Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you that do not know me my name is Stefano Berardi and I am a certified writer (In my heart) and 1 time employee of the year for Flag Plus Football… hold the applause. This season I will be the source of all your FpF co-ed division questions, queries, comments or at least I will try to be that guy. I will be the guy that provides all of you with recaps of the games played and I will provide tips on how to go about your game. Feel free to take my advice or don’t; Canada such a great country freedom of choice.

 

 

Co-Ed Overview

This season’s co-ed division has doubled from last year’s co-ed division. From 5 teams last year to 11 teams this year the co-ed division will open eyes. This season the 11 teams will showcase how men and women can compete at similar levels.

 

• TC overpowered the Rangers

TC’s All-Star Quarterback Vanessa Birri was unavailable but that did not stop Emilie Carrier from stepping in a big game on week 1 of the season and making that offence work like a well-oiled machine. She was out there facing Division 1 & Division 2 defenders and for her to put up 25 points was spectacular. Hats off to her.

With a great quarterback there is sure to be a receiver that thrives and in this game that receiver was Guillaume Fillion. TC’s Guillaume was on the receiving end of 3 touchdown receptions and the chemistry between Guillaume and Emilie was certainly the difference in this game.

They say defense wins championships, well the defensive standout for TC was Jessy Paterson. He was all over the defensive end of the ball making key tackles, breaking up some very important passes, and to cap it all off he had a huge interception.

In every good matchup there is an opponent that gives the winning team a run for their money. In this game, that team was the Power Rangers. Kevin Lubin connected on a few deep throws and also had 4 touchdown passes but overall his performance could have been better and I feel like he would agree with me. He was rusty, but that’s ok, it was Week 1 and there is still a whole lot of football left and I am sure Kevin will get his groove back and perform at a higher level.

In certain games a wide receiver makes quarterbacks jobs a little easier and in this game that was the case for the Power Rangers that receiver was Max Giroux. Now Max is a speedster and he is also a very real offensive threat. In this game he proved just that. One of his two touchdown receptions was a 40 yard bomb in which he seemed to be on an island of his own.

Power Rangers defense was a good one each and every player on that defense had some kind of impact on this game. One player in particular who had a very good performance was Jasmine Farmer. Jasmine played a good game as defensive back when the ball was around her she made good plays. She wasn’t targeted much but when she was she came up with a tackle and she came up with a nice interception.

This game was a great game it was very equally matched this showdown was decided by 1 point with TC edging out the Power Rangers 25-24. These two teams are complete in all phases of the game and they will definitely be contenders for the Co-Ed division Championship.

 

• ATH Squad drowned the Flamingos

ATH Squad Quarterback Marc-Antoine Jetté didn’t have a great completion percentage but he did not need it because 40% of his completions were touchdowns and if that isn’t resourceful then I do not know what is. Marc-Antoine did what every quarterback should do and that was to protect the ball and make sure not to turn the ball over and that is exactly what was done.

Another resourceful member of the ATH Squad was receiver Eduoard Gagnon who in 4 short catches for 18 yards had 2 receiving touchdowns. Touchdowns are not easy to come by but Eduoard had the touchdowns to win this game. If you want to talk yardage then you should talk about the game Sandrine Jerome had with her receptions averaging 18 yards per catch. Sandrine was a very reliable receiver for Marc-Antoine and she got the yardage needed to put up some points.

ATH Squad’s defence was the story of this game they shut down the flamingos on almost every drive they had. The main guy was Olivier Laberge who not only had himself a great offensive day with a touchdown reception but he was all around the defensive end of the ball as well. Olivier was the leading tackler on his team and he added an interception returned for a touchdown.

Flamingos Quarterback Tevyn Nicholls had himself a tough week one. He had one touchdown pass but that was overshadowed by the three interceptions he had thrown. The Flamingos went with backup Quarterback Cam Chaput but unfortunately it was more of the same as an interception was thrown by him as well.

Jamall Brathwaite was one of the brightspots for the Flamingos team. He had good numbers in the receiving game where he came up with the only score in the game for the Flamingos. He also had decent numbers in the defensive game where he was second among teammates and he also had a pass deflection. I feel as though Jamall will be the go to guy for the Flamingos in upcoming matchups.

The defensive standout for the Flamingos was Charnay Crabb-Pham. Charnay led her team in tackles and had two pass deflections. She read the field well and was on the ball when it was in and around her area of the field. This being her first game in flag plus football it is very reassuring to the flamingos team to know that they have her on their defence.

This game was one sided and ATH Squad came up with a 39-6 victory against the flamingos. Given that it is week 1 it gives the flamingos time to work on their game and make strides. I am looking forward to see how Flamingos bounce back.

