Weekday Quarterback (D5) – Week 9

 

The 8th week of games came to a close on Sunday night and for the first time this season there is a little clarity in terms of the playoff picture in Division 5. That being said, clarity can be a subjective term, and even though some things have sorted themselves out, some things remain just as unclear and complex as the previous week. We have reached a point where there are a couple of teams that have the mentality of “win and you’re in” while others need to win the next two games and then hope for some help from others which is never a desirable position to be in. Top Spot in Conference A is going to be up for grabs this week as perhaps the most anticipated game of the season is going to take place between the Family and Sphinx. This should be an extremely entertaining matchup with two Quarterbacks that have great potential in this league. This may be the game that decides the fate of these two teams for the rest of the season. Win this one and the confidence will be through the roof for either side. Let’s hope that it lives up to the hype and we get a close and competitive game that we are all expecting. Before we look too far ahead, let’s take a step back and recap some of the action from the previous week.

(editor’s note: FPF Game of the Week (D5) Family vs Sphinx)

Week 8 Recap

There were a few close games this week but none were as exciting as the battle between the streaking Patriotes and the Recruits, who have ruffled a few feathers themselves this season. The Patriotes were the early favorites in my books and most likely in the minds of everyone else but the Recruits must have missed that memo as they stormed back in the second half with a dominant performance. Down 18-14 at halftime, the Recruits seemed to have found their game as they won the second half 18-6. The final score was 32-24 thanks to an unbelievable performance by Jeff Mather who went 14 for 24 for 226 yards passing and 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. His favorite target on the night was his snapper, Kirk Smith who had 7 catches for 79 yards and 3 touchdowns. This victory moves the Recruits above .500 and handed the Patriotes only their second loss of the season and also all but took away any hope they had of gaining that top spot in Conference A. Both these teams are headed to the playoffs and should be a tough out for anyone they face.

In another surprising game the Golden Eagles faced off against Team USA who just seem to never say die. While most of us wrote Team USA off after the injury to James Crowe, this team has shown unbelievable amounts of heart and courage. Whether this team wins the championship or not, I will give them all the credit in the world for being the team with the most heart and passion. They will not roll over and die, you better bring your best effort against these guys. The Golden Eagles have been notorious, this season, for getting moral victories, but not too many actual victories. This is another team that I have a lot of respect for and it’s excruciating to see them lose some of these games. After a close first half, the game come down to one score and Team USA was able to get the little edge that they needed to win this one. Jesse Blond was far from perfect at QB for Team USA but he got the one stat that mattered and that’s the victory.

 

 

The Park X Streets continued their winning ways with a 25-18 victory over the Love Cows who played most of the game with only 5 players. The strange part about this game is that it seemed like the Love Cows were playing better with only 5 guys. When the backup arrived the wheels fell off and Park X Street was able to pull away thanks to another impressive performance by the duo of Drew Saitanis and Niko Zarmalias. Park X Streets may be lucky to have drawn the weaker conference but that is no fault of theirs, and they continue to find ways to win games, which is the mark of a good team. They should be the favorites to win Conference B with Run’N’Wild being the other tough team to beat in the conference.

In Other News…

– The Family and Sphinx both continued their winning ways with victories over the Dawgs and Affreux respectively. They face off this week in the biggest game of the season in Divison 5 so far. I’m looking forward to it and all eyes will be on these teams this weekend.

– Run’N’Wild had another impressive performance, beating Pendant Publishing 39-20 in statement game. This team is going to make a serious run in the playoffs if they can continue to get the performances they’ve been getting from Jeff Lyall and Mark Guerriero.

– And finally, the Monstars got a much needed victory over the Wildkittens. Andrew Funamoto had a good night in the backfield with 3 touchdowns through the air while his teammate Moh Azab showed he’s better off catching passes after going 0 for 3 and an interception with his gadget plays.

Playoff Positioning

Conference A

1. Sphinx: All comes down to this week if they want to keep this spot.

2. The Family: Beat the Sphinx this week if you want that top seed.

3. The Patriotes: They lost a tough one this week but they will be back to make some noise this week I am sure of that.

4. The Recruits: They beat the Patriotes who are ahead of them in the Conference standings and maybe making a statement that they are not out of this race.

5. Team USA: Jumped one spot this week from number 6 by beating the Golden Eagles combined with an Affreux loss.

6. Affreux: The fall continues for this team, but they need to win one more game to clinch a playoff spot. Can they do it this week against the Dawgs? Better hope so, because the Recruits are waiting for them in the final week of the season.

Conference B

1. Park X Streets: As previously mentioned, these guys find ways to win, even if it’s not always pretty. They have something that other teams do not have and that is the ability to close out games.

2. Pendant Publishing: Lost this week and are still at number 2 with only 4 points under their belt. They have to thanks the Monstars for beating the Wildkittens which keep them atop their division.

3. Run’N’Wild: I feel bad for this team. They dominate games and should probably challenge for that top spot in the Conference but for that to happen they need to knock of the Park X Streets in 2 weeks time. Until then, they sit at number 3.

4. Lockdown: Lockdown beat up on the winless Wonderslugs with a fill-in QB this weekend and remain in the number 4 spot. They do have the Monstars breathing down their neck at this point and need to keep stringing some wins together. They have been much better in the second half of the season.

5. Monstars: Another team that stands pat at number 5 with a victory over the Wildkitten. They need a win and loss by the Lockdown next week for them to jump a spot in the standings. This team has also seemed to find its wings in the last few weeks. Can they keep it together?

6. Wildkittens: Same scenario for the Wildkittens this week as they had last week. A loss and Love Cows victory could push them out of the playoffs while a win and Pendant Publishing loss could move them up all the way to 2nd place. The madness continues in Conference B.

Tip Drill

Offensive Tip of the Week: Power Football?

We all know that what makes a good Flag Football offense is a good passing game but in the two lower divisions it seems as though the difference could be a good running attack. A lot of the good teams are finding other ways to get into the endzone in Division 4 and 5 and that means running the football on a consistent basis. I know many of the Flag Football Gurus may disagree with me on this, but if you can consistently gain 4-5 yards every second play on a run the by all means, do that.

Defensive Tip of the Week: Breaking Down on the Rush

One of the things I have been seeing a lot of is the rusher going full speed at the QB in the past couple of weeks. I may have mentioned this previously in the season but it is so important to the defense that I thought I should mention it again. It is not necessary to go all out on every QB because if you do they will often just step out of the way while the rusher goes whizzing by. Make sure to break down and get in front of him so that he feels the pressure on him.

With two weeks left in the season it looks as though we could have a few tight battles down to the end just like we expected. This weekend should be exciting with the two top teams in Division 5 going at it while others are fighting for their playoff lives. I wish everyone all the best and hopefully we will get another great week of football action. See you all this weekend!