Wolverines and Longhorns get their first W’s!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Week 6 of the FlagPlus Football Jr. Division. With the power back on and working and properly at the Stinger Dome, we had some great football once again from the juniors.

All three matchups required mid and late-game heroics to decide a winner – and in one case, we were witnesses to a piece of history as we saw the first ever tie in FPF Jr, a 38-38 tie between the Tigers and Buckeyes. After 5 weeks of action, without a shadow of a doubt, this past weekend was the most exciting week to date. All the players and coaches should be proud of themselves.

Week 5 gave us our first glimpse of several new-look rosters in the Sophomore Division. The moving pieces were Malik James and Jayden Hogan going from the Longhorns to the Crimson Tide, and Juwan Edghill going from the Hurricanes to the Longhorns. These moves were made in an attempt to balance out the competition amongst the three teams, which in turn leads to more fun for everybody involved.

All three players made an instant impact on their new squads. Despite the Tide’s loss this past Saturday, it was clear that Hogan and James brought a mix of speed and high football IQ to an already potent offensive attack.

Edghill was phenomenal in his Longhorns debut.  He made play after play for his new team, but none bigger than his interception of Tide QB Avery Lalla in the second half while the pivot’s team was driving. What made the play stand out was the fact that the INT came exactly one play after Longhorn QB Conor Tomalty was picked off by Tide Defensive Back Alexi Dubois in the Redzone. The turnover not only gave his team the ball back, but killed any momentum that the Crimson Tide looked to build.

 

High Five

 

Competition – As I said earlier, all 3 games on Saturday were edge-of-your-seat, action-filled contests that came down to the wire. While a lot of the games this season have been entertaining and competitive, this is the first time that all 3 games on the same day have been that way. Here’s to hoping this coming weekend will be just as exciting as last.

 

Roster Moves – In last week’s column, I talked about the trades that took place between the Longhorns, Crimson Tide and Hurricanes that saw Malik James go to the Tide along with Jayden Hogan, and Juwan Edghill go to the Longhorns. The swaps worked out great for both the Longhorns- who recorded their first win, and the Crimson Tide, who despite their loss, seem to have added some key components. Edghill in particular really made his presence felt, as he accounted for 2 INTs, 1 passing TD, 1 receiving TD, and ran for 108 yards on 5 carries. Impressive indeed.

 

Max Arnovitz – My fellow 49er fan dominated the competition Saturday afternoon. From the first play of the game- where he took a 5-yard hook and ran it another 35 yards for a TD, he made his presence felt in a huge way. Whenever his team needed a big play on offense, his quarterbacks Jaeden Edghill and Joshua Riddoch went Arnovitz’s way.

 

Wolverines Defense – As any football player or coach will tell you, it’s all about what you do when the game is on the line that defines who you are as a player. With their backs against the wall, and the game on the line, the Wolverines’ defense stepped up. The pass rush provided by speedy rusher Brayden Bevan really flustered the Buckeyes’ QBs. Bevan came through with 2 sacks in the second half, one of which on a huge play late in the game. Camdyn Jeremiah and Joshua Taylor also came up with huge interceptions that not only gave their team the ball and stopped their opponents’ drives, but also energized their sideline. The final play of the game is where the Wolverines’ defense came through the most. Jaeden Edghill who was pilling up the rushing decided to take the game into his own hands and went running for the endzone. After breaking out at least 2 would be tackles, Edghill appeared to have the angle as he was running towards the front right pylon. At the last second he was stopped short of paydirt on a great tackle by Hayden Lebel-Latter just inside the 5 yard line. Ball game over. Wolverines win.

 

The Wolverines and the Longhorns – After starting the season on a losing streak, each team picked up their first win of the year this past weekend. While the swagger and confidence the Longhorns showed after the contest was great to see after suffering some ugly losses, the look of pure jubilation on the faces of the Wolverines after ending the game with a touchdown saving tackle was priceless. Congrats to both squads on a well-deserved win. Hopefully it’ll be the start of many more.

                                     

Matchups

 

Longhorns (Jr.) vs Crimson Tide (Jr.) – I know I’m cheating here a little bit on this one, but last week’s game was so good, that I can’t wait to see this round.  You can expect the Longhorns team looking to build off of the Week 5 win, while the Tide will be looking for revenge with defeat still fresh of their mind.

 

Buckeyes (Jr.) vs Wolverines (Jr.) – The same thing applies for the Freshman Division, where these two teams fought to a 38-38 tie. Will we see a winner this time around, or will both teams make history again by becoming the first two teams in FPF to tie  each other for a second week in a row?

 

The new Crimson Tide O vs the Hurricanes D – This could be a showdown for the ages. The Canes took the Week 1 matchup 45-12, but that was against the old Crimson Tide offense. With the aforementioned new additions of James and Hogan to go along with Reece Woods, and (Little Gronk) Dalton Paradis (seriously, Paradis has underrated speed, and is very effective at bodying out DBs for the ball) these guys should be able to put up points. Obviously, doing that against their opponents this week will be easier said than done as the ‘Canes have the overwhelmingly best D in FPF Jr. This has the potential to be a great game. I am glad I’ll be there to see it this Saturday.

 

Picks

Longhorns (Jr.) vs Crimson Tide (Jr.) – Longhorns – Beating a team twice in a season is hard. Beating them twice two weeks is extremely hard, but that’s what the Longhorns will have to do if they want to continue the momentum off of their first win of the season. Nonetheless, the Longhorns seem to have exposed some tendencies in the Crimson Tide defense, I expect them to do so again.

 

Buckeyes (Jr.) vs Tigers (Jr.) – Tigers – For the second time in two weeks these two teams square off. Last week’s tie aside, the Tigers have the Buckeyes’ number having defeated them 30-18 in Week 1. For the Buckeyes, it will come down to containing QB Trey Bentley. In two games against the Buckeyes so far this year, he has thrown for a remarkable 7 TDs. Part of the solution will be the rushi provided by the super quick Maya Di Fazio. The soccer player turned flag football player has some of the quickest feet I’ve ever seen. Her solid foot work has transitioned to the gridiron, and is serving her well. It will only be a matter of time before her sack total starts to get traction. Until then however, I am going with the Tigers.

 

Crimson Tide Jr.) vs Hurricanes (Jr.) – Hurricanes – Playing two games in one day is tough no matter how old you are. Having the second game come against a rested and undefeated Hurricanes squad, puts the Crimson Tide at a further disadvantage. In their Week 1 encounter, the Canes dominated defensively shutting down the Tide in the first half, on the way to a 45-12 victory. One of the reasons for their success was the 4 sacks provided by rusher Adam Mahrouse. Tide QB Avery Lalla will need big performances out of under-rated players like Andrew Colucci, Eric Crotty, the Castro brothers (Diego and Jose), and Alexei Dubois who had a great game on defense for his team last week. I am tepted to pick the Tide here, but I think the Hurricanes will find a way to pull it out.

 

That’s it for this week. I will see you guys on the sideline this Saturday.

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt I left something out, don’t be shy. You can shoot me a tweet at @BADNEWS51.