Weekday Quarterback (D3) – Week 10

 

We have finally reached the week prior to the most exciting time in FlagPlus Football. Playoff time! It usually brings out the best in every team involved and historically we see some huge upsets of teams that look like they are bound for a championship run. While there does not seem to be a front runner for the Division 3 crown, there are still certain teams that have to watch out for that crucial trap game that sees a top seeded team lose out because they are focused on a future matchup. Like most of you, I am extremely excited for the games to start this weekend so why don’t we take a look at the matchups ahead and which ones could provide some really great first round games.

Conference A

Briscoe High Hawks (1) versus Darkhorses (8)

This is an interesting matchup for a one versus eight seed, as the Darkhorses are arguably better than a few of the teams ahead of them. However, they lost a crucial game last week versus Broccasion. Some have said that the Darkhorses did the right thing as DK may have been the tougher matchup for them. While that is debatable there are certain things that are facts and one of them is that the Briscoe High Hawks have not faced a defense as tough as the one they will face this weekend. Scott Kelly will get a chance to prove that he is the real deal against some of the most experienced defenders in division three. Rick Cummins, Wesley Joseph, Jason Prince, Jason Edwards and Kenton Lowe will be a tough group for the Hawks to deal with come game time. How will Gordon Stanway and Adam Bailey matchup with those DB’s and will the 3rd and 4th receiver options be crucial for the Hawks this week? The answers are still up in the air, but it should make for a good matchup.

Pick: N/A

Warriors (2) versus Snookers (7)

The Warriors have been arguably the best team in division three as they’ve been beaten both the D-Boys and the one-loss Briscoe High Hawks. That being said, they have had some slip ups this season and also narrowly escaped an upset on another occasion. If Norman Weekes is at his best in the playoffs, the Warriors will be very hard to beat no matter who they play. They have a very well-run offense that relies on good timing and execution. If they bring their A game on the offensive side of the ball there are few teams that can stop them. Nicky Mcguire, Dean Demetriou and Nicola Centomo have been great as receivers and will give any defense a fit trying to match up. In order for the Snookers to win this game, they will need to get a more consistent effort from the start of the game. If Tony Tabet does not take the majority of the snaps in this game, the Snookers will lose and likely lose big. Tabet gives them the ability to slow the game down and keep pace with the Warriors offense. Andre John and Eric Kavaldjian will need to have superb games as receivers and will probably need to produce on the defensive side of the ball as well. There could be an upset in this game but it would seem very unlikely.

Pick: Warriors 30 – Snookers 20

Dirty Birds (3) versus Rude Bwoys (6)

Check the stat line from the first time these two teams met this season before reading the next paragraph. I understand my criticism of the Rude Bwoys might be tough, but it is hard to disagree with what I say because most of it comes from looking strictly at numbers. The Rude Bwoys started the season 5-0 and finished 6-4. That is not a very good second half of the season and one of those loses came at the hands of the Dirty Birds, in a lopsided (52-12) game. The Dirty Birds had 8 interceptions in that game and 4 of them were returned for touchdowns. That being said, Eugene McLaren gives this team a new dynamic and could cause problems for the Dirty Birds. I recant my statement from the WEPL this week as I forgot to take McLaren into consideration. If he plays a strong game, this could be an extremely tight matchup. On the other side of the coin, the Dirty Birds head into the playoffs with a lot of confidence and have had a very strong season that included a division title. Jon Young, Matt and Eric Bishara, Gordan Hogan, David Hurley, and Victor Kozloswski all had very strong statistical seasons and that depth causes a lot of problems for other teams. Who on the Dirty Birds do you put your best guys against? Every member of the team has proven that they can produce if given the opportunity and the Rude Bwoys will need to find a way to slow down this offense if they plan on pulling off the upset.

Pick: Dirty Birds 32- Rude Bwoys 24

Broccasion (4) versus DK (5)

Could DK be one of the best five seeds of all time? Led by Rochdi Benabdelkader, Steve Tassy, Marc Lachapelle and Jamal Pierre, DK has shown that they can beat anyone in division three, yet even with only two losses, they begin the playoffs as a 5th seed. Rochdi has shown everyone that he can win games as a QB and he has built this team to fit his style of offense, based on short passing and smart routes. It is very frustrating for any defense trying to stop a team that very rarely takes big risks. With Jamal Pierre in the lineup, DK has one of the best red zone threats in all of FPF, bar none. Broccasion has quietly had one of the best defenses in the division and with players such as Kyle Lebofsky, Guillaume De Palma, Steve Hodhod and Alec Cerantola. They may be able to create enough turnovers to keep this game very tight. Broccasion will definitely need to get a better performance out of QB Kristian Cerantola, who has not given this team enough on the offensive side of the ball so far this season.

