Division A: Quarterback of the Year Race

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed a great Canada Day week. Firstly, I want to wish good luck to all those participating in the Senior Flag National Championship this weekend. Many athletes and teams from this very division will be participating against the best Canada has to offer. As we are currently in Week 7, a lot of flag has been played and there’s only just over a month left of regular season play. For the next few weeks, I’ll be looking at how each award race is going and who I believe should will win and also who will be in contention. For this week, we will look at all the talented quarterbacks in Division A and what they have to offer. Before we get into it, let’s recap my predictions from last week:

Idaho Udapimps – The Infantry
Game Info: Friday June 27, 10:00pm, Laval
Prediction: Idaho Udapimps 24 – The Infantry 28
Final Score: Idaho Udapimps 36 – The Infantry 46
With this game taking place on a potential rainy night, I wasn’t sure how would the weather would affect this contest but by the score, neither offences had issues. Brady Ohanessian & Kevin Wyeth were both in action that night and didn’t disappoint. Ohanessian threw for over 200yds, with his main targets being James Nguyen with 8 receptions and Jerome Hovington with 6 receptions along with 2 TDs. Wyeth threw 7 TDs, six of those came through Matt Kirouac, Nicholas Di Maulo and Jaylen Greaves who each has 2 a piece. As I finished my Div E game, I was able to get a look at some of this game and both offences were in full effect. Unfortunately for Idaho, 2 INTs for Ohanessian resulted in one TD from The Infantry who were able to hold off an Idaho last drive. Both teams showed promise but allowing this amount of points might be alarming towards championship wishes.

PartyCrashers – Vultures
Game Info: Sunday June 29, 12pm, Concordia
Prediction: PartyCrashers 37 – Vultures 34
Final Score: PartyCrashers 46 – Vultures 13
This matchup showed that PartyCrashers are meant to be taken serious with this statement game. In my last article, I predicted Emerson Peterkin to be a player to watch and even if he wasn’t present, Mendel Joseph was that guy with 4 TDs (3 in the 1st half alone) and 2 INTs. Jeanslee Alexis played a great game with no turnovers and didn’t have to use his legs as he had a 73% completion rate. Vultures’ offence seemed to be out of sorts as Ben McMahon threw 2 TDs and 3 INTs. I don’t think this will be a recurring theme for Vultures but I wonder if their surprising start would continue to have them play with that momentum towards the second half of the season. AJ Gomes wasn’t present at this game and even though Vultures have playmakers in Alexandre Szalipszki, Anthony Drysdale and Felix Clairmont, the lack experience of this team in the top division compared to the rest of the teams is evident. With that being said, they still have time to continue to get better for playoff football.

The Jamesons – Idaho Udapimps
Game Info: Monday June 30, 7:00pm, Stade de Montreal
Prediction: The Jamesons 32- Idaho Udapimps 39
Final Score: The Jamesons 12 – Idaho Udapimps 30
Pre-Game:
Sunday night I had to talk to Ohanessian about his squad prior to this matchup. The season might have not been what Idaho Udapimps are used to as both Div A and B teams have been not amazing. For Idaho, Brady was explaining me that for his team, availability was the key takeaway and that’s how I felt with every Div A team. It’s the spring season and that results in many players not being present so it’s not easy for these teams to built continuity and that doesn’t even have injuries to take into account. With that being said, Ohanessian mentioned that Idaho should have their players returning soon and even though he will not be throwing in Monday’s game (but will play on defence), they should be in good shape.

Monday’s game had Marc-Andre Reeves replace Ohanessian at QB in a performance where he was able to control the game with 4 TDs and 0 INT. Hovington and Felix Boutet led the offence and the defence was able to make plays with 3 INTs including a pick-6 by Manu Allard-Roy on the last play. Even with Ohanessian not throwing the ball, this type of win was needed by Idaho and can potentially put them back on track. For The Jamesons, Jeff Rosenblatt didn’t play the best game but I don’t expect this performance to continue. The three INTs are worry-some as especially in Div A, teams don’t normally win with that stat. Anthony Brisebois led the offence but more of a consistent productivity will be needed by other playmakers to make The Jamesons compete with the best.

Award Race

Quarterback of the Year

Player	Team	GP	YDS/GM	TD	INT	SK	COMP%	QB Rating
Jonathan Maheu	Braves	5	271.0	31	2	4	76.7%	141.8
Jeff Rosenblatt	The Jamesons	7	196.9	28	6	3	71.8%	120.5
Jeanslee Alexis	PartyCrashers	5	203.8	26	6	2	66.9%	112.3
Ben McMahon	Vultures	5	206.2	22	4	6	72.4%	122.7
Brady Ohanessian	Idaho Udapimps	6	163.0	21	5	6	62.8%	111.7
Kevin Wyeth	The Infantry	3	267.7	15	3	0	61.4%	116.6
Michael Caparelli	One Stop	4	211.8	13	2	8	62.7%	118.3

Prediction: Jonathan Maheu

Contenders: Jeanslee Alexis, Ben McMahon

With this season’s 7 quarterback, this award I would say it’s the easiest to determine based on that there’s less nominations compared to the rest. Maheu has played every game for Braves and has the best numbers in basically every category. Even if he misses one game for the rest of the season but still puts up good numbers, it would take a lot from his competition to lose this award. Michael Caparelli isn’t having a bad season, especially when you look at One Stop’s record but without the high offensive numbers and the highest amount of sacks, it’s tough to move him higher. Wyeth would’ve been a contender in my eyes but missing some games at this point puts him at a disadvantage. Being the only QB without being a sack shows how quick he’s able to get the ball off and also can manoeuvre rushers when they are close. Ohanessian has put up good numbers as well but he didn’t throw in 2 of the 6 games he played. Those two games might have put him in contender also but with only four games left and if he doesn’t throw in one of them, Brady might be looking to save his arm for a deep Idaho post-season run. Rosenblatt has had games with 0 INTs but also with 2+ INTs. He also has only three games left and would need to have great numbers for all those games and the rest of the QBs to basically not play at all. McMahon has been consistent and productive this season in Division A. He has been efficient with the ball but to overcome Maheu, would need to continue putting up numbers such as Week 6 where he threw 6 TDs and 0 INTs. Alexis has been efficient like McMahon and needs to do the same thing if he wants to overtake both McMahon and Maheu. He does add a little more rushing upside than McMahon which also helps his case but limiting turnovers would be the big thing. I think both of these QBs would be a close battle for second but unless something drastic happens, I see Maheu adding another QB of the Year on the shelf.

Week 8 Predictions:

One Stop – Vultures
Game Info: Sunday July 6, 11:00am, Concordia
Prediction: One Stop 33 – Vultures 25
With the Senior Flag National Championship this weekend, McMahon and Gomes shouldn’t be at this game as they both have Quarter-Finals Sunday morning. Last time Vultures didn’t have McMahon, they got blown out by Braves. One Stop might not be Braves but they can still ball. One Stop needs a win if they want any chance at a post-season birth and it doesn’t matter what the opposition is, if there’s an opportunity, you have to take it. I don’t know what Vultures’ roster is going to look like but I have to go with One Stop and them having continuity compared to what Vultures might pull off. I think this will still be a close contest but One Stop will come out on top and keep their hopes for a post-season spot still alive.

Braves – Idaho Udapimps
Game Info: Tuesday July 8, 7:30pm, Marie-Victorin
Prediction: Braves 44 – Idaho Udapimps 40
Braves will be busy as they will be participating in the Senior Flag National Championship as well but will at least have a day and a half to recover minimum. Barring they are also playing 5v5 on Tuesday, they might take it easy. Regardless, Maheu can further separate himself from the rest of the QBs for QB of the year. I do see Idaho keeping this game close. Players such as Jerome Hovington, Marvin Steinberg will need to be on their A-game to contain Braves’ receivers such as James Drysdale and James Murphy. Ohanessian would need to protect the ball and convert and every drive he’s given against this Braves defence. I think this game will come down to the wire and converts or a 4th down stop can be the difference for Braves to win another nail-bitter. I wouldn’t be surprised if Idaho Udapimps however gets the upset in this game in a nail-bitter as well.

Closing Remarks:
That’s all for this article! This rounds out the Week 7 article and also includes my overview of the QB of the Year race. Next article will be about another award as we are inching towards the end of the regular season. The latest episode of the FPF 1st & Goal podcast is up below and you can see Brent Bodkin & Quaysie Gordon Maule talk the world of FPF once again. If you are available tomorrow (July 7), check out the knockout stages of the Senior Men and Women Senior Flag National Championship as there’s great flag football being played and you’ll see plenty of FPF represented athletes in action. 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 5, 7:30pm]