Division A: Two-Way Player of the Year

Hey everyone, my apologies for the delayed article but I hope you have had a good week! With the season winding down, games are coming quick and seeds changes are happening quick. This week’s article will include the award race for the most coveted award: Two-Way Player of the Year. This award shows excellence and pure dominance on both sides of the ball and in Division A, majority of the time will determine the best overall skills position player that season. Before we dive into that, we have plenty of recaps to look back from Week 9 and Week 10 earlier this week.

Week 9 Predictions:

Vultures – One Stop
Game Info: Friday July 13, 9pm, Laval
Prediction: Vultures 38 – One Stop 30
Final Score: Vultures 38 – One Stop 44
One Stop took care of business with a stellar 6 TD performance from Michael Caparelli. The score looks closer than it is as Vultures scored their last 8pts on the final play. Key difference in this game was the 4 converts made by One Stop rather than the singular by Vultures (all were 2pt attempts). Caparelli and Ben McMahon were both efficient with the ball but with Vultures playing catchup for most of the game, they needed more stops to take the jump but One Stop were efficient enough to take the win.

Idaho Udapimps – Vultures
Game Info: Sunday July 20, 4pm, Laval
Prediction: Idaho Udapimps 40 – Vultures 28
Final Score: Idaho Udapimps 60 – Vultures 40
An offensive shootout as 14 TDs were scored. For Idaho Udapimps, Felix Boutet and Sanders Armand combined for 5 of the 8 total TDs for Idaho. Brady Ohanessian was clinical with over 300yds and 2 incompletions, a great box score to see in Div A. For Vultures, Anthony Drysdale was perfect with his targets and brought 2 TDs of his own but it wasn’t enough. A first half explosion from Idaho Udapimps left Vultures speechless with being down 42-14 at half. The offence for Vultures stepped up in the 2nd half and I do believe that if they can somehow fix their defensive struggles, they can sneak their way into playoffs.

Braves – Party Crashers
Game Info: Sunday July 20, 6pm, Laval
Prediction: Braves 38 – PartyCrashers 36
Final Score: Braves 50 – PartyCrashers 20
A game where I expected it to be close as in Week 4, Braves won by 3pts. This game was the total opposite as Braves had a dominant 30-0 lead at half. James Drysdale had a 3 TD performance and both he and Mike Pierrecin had a pick-6. For PartyCrashers, this was a game to forget as they would have a game the next night. Mendel Joseph still continued his impact on both sides of the field with an offensive TD and an INT. Louis-Philip Thibodeau added a pick-6 of his own and even with the score being how it is, PartyCrashers can still make noise towards the end of the season.

Week 10 Predictions:

The Jamesons – PartyCrashers
Game Info: Monday July 21, 10pm, Stade de Montreal
Prediction: The Jamesons 32 – PartyCrashers 42
Final Score: The Jamesons 41 – PartyCrashers 35
PartyCrashers played much better than the night before but a first half pick-6 by Bailey Finkelberg proved to be the difference. Jordan Panetta and Frédéric Dupuis went toe-to-toe with nearly identical stats; each with 5 TDs and one INT. Each team had 4 TD scorers but with the defensive score by The Jamesons, broke the spirits for PartyCrashers who are fighting for their playoff lives. Bright spot for PartyCrashers was even without Jeanslee Alexis at QB, they were neck and neck with The Jamesons the whole game. Big games with both Thibodeau and Emerson Peterkin and if they continue with the two-way play from Joseph, PartyCrashers can make perhaps create an upset but they need to play their best to end the season to avoid elimination. The Jamesons get a much needed win and showing the division that they can still compete and perhaps make a deep run.

Idaho Udapimps – One Stop
Game Info: Tuesday July 22, 7:30pm, Marie-Victorin
Prediction: Idaho Udapimps 44 – One Stop 32
Final Score: Idaho Udapimps 20 – One Stop 34
One Stop has been playing really well for the 2nd half of the season and I might have bitten more than I can chew as I predicted that they would only win one game for the latter half of the season. I had the chance to watch some of this game as I was scorekeeping the field next to this game and it looked like Caparelli was able to do what he wanted on offence and Ohanessian couldn’t connect with his receivers. Jahnai Lewis had 2 TDs and one pick and Charles Cossette had a pick-6 of his own. For Idaho, I wasn’t expecting this performance as they were building momentum as of late but will have a last chance to redeem themselves before playoffs begin.

