Weekday Quarterback (D5) – Quarter-Finals

 

We are now one week away from finding out who will go head to head in the inaugural division 5 championship game. If the games from the past week are any sign of what is to come in the future then we should be in for quite the final two weeks. Being at all the games this weekend was an absolute pleasure for me and I have to admit it was some of the most interesting football of the season. Some teams advanced like expected, even if it was with a little difficulty, while others continued their hot streak all the way to the conference finals. We should not be surprised by the upsets in division 5, because a theme has developed this season which is: anything can and anything will happen. We have four teams remaining and while two of them are no surprise to anyone, the other two have shocked the world with their play through the first two weeks of the playoffs. Let’s get to recaps from last week’s games before previewing the conference finals.

Round Two Recaps

In the first game of the night, we were treated to a great game by two teams who had one the tightest defensive games of the regular season. Both defenses came to play again on this night as the Golden Eagles had four takeaways, in a losing effort, while Sphinx had three takeaways. After taking the lead early in the second half, the Golden Eagles just could not stay ahead. The Sphinx offense was able to get two crucial scores thanks to the play of Etienne Cloutier, who found a way to rebound after a tough start. Sphinx took the game 19-12 which was well deserved but let’s give credit where credit is earned. The Golden Eagles are a team on the rise and deserve a lot of respect for what they did this season. Sphinx moves on to the conference finals where they belong after such a strong season.

The second game of the night saw the Wildkittens go up against the Monstars, in a game that saw the lower seed as the favorite to win. This did not have the look of a playoff game from the start as both teams were extremely sloppy. The Monstars went back to their early season form where things were not going their way. Andrew Funamoto failed to reach 60 yards passing which is not only his fault but the Monstars needed a better performance from their team overall. I do not want to take any credit away from the Wildkittens, who continued to be opportunists this season. I did not believe in the Wildkittens at all in this game but Matthieu Sola continues to make plays when it counts even if he struggles for large periods of time. In the end it won’t matter how he gets the job but rather, if, he gets the job done, and he has during the past couple of games. More importantly, the Wildkittens got a huge lift from their defense with an interception for a touchdown in the second half which made the difference as they won the game 20-12.

The big shocker of the week came from who else but the Love Cows. Not only did they win this game, they dominated the number one seed in Conference B, Run’N’Wild. I am officially a believer in this team of destiny. I really thought that this would be the end of the line for the Love Cows but the entire team was very confident in themselves and it showed from the get go as they jumped all over Run’N’Wild and its star Mark Guerriero. The Love Cows were able to contain Guerriero like no other team as they held him to 33 yards and no touchdowns. Not only did they shut him down but their defense was able to muster up three interceptions. The offensive output from the Love Cows was just as impressive. A great performance from receiver Kevin Savard was the difference in my opinion. He was running excellent routes against a defense that could not contain him at all. Savard finished with 5 catches for 73 yards and 3 touchdowns. The final score was 42-20.

The final game of the night was an OT thriller between the emotionally charged Affreux and the favored Family. Prior to this game I predicted a huge victory for the Family and I did not expect much resistance from Affreux. They proved me wrong and I was extremely happy to be wrong because this game entertained me from start to finish. Affreux did a great job of hanging in with a team that has an explosive offense. Mathieu Domon, who played his best game of the season, tried to give his team its biggest win as a franchise but came up a little short in overtime. Maxime Forget continued his great play behind center for the Family with 4 touchdown passes and over 200 yards passing while Maxime Couture had 2 touchdowns and 61 yards receiving to lead the Family’s receiving core. Affreux proved a lot in this game and deserve lots of respect, especially from me, after I predicted they would get blown out. Just goes to show that any team can do anything if they really play to their potential. The final score was 27-26.

Conference Finals Preview

Conference A Final: Sphinx and The Family

Sphinx will look to win their 12th straight game of the season as they play the Family for the second time this season. The first game was to decide who would take the number 1 seed in the conference and Sphinx won that game 36-32 in a close affair. I expect the same thing from this game. Both teams had a little bit of difficulty last week, but I expect both to be much better in the conference finals. The matchup to look for in this game is which QB will perform better. Etienne Cloutier and Maxime Forget are the two best signal callers in the division and both want to establish themselves as the best. This game could be what we look at when debating over which had the better season. In the receiving department, you have to look at the matchup between Sphinx’s Raymond Barriselle and the Family’s Maxime Couture. They lead their respective teams in receiving and will be counted on to make big plays. Both teams are going to need a tremendous defensive performance because both can put up big points if they get on a roll. In a game where both offenses are great, I believe the team that gets the big defensive play will win the game.

Prediction: Sphinx 30 – Family 28

 

 

Conference B Final: Love Cows and Wildkittens

Did anyone out there see this coming? A show of hands for those who thought the Love Cows would be playing the Wildkittens in the Conference Finals…..No one? I didn’t think so. These are two teams that no one expected to see this far into the season. Both teams were from the “weak” North Division of Conference B and both won only 3 games in the regular season. What makes this story so great is that these are two teams that get the job done thanks to a great team effort. There is no one person to point to on either team that has been the difference down the stretch. Both teams are getting big plays from the QB’s when it matters, but it seems that it’s always a different player each game that comes up with the play that turns the game. It is always good to see teams that gel together when it matters and make a run. Both of these teams fit that category and it will be sad to see either one miss out on an opportunity to play in the finals. I have to give the nod to the Love Cows just because of the opponents they have beaten in the past two weeks. They started by beating the one loss Park X Streets and then beating the top ranked Run’N’Wild team. The Wildkittens will look to get some big plays from Adrien Desautois, who has been their best receiver and Matthieu Sola while the Love Cows will try to do what they’ve done best which is spread the ball around. The difference in this game could come down to who gets off to the better start. I think we could be in for another exciting game.

Prediction: Love Cows 21- Wildkittens 20

One week to go and only two more games to watch before we get down to the final weekend of the season. I hope everyone has enjoyed the playoffs as much as I have and surely we still have the best games ahead of us. Remember to come out watch the finals in two weekends and support the teams trying to win a championship as well as enjoy the Road Show brought to you by FlagPlus Football. See you all this weekend and best of luck to all those competing in the conference finals.