35+ Season Kickoff and Week 1 Review

Hello to all 35 + FPF’ers and those so bored they clicked on the Old Person Football Division Article.  For those who don’t know me, I’ve been around for a minute or 2 in FPF and returning to write the 35+ article this season as Carmine Pollice sits out this season.

35+ returns for it’s 7^th season under the FPF banner and looks forward to an exciting season with decent enough football and most definitely some post-game cold ones (and advil……..).

The 2023 35+ FPF season has 8 teams across 2 divisions, each division as 4 teams and there are no crossovers in the regular season or playoffs. The 2 divisions are comprised of the Legends Division where Teams are submitted like the rest of FPF, The KTFL Draft Division is make up of mostly KTFL players with some others mixed in. The KTFL Draft 4 captains hold a draft and players are selected to a team, exactly like the NFL Draft, we have a stage and cameras and everything.  This season, the Draft division is playing 8 games and 10 for the Legends division.

Legends Division is made up of 2 returning Legends Franchises, the Jason Rossie led Pacemakers, Adam Burns’ Monster squad and making their 35+ debuts, Ryan Kastners’ Rainmakers join 35+ for the first time and we also welcome  Gladiateurs under the watchful eye of JF Trudeau and Alex Lever to the 35+ club, I don’t know if JF or Alex is in charge, but I’m not sure they know either.

KTFL Draft Division is comprised of 4 sponsored teams, Paramount with captain Karim Yasmin, JMJ & GM Kolethras, FPF & Jeff Patterson and Polvige & Chris Rosen.

As there is no crossover this season, players have the opportunity to play in both divisions, so there is a handful playing full-time in both and I’m sure many will spare in both divisions throughout the season.

Several new players in both Legends and Draft joining 35+ for the first time, so we shall see what these rookies have left in the tank.  If you are reaching the magic age of 35, reach out anytime to join in for future seasons.

Now that’s we’ve got the structure and details out of the way, let’s jump right into the week 1 action.

Legends Division

Pacemakers 45 – Monster 32

The returning 35+ clubs meet up in week 1 and come out blazing with 77 points, I hope you took the over.  Andy Peterkin hits 5 different receivers for TD’s on only 10 completions, but it’s Jason Rossie’s night as he cashes in 6 TD’s with zero INT’s. Defensively, Yavar Ashrafi Pick 6 leads the way and I’m sure was a key play of the night.  With only 4 teams, rematches take place in week 4 and this will be interesting to see who comes out on top in the rematch.

Key Stats – Jason Rossie’s 6 TD’s + Domenic Tossi’s zero catches and zero tackles. WTF Dom?

Gladiateurs 31 – Rainmakers 7

35+ newest franchises face off in their first debut and it was good for one, and not so good for the other. Francois Lebeau comes out firing with 203 Yards, 4 TD’s and 23 completions, while the Rainmakers stall on offence too many times and watching the game, there was definitely some rust as many players had a case of the Wednesday’s (the drops).  If it hits your hands, you gotta catch it.

Key Stats –   Rainmaker’s Christian McGuire with a strong 2 way game with 4 tackles and 55 yards/1TD on offence + Francois Lebeau above mentioned 203 Yards, 4 TD’s and 23 completions

KTFL Draft Division

FPF 33 – JMJ 12

When Rosenblatt and Yoni share the same field, it’s usually a problem for the other team and it was in week 1, they connect for 3 TD’s while super spare Dave Weiss leads the way on defence with 5 tackles.  JMJ comes up short, but with Jason Rossie QB’ing a whole new set of receivers, the chemistry will develop and the points will hit the scoreboard. He clearly found early chemistry the legendary Terry Tam as he finishes the week at the top receiver with 9 receptions.  Again, rematches in week 4 will be interesting to see how JMJ gels between now and then.

Key Stats = Yoni’s 3 TD’s, Weiss 5 Tackles, Alex Theodore with 3 sacks, Terry’s 9 catches and even that old leaky tugboat Tanner had a solid 2 way game with 4 receptions and 4 tackles.

Polvige 38 – Paramount 31

A tale of 2 halves, as Paramount holds the half lead 31-25, but stalls in the 2^nd half as the Purple Power of Polvige wins the 2^nd half and takes the week 1 victory.  Chris Olsen again with a full set of new receivers, gel quickly and put up 31 early but lose the battle in the end. Dave Mallais with 2 huge deep TD’s, sadly over a perfectly positioned Craig “Owy” O’Brien early in the game , but Owy makes a giant end zone pick in the 2^nd half to help turn the tables. 

Key Stats – Owy with 281 yards of offence, Dave Mallais 4 for 4 with 2 TD’s, Cory Sim-Robertson pick 6 and Bryan Joseph’ s 100 yards on 7 catches.

That’s all for this week, great to have another season kicking off and a fun week 1 for everyone, we’ll see you right here next week with the breakdown of all the week 2 action.

See you on the field

Thanks

Dave