Women shine in week 8 of Co-ed Action

Another week of games, and another bye week. But there is good news, this bye week was the last of the regular season. For the first time in weeks, there are back to back games coming up. This week, I am going back to the usual format. A special thanks to Nicolas Belleau who wrote this week’s game of the week segment to give the article a bit of French content. You have waited long enough for your next article, without further ado, let’s jump right into this week’s article.

 

Bargains of the Week:

Sara Parker (3DW): Another week and another impressive performance by Sara Parker. The only blemish on her passing record this week was her one interception. After four weeks without throwing a single interception, she threw one this week against SAVAGE but she more than made up for that one pick by throwing a mind boggling seven touchdowns to lead her team to a 46-39 victory. To go along with those seven scores, she also passed for 251 yards and completed nearly 70% of her passes. Despite having a low enough passer rating to throw in co-ed division 2, Sara Parker has established herself as the best QB in division 1.

Catherine Fortier (ATH Squad): Y&Y quarterback Michael Roy loves to throw the ball deep and scramble around behind the line of scrimmage. When Catherine Fortier saw the way he was playing, she must have realized she was about to eat him alive. On every play, Fortier was in the face of Roy and forced him to make bad decisions. All that hard work and countless hurries translated into three sacks for Fortier on the night. Even more impressive was the fact that she, and ATH Squad’s defence held Roy to less then 75 passing yards.

Rachel Beaudoin (3DW): This isn’t my attempt to promote International Women’s Day but, the three best bargains of the week were all women. Rounding out the group is Rachel Beaudoin who put in a dominant performance in her team’s win over SAVAGE. While Beaudoin usually specializes in catching short passes, she was a deep threat in week 8. She set a season high with 83 receiving yards over her four catches. When you consider that her offensive cap is less than 60, Beaudoin is a weekly contender for this award.

Cap Waste of the Week:

Jeff Brown (Party-Mix): Party Mix’s nightmare of a season continued in week 8 when they received a 21-0 trouncing at the hands of Power Rangers. With the absence of big-name players like Benjamin Leger, Party Mix hoped that Jeff Brown would step up big to give his team a fighting chance at victory. I would love to rattle of Brown’s stats but there are simply no stats to mention. If Party Mix are to have any chance of turning their season around, they need their highly rated players to produce

 

Game of the Week (Courtesy of Nicolas Belleau):

SAVAGE (39) vs. 3rd Down for What (46)

 SAVAGE, qui a déjà l’une de leurs trois femmes absente dans l’alignement, en voit une autre manquer à l’appel à cause d’un inconvénient de dernière minute. Ils doivent donc se défendre à 5 versus 6 contre la première équipe de la Division 1, qui les a battus auparavant 32 à 13.

Privés des excellents Kevin Lubin et Alexis Gaumont en raison de blessures, 3rd Down For What se lance malgré tout en confiance dans la mêlée, fort de l’avantage numérique.

Surtout que la troupe menée avec brio par Sara Parker parvient à s’inscrire au tableau dès leur séquence offensive initiale. Sauf que le nouveau pivot de SAVAGE Jean-Félix Marquis profite de la confusion de la défensive adverse pour rejoindre le centre-arrière des Alouettes Christophe Normand pour un long touché.

Déstabilisée par la rapidité de la réponse, Parker ne peut non plus rien faire quand le rusheur Philippe Aussant dévie au vol un relais que Guillaume Fontaine saisit et ramène pour un majeur.

Les deux attaques y vont ensuite de séries payantes, n’empêchant toutefois pas SAVAGE d’aller à l’entracte en avance 27-19 à la surprise générale.

Or, les gros canons de 3rdDFW se mettent en marche à la reprise du jeu. Rachel Beaudoin, la meilleure joueuse du Co-Ed à mon avis, ainsi que le Stinger de ConU Jeremy Murphy unissent leurs efforts pour ramener leur équipe dans la rencontre.

Normand continue lui aussi sa fructueuse journée au bureau (5 attrapés, 75 verges et un triplé), avant de frapper brutalement Alex David une fois de l’autre côté du ballon. Cette punition ouvre la porte à ses vis-à-vis alors qu’un David encore secoué saisit une courte offrande dans la zone de buts. 3rdDFW reprend les devants.

