2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 4

 

 

Okay seriously, who saw this upset coming? If you did, I applaud you, because I sure didn’t. 

 

Right from the start of their game vs. Les Affreux on Wednesday it seemed clear to me that this wasn’t the same Tune Squad team I faced just two weeks prior, with QB Corey Walwaski throwing his first touchdown of the night on the game’s opening drive to make it 6-0. Momentum briefly shifted in Les Affreux’s favour when QB Mat Domon drove right down the field with a touchdown pass of his own before his teammate Yvon Laramée intercepted Walwaski on the ensuing drive. But in a sign of things to come, Les Affreux were stonewalled at the goalline, eventually going down 12-6 at halftime. 

 

Domon was able to come back with a quick score to open the second half, but the 13-12 lead would be short-lived as Tune Squad eventually went up 26-20. Les Affreux had one last chance at victory when they got the ball back with six plays left, but Domon ended up throwing his second interception of the night on 4th and long to clinch the Tune Squad win.

 

It was one made largely possible thanks to superb rushing by Omer Naek, who gave Domon fits the entire game as he sacked him three times and batted down two of his passes. But to give him all the credit wouldn’t be fair: two of those sacks could be credited to blanket coverage by the Tune Squad secondary, who stopped Les Affreux at the goalline twice in the game. 

 

 

 

The saying goes that it’s better to be lucky than to be good. Loose Cannons were indeed lucky early on in their game against Monstars this past week, answering Monstars’ score on the game’s opening drive with a score of their own on a tipped pass by Aram Boyadjian to make it 7-6 Monstars. 

 

Though they soon gave up a safety when rusher Kevin Gauthier sacked Loose Cannons QB Gabriel Côté in the endzone, Loose Cannons were able to find the endzone again on a wheel route to make it 12-9. They were lucky again right before the half, when Monstars’ Stanley Milfort dropped an easy touchdown on a fly to keep it a 3-point deficit. 

 

A quick Monstars touchdown made it 16-12 early in the second half, and they looked on their way to put the game out of reach when they made their way down in the redzone, but the Cannons were fortunate enough to hold on 4th and goal on the first drive of the second half. Though again that blessing turned out to be a curse, as they gave up another safety when Côté was called for a flag guard in the endzone to make it 18-12 Monstars. 

 

Finally, good prevailed lucky when Milfort made up for his earlier drop with a tough catch late in the game to make it 24-12. 

 

Being lucky may have its advantages, but that matters little when you’re playing a team as good as the 4-0 Monstars are proving to be at the moment. 

 

 

 

Kevin Beastany is his name from now on, because the kid is a straight up beast. Not only did he lead Recipe 4 Disaster in receiving yards on Thursday night, but he also led the team in picks with three, and of course he scored another touchdown in Recipe’s 24-19 win.

 

Recipe got on the board early when QB Jake Applebaum capped off a long drive with a redzone touchdown pass to Phil Bourassa, but it would be the only six points of the game at halftime. Though the Recipe defence was able to stop Fred Saleh on his every drive in the first half, Recipe’s own offence did little with those stop–aside from making mental mistakes. The likes of bad snaps, wrong routes, two runs in a row all saw Recipe miss out on blowing the game out of the water despite the team recording five interceptions on the night, but they were nonetheless able to remain focused enough to fend off a late Scared Hitless surge to come out with the win. 

 

It’s one that could’ve easily been a big win for Recipe, but at the same time, could’ve easily been a Scared Hitless win had Saleh tried to force the ball less to Cutler. Considering Saleh now leads the division in interceptions with 15, the same can likely be said about the team’s previous three losses as well. 

 

 

 

You may have noticed I put the 2-0-1 Show Me Your TDs in my top 10 list. You may also have noticed I predicted them to lose to the 1-2 Dirty South this weekend. Consider it my upset pick of the week. 

 

I like SMYTDs a lot; Mike Addona is red hot having thrown 15 touchdowns to just one interception this season, the defence is one that gets after the ball as shown by its numerous pass deflections, and the team itself is on a two-game winning streak. 

 

That being said, there are a few reasons I think SMYTDs drop this one. First is just my feeling that it seems like a perfect storm of sorts. Addona has been playing lights out for three straight weeks; he’s bound to slip up at some point. The Dirty South, meanwhile, look to be finally coming together as a team.   

 

Aside from my gut feeling is QB David Polynice’s very real ability to run. SMYTDs are about to face a QB coming off a game in which he ran four times for 121 yards and a touchdown, and that doesn’t bode well for a defence that gave up 79 rushing yards in Week 1. 

 

Regardless of who comes out on top, it’s bound to be one of this weekend’s best games. 

 

 

 

-I can’t believe Rob didn’t schedule a game between Tune Squad and Monstars this season. If both make the playoffs, the only way they’ll meet is in the final. If that happens, you know the Space Jam references are coming out. 

 

-According to his latest article, Simon Dagenais is 9/21 on his picks so far this season. This brings me more joy than it should.  

 

-I got a cut under my left eye when an opposing player threw my flag belt back to me after a play. It hurt, and I’m pretty ashamed that a plastic flag belt could bring me such pain.  

 

-I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but Kevin Gauthier has 13 sacks in four games. That’s over three a game. He’s on pace for over 32 by season’s end. Wow. 

 

-To the guy on Eskimo Brothers (you know who you are) who not only picked up our playsheet and read both sides of it when it slipped from our QB’s shorts during a play early in the game, I can understand that not everyone will have the courtesy to simply hand it back or leave it on the ground. But having the nerve to try to hold on to it when one of our players is trying to take it back? Yeah, that’s not cool bro. 

 

-By the way, we put up 52 points. How’d that little study session work out for ya? 

 

***

That’s it for me this week. As always, you can email me at [email protected] or tweet me @JBlanchFPF. If you haven’t checked out this week’s Calling the Audible podcast yet, you can do so at http://www.theunclehood.com/flag-plus-football/. Blanchard out.