 

• Big TDs were the key to Victory

Perfection is hard to achieve but Big TDs’ Saadia Ashraf came relatively close. Completing 70% of her passes and earning 6 Touchdown Passes and 0 Interceptions, I’m no pro scout but those numbers would please even the professionals. She spread the ball equally among every receiver on her team.

Every receiver for Big TDs had a good showing but there was one in particular that stood out. Annabelle Chevrier she was the go to woman for Saadia she hauled in 2 touchdown receptions on 5 catches. Not only was she an offensive threat but she also had an interception on the defensive side of the ball. Overall I am very impressed with her performance.

The Big TDs defense was so good that it is hard to pick a standout. Every member of that defence made an impact on the game in one way or another. Although Myles Browne was the captain of that defence, he made sure his team was in position to defend at their best and in the process he came up with an interception of his own.

Flagiuuu’s Quarterback Joel Richard did not have that bad of a game but there were certain plays I know he wishes he had back. He made some good plays including a touchdown pass. He has a good arm and he can connect with receivers in the tightest spots, unfortunately, there were two throws that were intercepted because of a miscommunication. If he finds a way to simplify his play calling, which is very possible, he will indeed have better performances and I’m already excited to see what he does.

Joel has some good receivers to work with; they are dependable, can make the grabs and make something out of nothing. That was the case for Florence B. Morin who turned a simple route into a very long 37 yard play. When Joel gets her the ball she has the speed and agility to make the most out of any catch she gets.

The defensive players for Flagiuuu are there and they can defend. Had it not been for Saadia reading the mismatches in their defence this game would have been a completely different outcome. Especially Martin Gelinas who knows how to read the field and once he sees where the quarterback is looking for he pounces and he gets there. In this game he earned a couple of tackles and two pass deflections on very key plays. If he can get the communication to his defence more clearly, they will indeed tighten up and make it hard for Quarterbacks to find openings.

What started off as a game that could have gone down to wire turned out to be one sided as Big TDs defeated Flagiuuu 36-7. Big TDs have a good system and it works. Flagiuuu has a few kinks to work on and they will definitely give teams competition.

 

• Served with Girls put out the Match

Served with Girls former CFL Receiver turned Quarterback Mikhail Davidson had a great game in week one. He spread the ball around very well made sure all his receivers got touches. He made good reads and not to mention his very good and accurate arm. He had a great completion percentage to go with four touchdowns.

Mikhail had some great receivers to throw to notable Jordan Panetta. Jordan had six catches to go along with two touchdown receptions. One of his touchdown receptions was a very important jump ball inside the red zone. He leaped up and came down with it to give his team that edge in the score.

Served with Girls has a very good defence with good overall players on that side of the ball. One of which was Sandra Clement the numbers do not show it but she is a very good defensive back who runs toe to toe with the receiver she is guarding. The most important play of the game and eventually the turning point was an interception returned for a touchdown from one of the most complete athletes this league has to offer Jean-Daniel Chevalier. Jean-Daniel was spectacular on offence coming down with 2 touchdown receptions but ultimately his interception on defence was the key to cueing the secured victory.

Keeping it close in his first game; shaking off the rust and putting up 33 points against such phenomenal players is remarkable and that was the case for Benoit Lawlor. Sure the pick six was brutal, but if one mistake defines their games this season, I expect great things for It’s A Match. Benoit showed a lot of potential in his first game and I am sure he will continue to deliver at the highest of expectations.

Benoit has himself some great receivers to spread the ball to; one of those guys was his snapper and most targeted receiver Lovinski Gelin. Lovinski had 7 receptions and he turned 3 of those into touchdowns. Not only did Lovinski have a good receiving game but so did his teammate Alexis Labonté. Alexis had two touchdowns and they were both equally spectacular he is quite the athlete. Having Benoit throwing him the ball and Lovinski take off some of the pressure Alexis will have himself a great season.

Defensively for It’s A Match there was one person in particular that was all over the place and that man was Henry Dam. Henry led his defence in tackles with five, he had 2 pass defences, and to top it all off he had 2 interceptions. He was the defensive juggernaut that helped make this game the exciting game it ended up being.

This matchup was tight from beginning to end but there was a winner and that winner was Served With Girls by the total of 36-33. Both these teams are real threats in this division and I am looking forward to following them throughout this season.

 

That’s it for me this week. If you guys have any comments, complaints, criticism, I can always be reached via email ([email protected]) or twitter (@FPF_Stefb) or in person at the fields; I scorekeep a lot.