Week 10 Recap:

Braves – The Infantry
Game Info: Friday July 25, 9:00pm, Laval
Final Score: Braves 44 – The Infantry 40
I didn’t have an official prediction for this game but if I did, I would’ve had The Infantry pull the upset against Braves. This was purely an offensive game as no sacks or interceptions were thrown. Jonathan Maheu and Kevin Wyeth threw each 6 TDs and what came down to it was the conversions. Without Jeremy Murphy in the lineup lately, Drysdale has stepped up by having 2 TDs and converting on 4 two-point conversions in this contest, being the difference maker. The Infantry played a great game as Nicholas Di Maulo and Quaysie Gordon-Maule each had 2 TDs. Regardless of this outcome, this was a great game by The Infantry.

PartyCrashers – The Infantry
Game Info: Sunday July 27, 6pm, Laval
Final Score: PartyCrashers 40 – The Infantry 30
Alexis stepped up after a rough last outing against Braves with 6 TDs on great efficiency. Having Ezechiel Tieide as a receiver option is always a matchup nightmare and even if it won’t make him playoff eligible, Tieide’s skillset can push PartyCrashers into the post-season. Wyeth threw 5 TDs of his own but did have two INTs. Rory Semerjian led the way on offence and was supported with 2 TDs a piece from Di Maulo and Jaylan Greaves. When it looked like PartyCrashers would fall out of contention, they get a clutch win. This win does create a lot of different scenarios for every team not named Braves and will invite for a chaotic but entertaining Week 11 season finale.

Award Race:

Two-Way Player of the Year

Prediction: James Drysdale

Contenders: Mendel Joseph, Matt Bond

The most important award in my opinion is the Two-Way Player of the Year. This award shows how much a player impacts the field on both sides and with a pool full of talented two-way players in this division, at the beginning it would be tough to nail the top contenders. After 10 weeks, we finally have our top three and they are well deserved. If you asked me this a month ago, I would say this was a four headed race but with the departure of Jeremy Murphy potentially for the season, it now has now become a competitive race between his teammate James Drysdale and Mendel Joseph. Firstly, I do want to give love to Matt Bond. He might not have the top numbers like his competition, but he has been steadily in the top ranking in several statistics on both sides of the ball. He should be an all-star when the season is done and with how he impacts the game on both sides, The Infantry is always a treat towards a deep playoff run. Back to our top two, each have a decorated case for this award. Joseph, who has been playing great all-season, had a career high 9 TDs this season and has shown why he is the best ballhawk in this division with 7 INTs and 2 pick-sixes. Drysdale, who is always in the conversation of best receiver in FPF, has made his case over the past 6 weeks with 12 TDs since Week 4 and that’s with a game missing. He might not have the defensive stats like Joseph but Drysdale is more than capable to get a game-sealing INT with his vertical and speed. With all things considered, Joseph does have 2 games left in comparison to Drysdale’s one. Even with one less game, I do think Drysdale will win this award as he’s been on a hot streak on both sides of the field. With most of his stats coming in the past 5 games, he seems to be on a mission to prove that he’s the best player in FPF. Joseph can win this award but would need to have 2 monster games, especially on offence to overcome Drysdale’s 4 TD lead. With one weekend left of regular season games, this award along with the others will come down to the wire!

Closing Remarks:
That’s all for this article! This rounds out the Week 10 article and also includes my overview of the Two-Way Player of the Year race. Next article will be out this weekend before the Sunday games where I’ll give my overview of the Week 11 matchups as it’s the final games before playoffs. Outside of Braves, this week has playoff implications for every other team as someone will be eliminated and someone will receive a 1st round bye. The latest episode of the FPF 1st & Goal podcast is up below and you can see Brent Bodkin talk about the world of FPF, including a few special guests in Neil Wright, Manu Allard-Roy once again and Emilie Adam. Reminder that playoffs are approaching and to have playoff eligibility, you will need to have 5 games played or have a medical note approved by an appropriate doctor in order to be exempted. Thanks for reading this article and if you have any questions or suggestions, you can always email me at [email protected], message me on instagram @keyoncyrus or message me from the FPF Facebook page.

[Article Finalized on July 29, 9:30am]