SAVAGE entame efficacement la remontée, mais essaie en vain un converti de deux points pour mener au lieu d’égaliser. Après un touché tardif de leur rivaux, SAVAGE s’avoue finalement vaincu 46-39 lorsqu’ils ne peuvent réussir le miracle dans les 5 derniers jeux.

 

Misinformed Predictions:

Black Mamba vs Power Rangers: Hmm, this isn’t a very hard one to predict. One of the best teams in division 1 is facing off against one of the worst teams in division 2. I wonder who’s going to win. We all know Power Rangers are going to walk all over Black Mamba, but maybe this could be a learning experience for Mamba. They have the athletes to be amongst the best teams in division 2. They are just lacking the FPF wherewithal to be able to compete. For Power Rangers, this is the perfect opportunity to fine tune their game and prepare for the playoffs.

 

Michael Scott’s Tots vs Yin&Yang: Things have been rough for Y&Y as of late. Yes, they were able to beat Tigers, but they lost their last game to ATH Squad and they are also only two games removed from their brutal loss to It’s a Match. If they want any chance to finish their season on a high note, this game is a must win. For Michael Scott’s Tots, this is the perfect opportunity for them to lead-frog Y&Y in the standings. The stakes are high in this game, but this is the kind of game Y&Y are made for. They have the experience and the talent to prevail and ultimately, I believe they will.

3rd Down for What vs ATH Squad: Last week, I saw firsthand just what ATH Squad were capable of. They have an extremely talented roster, a fast rusher and no weak points on their defence. While ATH Squad are good, 3rd Down for What are as close to perfection as it gets in co-ed. While they may not be the flashiest team, 3DW simply do not make mistakes. They protect the ball on offence, and they force turnovers on defence. While ATH Squad may be good, they do make mistakes. I see 3rd Down for What capitalizing off of ATH Squad’s rare mistakes and cruising to a close fought win.

Tigers vs Hot-Dawgz: Look, I have been saying this for a while now, but Tigers are a great group. They show up each week with a positive attitude and they do their very best. Simply put, they don’t have the same talent or experience as other teams in the division. They have struggled so far and their best performances have come against equally inexperienced teams, such as Black Mamba. While Hot-Dawgz may be more experienced that Tigers, they are fairly close in terms of talent. If Tigers want a win this season, this game is their last chance at it. However, I predicted Tigers to go winless so while I would love to see Tigers secure their first win this week, I still have to choose Hot-Dawgz to win this one.

SAVAGE vs Party Mix: This is an interesting game. While most might predict Party Mix to win this one, I am not sure it will be that straightforward. Both of these teams are fresh off the heels of losses. SAVAGE lost a closely fought game to the best team in the division while PartyMix were trounced by the second-best team in the division. SAVAGE have finally figured out the key to their quarterbacking dilemma and things appear to be on the rise for them. They are poised to be playing their best football of the season just in time for the playoffs. On the other hand, Party Mix are now party-less. They are slumping, and that slump shows no sign of letting up. I see SAVAGE winning this game and claiming fifth spot from Party-Mix.

A-Town vs It’s a Match: It’s a Match are flying high; their only loss of the season was at the hands of Michael Scott’s Tots and they have been perfect since then. They even managed to win their crossover game against SAVAGE from division 1. Everything has been working for them so far this season. On the other hand, things have not been quite so peachy for A-Town. After an opening week win, they struggled through their next few games until they faced Tigers. They laid a 38-0 licking on Tigers. The question is, was that win enough momentum to carry A-Town to a win over It’s a Match? I don’t think so. Y&Y learned the hard way that a win over Tigers doesn’t translate into much momentum. While A-Town’s win over Tigers may go a long way to boosting their confidence, it won’t be enough. It’s a Match will overpower A-Town.

Playoffs are just a few weeks away now and the playoff picture is getting clearer and clearer. It’s a Match look to have secured the first place in division 2 while 3DW are in the driver seat for division 1. However, there is still much to be decided in terms of playoff standings. Stay tuned to your weekly co-ed articles for playoff analysis and weekly breakdowns.