Weekday Quarterback (Div D) – Week 11

            Playoff football always leads to a few surprises. Not a year goes by without there being an upset that very few people see coming. Division D saw its fair share of surprises all season long and it continued this weekend with a huge upset win by a team that has joined FPF, and made its mark in their inaugural season.

Maximum Carnage, led by Brian Mongeau, found a way to knock off the heavily favored Cowboys in a very close game. The key for Maximum Carnage was that they got off to quick start and were able to jump out to a two score lead at halftime. That quick start allowed them to hold off the Cowboys, although just barely, until the final whistle. Maximum Carnage has proven that they can come up big when most people have counted them out. They have now beaten the two best teams in their conference this season in Mongoose and now the Cowboys. In the other three games this weekend things went pretty much according to plan. Most people would have expected there to be a blow out win for the Patriotes over the Time Bombs, which was the case, and that the other two games would come down to one score.

The Monstars and Lockdown played their fourth game in the last two seasons and once again it was the Monstars that won the games that really counted. Neither team had a strong performance, which seems to be a common theme when these two teams play against each other. Both offenses seem to have trouble getting anything going when they play their rival, and it often comes down to which defense can make the most plays for their team. In this case, it was the Monstars who managed to create three turnovers. Akeem-Hoyte Charles made the difference for the Monstars with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

The Golden Eagles and Park X Streets matchup looked like it would be the most interesting matchup of round 1 and the two teams did not disappoint as the two were only separated by a score. After beating the Golden Eagles in week 10, Park X Streets were very confident and felt that this was their game to lose. The Golden Eagles understood that last week was not their best performance and that they would need a better showing from almost everyone if they were going to move on. Neither QB threw for more than 100 yards in this game which is a bit strange, considering the score was still 24-19. Drew Saitanis was 13-23 for 90 yards while Kevin Lubin was 10-20 for 55 yards. The difference between the two was that Saitanis threw two interceptions while Lubin did not throw any. Not only did Saitanis throw two interceptions, but one of them was returned for a touchdown which ended up being the 6 points the Golden Eagles would need to maintain the victory.

Moving on to this week’s games.

Conference A

(1)   Eagles vs Monstars

            The first matchup of the week sees the heavily favored and undefeated Eagles take on a resilient Monstars team that just never seems to go away. In their previous matchup this season, the Eagles beat up on the Monstars 40-19. Will the pressure of being the number one seed affect how the Eagles play their game? It’s very unlikely that they will be fazed at this point in the playoffs after crushing most teams throughout the regular season. Eagles have some veteran players and are led by Jonathan Goyette who has been to championship game in the past with the Triple Sixers. His experience and leadership will be extremely valuable in the coming weeks.

The Eagles have an absolutely killer defense that will try and smother the offense of the Monstars. They will be keying in on Akeem Hoyte Charles and Moh Azab. If they can eliminate those two receivers, will Andrew Funamoto begin to panic? If Funamoto cannot find ways to get rid of the ball quickly he will be in serious trouble due to the furious pressure applied by all star rusher Gabriel Lapensee of the Eagles. Obviously the key to this matchup is the Monstars offense. They need to maintain ball control for as long as possible and try to squeeze out their possessions. That is their only chance of keeping this game close.

Prediction – Eagles 34- Monstars 14

Key Player – Gabriel Lapensee

 

(2)   Tyrants vs (3) Patriotes

I think we can all agree that this matchup involves a number 3 seed that is actually the favorite to win the game. The Patriotes were the number three seed because they were second in their division behind the Eagles but it is fair to assume that they are the second best team in conference A. This game involves the league’s most valuable quarterback in Etienne Chauvin and also his two all star receivers in Mathieu Belanger and Sebastien Pereda. How can the Tyrants slow down this offense? It will take a solid pass rush and a few lucky breaks to contain them. Everyone knows that the Tyrants beat the Patriotes earlier this season and that might actually be the worst thing that could have happened to the Tyrants. The Patriotes are going to come into this game extremely hungry knowing that they lost to a team they feel they are much better than. Etienne Chauvin was not present for that loss and I’m sure is very eager to show the Tyrants how good he really is.

The Tyrants need to do exactly what the Monstars are going to try and do to the Eagles which is slow the game down. The longer you keep the high powered offense of the Patriotes off the field, the better chance they have to win this game. John Kaliotzakis should do his best to run short routes and try and use up all the offense downs that they can before punching the ball in to the endzone. David Lobe has been the most productive defender for the Tyrants this season and they will need him to have a big game in containing at least one of the two all star receivers for the Patriotes. They will need a superb team effort in the secondary in order to stop the Patriotes from hitting on the big play.

Prediction – Patriotes 40 – Tyrants 21

Key Player – Mathieu Belanger

 

Conference B

(1)   Mongoose vs (6) Maximum Carnage

The classic matchup of the top seed vs the final team to get to the big dance. Can Maximum Carnage shock the world and defeat Mongoose for a second time this season after defeating the favorite Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs? I wouldn’t be willing to bet my house on it but it is a definite possibility. Maximum Carnage must be flying high after last week’s huge win and really have nothing to fear after already beating Mongoose once this season. If we are to look at who is the best team just based on their athletes, it would be hard to pick against Mongoose but as we have seen in the past, it is more than just about athletic ability. Maximum Carnage needs to use the same style of play that they used last week in order to beat the Cowboys. They may not have moved the ball extremely well but they got big plays when they needed them. Creating turnovers and potentially getting points off of those turnovers will be the key for Maximum Carnage in this game.

Mongoose will be without one of its best players in Jason Lachapelle this weekend, but the team remains confident that they can without him for one week. They will need to rely on Alexandre Gaudet’s arm to win this game. He needs to avoid making mistakes because if he does start turning the ball over, that is how his team can lose this game. If Mongoose can avoid turnovers and control the speed of the game then they will not lose. They have too many playmakers and will be excited to get a shot at revenge versus the only team to beat them this season.

Prediction – Mongoose 28 – Maximum Carnage 20

Key Player – Alexandre Gaudet

 

(2)   X- Men vs (5) Golden Eagles

Expect an extremely exciting matchup between these two teams as we get to see two of the best athletes in division D face off against one another. The Golden Eagles’ Kevin Lubin will get a chance to shutdown the world tallest man, Nicholas Abelhauser. The X-Men and Golden Eagles played each other in week 2 and the X-Men came out on top by a score of 32-19. Abelhauser had 111 yards and 2 touchdowns in that game. The Golden Eagles absolutely need to shut him down if they want to slow down the X-Men offense. I have been saying that for weeks but it is obvious that it’s much easier said than done. I would not be surprised to see a double team of Lubin and St Fleur in order to keep Abelhauser under wraps. Offensively the Golden Eagles will try and get the ball to Alex Guertin who was a top receiver all season long but did not see much of the ball in the first round versus Park X Streets.

The X-Men have a simple game plan which is get the ball to Abelhauser who has 556 yards receiving this season to go along with his 13 touchdowns. The next receiver on the X-Men has only 147 yards. The X-Men will try and hit on the big play downfield to get on the board quickly. Turning this into a shoot out may be exactly what the X-Men want. This is the most unpredictable game of the weekend and I truly believe it is a complete tossup. There really is no favorite in this game and it will come down to who has a better game plan.

Prediction – Golden Eagles 28 – X-Men 20

Key Player – Levin Lubin