255 passing yards, 7 TDs, 154.4 QB rating

Receiver: Rico Tulino (Michael Scott’s Tots) 6 receptions, 84 receiving yards, 4 TDs

Receiver: Jonathan Hared (Kiss My End Zone) 8 receptions, 78 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Keiya Allen-Beckles (Yin&Yang) 2 receptions, 75 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Chris Milard (Drunk Again and Looking to Score) 4 receptions, 83 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver:  Olivia Sormany (Yin&Yang) 3 receptions, 47 receiving yards, 1 TD

Defence:

Rusher: Jeanne Boisvert (Black Mamba) 2 tackles, 1 sack

Defensive back: Raphael Ducas-Lapalme (Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce) 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

Defensive back: Kenny Boutilier (Michael Scott’s Tots) 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 defensive TD

Defensive back: Melissa Rochefort (Party Mix) 9 tackles

Defensive back: AJ Gomes (Michael Scott’s Tots) 2 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PDs defensive score

Defensive back: Frederique Potvin (Drunk Again and Looking to Score) 4 tackles, 1 PD

 

Week 6 Game of the Week:

Michael Scott’s Tots (43) vs Drunk Again and Looking to Score (33)

MST secured their first win of the season with a 44-33 win. Evan Ely Nolet was perfect in their win. He completed nearly 75% of his passes and tallied 176 yards and five scores in the process. Even more importantly, he avoided throwing any interceptions. A dominant Ely Nolet was only part of the equation to MST’s success. Crucially, they finally fielded their entire roster. On offence, Ely Nolet was glad to have his favorite target, Rico Tulino back in the line-up. The two connected on six occasions for 84 yards and an extremely impressive four scores. Kenny Boutilier also made his presence felt on offence with yet another strong outing. He caught four passes for fifty yards and a score. While Boutilier was good on offence, he was dominant on defence. His two interceptions, one of which he returned for a score were absolute game changers.            AJ Gomes finally made his second appearance of the season for MST and he had a fantastic game. With two defended passes and a pick six, he definitely was a ball hawk in MST’s secondary. While the defensive backs had a great game, MST’s rusher Zackary Alberts-Gill had a slightly more difficult time containing the elusive Rocco Christiano. While Alberts-Gill did manage a sack, Christiano ran three times for a total of sixty yards.

On Drunk Again and Looking to Score’s side of things, they had no problems moving the ball. Christiano passed for nearly as many yards (165) as his opposing number and just as many touchdowns (5). The problem were the three interceptions that he threw, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Without those two pick-sixes, DALS would probably have won this game. When Christiano wasn’t throwing the ball to the other team, he was mostly targeting the extremely talented Chris Milard. While Milard had yet another great game with four catches for 83 yards and two scores, it would be nice to see DALS spread the ball a bit more. By this stage in the season, any opposing defence who does their homework knows that Milard is their number one guy. Christiano needs to be ready for a team to cover Milard out of the game. When that happens, and it will, I am not sure he has developed the chemistry with other receivers to be successful. I know it is tempting to continuously target an elite talent like Milard, but an over dependence on a single receiver will come back to bite you. If DALS hope to have a long playoff run, they will need to start using all their receivers.

 

Week 9 Predictions:

Party Mix (4-2) vs Yin&Yang (2-4-1)

This should be an extremely intriguing matchup. Both of these teams have veteran quarterbacks who can march down the field five yards at a time. All season long, Yin&Yang’s worst enemy has been themselves. They have already forfeited two games and their carrousel at quarterback has cost them even more. It is nearly impossible to predict the outcome of this game because it depends entirely on which Y&Y team will show up. On the other hand, I know that Party Mix show up week in and week out. They are a consistent, level-headed team and I think those attributes will lead them to victory.

Prediction: Party Mix

Michael Scott’s Tots (1-3-1) vs Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (3-3)

In week six, we saw that Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce quarterback Jean-Felix Marquis has trouble when he is facing a strong rusher. When he cannot scramble around and buy time, his play becomes frantic and hurried. Unfortunately for Marquis, he will be facing one of the division’s very best rushers in week 9: Zackary Alberts-Gill. I think Alberts-Gill will cause Marquis problems all night long and eventually lead MST to their second win of the season.

Prediction: Michael Scott’s Tots

3rd Down for What (5-1) vs Midtown (4-2)

This should be one of the best matches of the week. Personally, I believe that these two teams are the best in co-ed and they will likely meet in the finals. If Midtown have shown us anything over the first six weeks of the season, it is that they struggle against a certain type of opponent: well organized defences that take away the long ball. 3rd Down for What have the athleticism of Alexis Gaumont and Jeremy Murphy to prevent the deep balls as well as the experience of many seasons to force Midtown to throw short.

Prediction: 3rd Down for What

Black Mamba (3-3) vs Michael Scott’s Tots (1-3-1)

Black Mamba have finally found a concept that works. Their offence relies upon deep crossing routes from their slot receiver and Edouard Leroux’s ability to scramble around in the pocket and find time until one of those crossing routes comes open. While that is an effective strategy, they don’t have many other offensive schemes to fall back on. An experienced team like MST will quickly see what Black Mamba are doing and take that away. Without those deep crossing routes, Mamba’s offence will quickly stall.

Prediction: Michael Scott’s Tots

Kiss My End Zone (2-4) vs Drunk Again and Looking to Score (2-4)

While these two teams have similar records, Kiss My End Zone has a +/- of -14 while Drunk Again and Looking to Score are at -66. KMEZ have managed to keep the score close against some of the best team’s in the division. In week six, they managed to score five times against co-ed’s top team. With players returning, their defence will tighten up as well.

Prediction: Kiss My End Zone

Sorry to get this article to you a bit late but hey, it’s not like there are any games this weekend… or next. I hope you all enjoy these long weekends as well as the nice weather which finally seems to have come to Montreal. To make the long wait go by a bit faster, I will be posting an article discussing each team’s performance so far and how I expect them to fare in the playoffs.

I hope you enjoyed the article and as always, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments.