Weekday Quarterback (D3) – Week 13

And then there were two.

The conference finals have come and gone and within a week we will be crowning a new champion in Division 3 of FlagPlus Football. The Darkhorses and GPK have found themselves at a direct crossroad and the only way to become a champion runs through the other team.

Both teams have been clutch over the last few weeks and it was never more evident than in their conference final games. The Darkhorses managed to sneak out a two point victory in overtime versus DK who was led by one of the most accomplished players in FlagPlus history, Rochdi Benabdelkader. Leon Holder threw his first interception of the post-season, but the Darkhorses came through when it mattered most and are now off to the finals as an 8th seed from Conference A.

GPK struggled a little bit offensively in comparison to the way they have played over the past few weeks, but they got exactly what they needed; a strong defensive effort led by defensive captain Matthew Smith. GPK’s defense picked Sean Avraam off four times, twice in the red zone. Those are the kinds of plays that make all the difference when you are making a push for a championship. Even with their offensive struggles in this game, GPK managed to pull off a 20-19 victory over a very talented and experienced Trojans team. If the championship game is anywhere as exciting as the conference finals were, then we should be in for a great show in Brossard this weekend.

It has been a very strange ride for those of us who have followed D3 from the beginning of the season. I decided to take a look back at some of my old articles from earlier this season to show you how much of an “expert” I really am. I will start by telling you that my early season favourite to win it all was the Monarchs. Fast forward ten weeks and the Monarchs were on the outside looking in when it came to the playoff matchups. I did not get off to a hot start. Here is what I had to say about the GPK in my second article this season.

GPK falling off the map following a second consecutive loss

GPK has managed to stay under the radar for the past few seasons despite the fact they have been a consistent team that wins enough games to sneak into the playoffs. They found ways to win games when they needed them most and are much better than what meets the eye. Their issue comes down to playoff success. Before they can worry about the playoffs they are going to need to find a way to put some wins in the bank in the next few weeks. As the season goes on it becomes more and more difficult to win games when teams realize they are fighting for their playoff lives. GPK is going to need to get more out of Erik Lagarde, who is a phenomenal athlete, as well as Matthew Brethour, who played a big part in the success of PWW in the spring season. Sliding under the radar is no longer an option for this team and I would not be surprised to see them turn it around but time can run out very quickly. They get a chance to get back in it with consecutive games against the Titans and Sandlot Saints who both have zero wins on the season.

I will start by addressing the headline. I obviously could not have been more wrong when I mentioned that GPK was falling off the map following their 0-2 start. Following that article however, GPK won 7 straight and I never mentioned them as a team likely to fizzle again. It took all the genius in me to call that one. I do take pride however, in saying that I thought this team would find ways to win games when it really mattered. It just so happened that the next 7 weeks really mattered to this team. They managed to get themselves in the thick of things in Conference B and at one point, looked like they could win their conference before being brought back to earth by a very good SWAT team later in the season. After meeting Mike Stagg and Matthew Smith for the first time this past weekend, I have to say that this team has a very quiet confidence that could go a long way when it comes to a crucial game or even a crucial play. They do not seem intimidated at all by the very important task at hand and it seemed to me as though they really felt like this game is theirs to lose.

While it did not take me very long this season to write about GPK and their faults, the scary part about the Darkhorses is that it took me six weeks to even mention them in an article. This goes to show you that I truly did not see this run coming. While I missed the boat on the Darkhorses as a collective unti, there was one shining moment for me, as I thought I may have found a diamond in the rough in Leon Holder. Here is a part of my article from week six.

VPC falls for the second consecutive week to the surging Darkhorses

The final score in this game was 33-32 and if I were to tell you that the two quarterbacks in this game were Robbie Robinson and Leon Holder, who would you want behind center for your team? I think the majority of people would choose Robbie Robinson in any game but especially in a game that is so tightly contested. The reality is that so far this season both of these quarterbacks have passed for the same number of touchdowns and have thrown the same number of interceptions. Perhaps we are seeing the rise of a new star in Leon Holder who threw 5 touchdowns in this game without throwing an interception. Robbie Robinson threw 4 touchdowns but threw 2 interceptions and in a game this close, every turnover counts.

In all honesty, I would never have expected this prediction to come true. It looked as though Leon Holder was finding his game for a few weeks and I jumped on board. However, as soon as he struggled I was one of the first people to get off that bandwagon. I will not pretend that I saw this coming for Leon Holder and he has surpassed all expectations thus far. His 16 touchdown passes are a remarkable number through three playoff games and while I may have been quick to judge his skills when he struggled, I am ‘man’ enough to swallow my pride and say that I was wrong about a very talented up and coming Quarterback in this league.

Now that we have settled how good a fortune teller I am, we can get to this week’s finals matchup between GPK and the Darkhorses. I have run out of adjectives to describe the playoff run that the Darkhorses are on this season, as I did not really feel they had a great chance of winning any of their playoff games this season, particularly the first two. There was a point when it looked like the Darkhorses would not make the playoffs and it seemed that their days were numbered once they did get in. To their credit, they have shown a great degree of character and beat very tough opponents along the way. The play of the aforementioned Leon Holder has a lot to do with their playoff success, but a lot of it comes from how well their role players have played for them down the stretch. In recent articles I have mentioned how important guys like Sean Kennedy, Jason Edwards, Wesley Joseph, and Kenton Lowe have been. The guys I have not mentioned have been very good as well and have chipped in when they are needed. Doogie Mckernan, Terry Tamvakologos, and Rob White are all extremely talented players and when your team has depth guys like that, you are in a very good position to win on a weekly basis. All this leads me to say that congratulations are in order for GM Kolethras who has managed to put together a very good football team and the most important part is that he got them to gel in time to make a deep playoff run. There are no passengers on this team and that says a lot about a team that has a fairly big roster.

GPK are a team of friends first, and often it is teams like this that have very little trouble finding chemistry yet they needed a few years to make a serious run for a title. GPK has managed to do that now and I think a lot of the credit goes to Mike Stagg for his phenomenal season. After speaking with him this past week, I can tell that this is a guy who has what it takes to be a winner. His attitude is fantastic and the respect that he has for his teammates is really nice to see from a guy who had such a great season as an individual. Stagg was quick to mention guys who get no credit on this team, such as Ryan Joyce, who has been a big part of this team offensively and defensively this season. When you see a Quarterback willing to share the spotlight with the other guys on his team it is obvious why guys are willing to go the extra mile to make plays for him on a weekly basis. When discussing who could be a factor this weekend, Stagg told me that he thought Matthew Brethour could be a huge factor because of the fact that he plays on the same side as top receiver Erik Lagarde. I expect both Legarde and Brethour to have big games as Lagarde is a top flight talent and the always solid Brethour has played in championship games in the past; most recently he played in the spring Division B final for Prestige World Wide.

If I had to choose two guys who I thought were going to the difference in the game, I think I’d prefer to refrain, because the evidence above shows my talent for telling the future is not too good! However, I would have to say that Sean Kennedy will have a big game for the Darkhorses and that Matthew Smith will be the difference for GPK.

I will take GPK to win this game by a score of 26 – Darkhorses 24 and I think it will come down a red zone stand for the victory. I hate to pick between these two teams because they both deserve a lot of credit for what they have done this season, but unfortunately there can only be one champion.

Make sure to take a look at the press conference this week as both of these teams let us know a bit more about their teams and both seemed extremely confident in themselves heading into the game this Saturday. We hope to see you all there this weekend for the Road Show. Come on out and give you peers some support in their big game. Good luck to all those involved this weekend.