Pick: DK 24 – Broccasion 20

Conference B

Served with Ice (1) versus Trojans (8)

Served with Ice has been one of the biggest surprises so far this season as their very young team has found ways to win games against teams with a lot of experience in this league. It helps to have great leadership and that’s exactly what Vince Nardone has brought to the table along with his superior athletic ability. Jordan Panetta is asked to steer the ship of a young team that has great playoff expectations even though they have very little playoff experience. Panetta, the Loyola High School and John Abbott College alumnus, has been playing great football so far this season, but his greatest quality is protecting the ball. Very rarely do we see a young QB make such good decisions with the football. He is surrounded by some great athletes including Pascal Tshilambo, who has quickly become one of the best and most dangerous players in division three. In order for the Trojans to win this game they are going to need to keep the ball out of the hands of Panetta and force Served with Ice to spend a lot of energy on defense. Slowing down the pace of this game may be exactly what Sean Avraam plans to do in order to frustrate the young Served with Ice team. The Trojans are going to need a much better effort than they got in the regular season, as a team that was expected to contend in Conference B.

Pick: Served with Ice 28 – Trojans 18

D-Boys (2) versus Cobras (7)

Danny Gentile stepped in for Gino Di Fazio at QB this season and has done a tremendous job for the D-Boys. The real question is how far he can take this team in a loaded conference. There will be very few easy games from here on in and it starts with a game against the Cobras, who played the D-Boys very tight this season. In the first matchup between these two teams, the D-Boys edged out the Cobras 32-30 and both QB’s threw for 5 touchdowns. The difference in this game was an interception by Jeff Chabot off of Alex Lever. Can the Cobras get the same kind of performance they did earlier in the season and maybe even improve on it? They will need to find a way to get a stop against a D-Boys offense that seemed to have very little trouble the first time they met. Antonio Lanni will be a big time threat to watch as he finished the season with 25 touchdown receptions. Who on the Cobras will make it their goal to shut him down in a crucial playoff matchup? Anthony Comeau seems to have been the best shutdown corner for the Cobras and may be asked to accept that challenge this weekend.

Pick: D-Boys 30 – Cobras 23

SWAT (3) versus Maniax (6)

One of my favourite things to watch come playoff time is the matchup between any team put together by Gino Di Fazio and the Maniax. You just know that you are going to see some incredible athletes on both sides of the ball as Di Fazio finds great athletes year after year and the Maniax always have a team packed with a deadly combination of strength and speed. Tony Khoury and the Maniax were able to upset the Terminators in the division B playoffs during the spring and will be looking to do the same thing this weekend. Will the Maniax tough man-to-man defence create problems for Nathan Thompson? There are very few teams that have guys who can play against Shawn Haney and Don Shepherd in the red zone but the Maniax have the guys to do it. Another question mark is the QB position for the Maniax. Can this team get enough out of Justin Lavallee to knock off a serious championship contender? If Godrey Abu and Jean Richard Verger have strong games, SWAT could be looking at an early playoff exit.

Pick: Maniax 32- Swat 30

Terror Squad (4) versus GPK (5)

GPK was on a tear at one point this season before running into a wall known as the SWAT defense. They bounced back with a 42-point performance, albeit versus a non-playoff opponent, but it was enough to convince me that this team was mentally tough enough to right the ship come week one of the playoffs. Mike Stagg has not been given enough credit for his play this season and he has done it by spreading the ball out to all his receivers. Matt Brethour and Erik Lagarde are the two most athletic guys on GPK no matter what the numbers say and they will need to play very well in the next few weeks as they will face very tough matchups in Conference B . Terror Squad did exactly what I predicted they would do, which was knock the Bandits out of the playoffs in the final week of the season. ‘Receiver of the Year’ Alex Giroux is going to have his hands full this weekend as he will be asked to step his game up even more now that the playoffs have begun. Tam Vilaydeth has managed to put together a very feisty team that fears no one and they have shown improvement throughout the season. The real question is will their defence be able to hold up against quality opponents? They gave up a lot of points this season and will need to cut back if they want to move on to the second round. Expect a lot of points in this game.

Pick: GPK 35- Terror Squad 32

 

I hope you all enjoyed the article this week and I look forward to watching some of the great games on deck this coming weekend. Have a great week and good luck to all the teams competing on Saturday and Sunday.