2nd-and-Short (Div 4) – Week 3

Football, like anything in life, is a matter of decisions. Often times, it’s the decisions we make long before the game’s opening whistle, moments before the snap of the ball, and mere seconds before the ball is coming our way that determine a play’s—and ultimately a game’s—outcome. 

Chances are you decided to try out some new things over the past two weeks—you modified your roster, or changed your defensive philosophy, or perhaps you forced a pass into double coverage that on second thought you probably shouldn’t have thrown.

Some of these decisions probably worked very well, others so-so, and others still you might already (or still) be regretting.  

Accordingly, starting this Thursday, Simon Dagenais and I will be writing a bi-weekly joint article in which we’ll take turns asking each other questions regarding news and hot topics in the division.

Hopefully it turns out better than your decision to throw a deep post route on 4^th-and-3 from your own half of the field midway through that close game you lost over the weekend.   

 

Recap

One and a Half Wins

One team was coming off just a 27-point outing the week before, and the other was missing its starting quarterback for the first half, but that didn’t keep this game from combining for the second-most points of the week.

In the first half, each drive ended with a score on every possession but the last one before halftime. It was more of the same in the second half right up until the game’s last drive, until The Family found themselves down 41-36 with the ball at the goal line with five plays to go.

But on a day both team’s defences looked powerless, it was the Dans defence stepped up when it mattered most, forcing incompletions on first and second down and sacking quarterback Maxime Forget on third down, before intercepting his fourth-down pass to seal the win.

Their record may only show 1-1 on paper, but Two and a Half Dans know their first win of the season was a big one considering they took down one of the division’s best teams over the past few years. 

 

Pickles Get Crushed

Admittedly, I may have overrated Pickle Fiasco a tad. But that doesn’t make Broccasion’s win this week any less impressive.

The night started off in Fiasco’s favor, with QB Avi Yayon leading the team to a touchdown on the game’s opening possession before Broccasion turned the ball over on downs on the following drive.

That’s when momentum turned, however. A few plays later, Yayon was unable to connect with one of his receivers on a fourth-down endzone pass, giving the ball right back to Broccasion. QB Kristian Cerantola ended up marching his offence downfield to tie the game at a score a-piece, before finding the endzone again on the last play of the first half to give his side a 19-13 lead, and again on the first drive of the second half to make it 25-13.

It all proved to be too much for Fiasco, with Yayon eventually throwing a pick-six to end any hope of a comeback as they fell 43-13 in the end.

 

Bearing Down

I said last week I didn’t think BearSkins couldn’t put up as many points as KGP. I was wrong. But that was before the skins decided to replace last season’s starting QB, David Souaid, with Neil Etinson for this week’s game.

It turned out to be just the change the Skins needed to put their offence over the top. The Skins stayed neck-and-neck with KGP’s high-octane offence the entire game, scoring just before halftime to make it a one-point deficit and again at the start of the second half to take the lead.

From there, a few key interceptions on defence and a pair of long rushing touchdowns by Etinson was all BearSkins needed to put the game away for a final score of 42-33.

  

Top 10

1. The Replacements: If defence wins championships, The Replacements are by far the front-runners in the division.

2. Sea Assassins: The fact they’ve by eight points two weeks in a row shows they can win the close games. I only wonder how much longer they can keep it up.

3. Ball Busters: Beating two playoff teams from Division D last spring back-to-back will certainly have you climbing the charts.

4. The Family: Following up a one-point win over a brand new team with a loss against a Division 5 team from a year ago is not the way to start the season, but there’s still time for them to turn things around.

5. Predators: Admittedly, having not attended their loss nor seen the stats yet, I don’t know what to say about their loss to 57. I do know I still have faith in this team, though.

6. La Sauce: François Raymond’s stat line last week: 14/23 for 177 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions. His stat line this week: 14/24 for 176 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions. Yeah, this team’s on a roll.  

7. Six Fast Guys Plus Ryan: It took a last-minute pick-six to seal it, but 2-0 is 2-0 no matter how you slice it.

8. Broccasion: We’re only now entering Week 3, but considering how much they’ve dominated so far, their entrance into the Top 10 still somehow feels long overdue.

9. KGP Lite: KGP has shown us what they’re capable of. They just need to show it more consistently.

10. Backyard Bullies: I’ve picked against them two weeks in a row, and both times they’ve proved me wrong. I’ve learned my lesson.

 

Picks of the Week

11-14 on the week gives me 21-24 on the season and keeps Simon Dagenais ahead as he moves up to 26-20 with a 13-12 week. Fortunately, I’ve taken a glimpse into the future, and it shows me taking the lead after this week’s games. It also shows Peeze eating a big bowl of crow for calling Two and a Half Dans the weakest team in the division in last week’s podcast. 

 

Week 3:

Knights vs. Turf Toe Inc.

Smokin’ Aces vs. Lynx

BearSkins vs. Jaggerbomb

Coyotes vs. Fun Boys

Monstars vs. X-Men

Project Mayhem vs. Kingdom

Channel 4 News Team vs. Dragons

Les Prédateurs vs. KGP Lite

Backyard Bullies vs. Pickle Fiasco

ZOO vs. Les Maloudes

Playground vs. Gotham Knights

T.C.O. vs. Two and a Half Dans

Les Affreux vs. Mustangs

The Junks vs. Broccasion

Banana Republicans vs. The Family

Lockdown vs. Sea Assassins

The Replacements vs. Primetime

Fools of the Country vs. 69ers

Predators vs. Eskimo Brothers

La Sauce vs. Trapstars

Fruit Loops vs. Healthy Scratches

Outlaws vs. Angry Beavers

Ball Busters vs. Six Fast Guys Plus Ryan (N/A)

Quack Attack vs. Team Ethnik

Checkmate vs. Flying Comics

Longhorns vs. 57

 

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That concludes this edition of 2^nd-and-Short. As always, you can email me at [email protected] or reach me on Twitter @JBlanch6. If you haven’t seen last week’s Division 4 podcast yet, why are you still reading? Hop onto http://www.theunclehood.com/ and get to it! See you at the fields!