Action is Underway in Coed and Women’s Divisions

Welcome back! After a break for the holidays which was unfortunately prolonged by the variant, FPF finally kicked back off this week. For many of us, the weekly games are an important part of our routine and being away from the game for that long just felt wrong. Getting out and playing my first game was a great feeling and I hope you all enjoyed it as well. With the games back on, that also means that your weekly articles are back.

Once again, I will be your writer for the coed division this season. I will also be covering the women’s division. I have been covering the Coed division for quite a while now, so I presume most of you know me. For those who do not, I am Alexi Dubois and I play on Kiss My End Zone in Coed 2. Probably the hardest part about writing the articles is covering my own team. As you will see during the season, I do not only have positives to say about each team and each game. While I find it easy to praise and critique other teams, it is infinitely harder to talk about my own. For that reason, I will try something new this year. If anyone ever wants to send their analysis, critique or discussion of my team, Kiss My End Zone, I will find a place in the weekly article for it and credit the author of course. The goal of this is so that each team receives its fair share of praise and criticism during the season.

My weekly articles will follow a similar pattern throughout the year. I will cover last week’s games, talk about the top individual performances, and predict the outcomes of the next week’s games. However, nothing is set in stone. I am writing these articles for you so if there is anything you would like to see me change or add, please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected]. I am playing on Kiss My End Zone as well as Ravens in 5A and Hot Sauce Sports in 4B), so if you ever want to discuss an article at the field feel free to come find me and chat after one of my games.

Let’s get things started with my way too early analysis of each division.

Coed 1

The season is not even a week old and Power Rangers are already looking like the team to beat in this division. If I had to put money on any team in all of FPF going undefeated, it would be Power Rangers. Their mixture of experience, talent and athleticism is simply head and shoulders beyond the rest of the field. Party Mix has the experience to rival them and Two and a Half Kittens have the talent, however Power Rangers already have a mix of both and appear to be unstoppable. The surprise of week one was definitely EZFun’s performance. Fresh off the heels of a dominant run to the Fall Coed Cup, they only managed to score six in week 1. This team relied on the strength of their male players to cover up for some weaker female players. You could tell based on the way Jeremy White threw the ball to different players, that he had varying levels of trust in his players. If this team wants to keep its head above water in Coed 1, the women on this team will need to take a step up and White will need to trust them a little bit more.

Coed 2

After week 1, my biggest question is who will the quarterback for Y & Y be going forward? This team has the roster to dominate the division. However, Matthew Peacock took a majority of the snaps under center and his best position is not quarterback. While he managed well enough against a weak 3 Hunnas defence, Peacock is not a championship level quarterback. If this team wants to live up to the talent on their roster, they will need to find a solution at the quarterback position. Talking about teams who need a quarterback, you can definitely throw Fitsquad into that category as well. According to what Alex Laroche told me, Fitsquad are loaded with talent. However, they seem to be lacking at the quarterback position. Frédéric Chevarie threw four interceptions and posted a 35.9 passer rating. This team is loaded with exceptional players, but they will not get very far if they keep on throwing the game away with interceptions. Across Coed 2, the storyline to look out for will be quarterback play. As the league boosts quarterbacks ratings, the talent level of Coed 2 QBs is steadily decreasing. The quarterback that improves the most will likely lead their team to the championship.

Women’s

First, I am shocked at how big this division is. In the inaugural FPF Women’s season there were only six teams. To see this division double in size in just one season is impressive. While the size may be impressive, the talent disparity is worrisome. Griffons highlight this perfectly. In their first game, Griffons beat up on VC Cubs 38-0 before losing their second game of the night 33-13 to Les Bleus. Unfortunately for VC Cubs, they are playing Les Bleus in week 2. If they thought things were rough in week 1, they better batten down the hatches and brace for impact this week. What I am looking forward to in this division is the matches within Tier 1 of the Women’s division. A lot of these teams know each other from the university league. Les Bleus Proud from UQUAM knocked Concordia out of the playoffs so I am sure Concordia will be looking forward to evening the score in week three when they face off in week 5.

Week 1 Games of the Week

La Secte (12) vs Fitsquad (12) – Coed 2

La Secte came so close to their first win in three seasons! While they might not have won this game, they did put an end to the longest losing active losing streak in FPF.

This game was not very quarterback friendly. There were a combined eight interceptions, four by each team compared to only two passing touchdowns. As a matter of fact, there were more interceptions in this game than there were first downs (6). For La Secte, this game should give them hope for the rest of the season, defensively at least. Alyson Francillon was an absolute force to be reckoned with in this one. He posted one of the most impressive stat lines I have ever seen from a defender with four tackles, four interceptions, 3 PDs and two defensive scores. Yes, all of La Secte’s 12 points came from Francillon’s pick sixes. More than Francillon’s personal heroics, this team should be proud of the way they shutdown an athletic team like Fitsquad. If La Secte’s defence can keep on performing like this for the rest of the season, it would not be crazy to think they can secure their first win in years.

For Fitsquad, this game must have been extremely frustrating. I have been told that this is a very talented and experienced squad and ultimately they beat themselves in this game. Their defence was perfect. They held La Secte to 60 yards and picked off Raphael Beauchamp-Desbois four times. The only points that they conceded were interceptions returned for touchdowns. I know this team has the potential to contend with most teams in the division if they find a way to limit mistakes and that all starts with Frédéric Chevarie limiting the turnovers.

Two and a Half Kittens (26) vs Average and Savage (26)

The theme of week 1 definitely seemed to be ties. If you think about that, it makes sense. Offences are still rusty and converting on extra point attempts is rarer in week 1 then later in the season. Less conversions means more similar scores and that leads to ties.

While week 1 ties are not a huge surprise, the fact that this one ended in a tie was. Two and a Half Kittens were one of the top three teams when I looked at this division in the pre-season whereas I had serious doubts about Average and Savage.

My favorite thing about TAHK was Joey Taylor playing quarterback in Coed. While Taylor might have the arm talent of a division 6 quarterback learning how many fingers to put on the laces of a football, he is one of the very best play callers in FPF. He knows how to shred a zone defence better than just about anyone. Taylor is used to analyzing defences in the highest levels of FPF which make a significant effort to disguise their coverages. In Coed, defences are much easier to read since you have a better idea of who will be dropping deep even before the snap. Very few teams in Coed drop female players deep so that means you only have four potential defenders to drop deep. Armed with that knowledge, I expected Taylor to disseminate opposing defences and easily win the QB of the year honors. None of that happened in week 1 when, despite completing 21 of 29 passes, Taylor only passed for 140 yards. While I am convinced Taylor will improve as the season progresses, if TAHK are to have any chance of contending with the likes of Power Rangers, Taylor will need to have in the range of 200 passing yards and 5 TDs a game.

While the QB play of TAHK could have been better, Average and Savage’s Alexis Labonté was far less average than I expected him to be. Labonté had thrown in Coed 2 before and was alright. In his last season as QB in Coed 2, throwing for It’s a Match, Labonté passed for 740 yards and 17 TDs on his way to posting a 88 QBr. Normally, if a QB does not wow you in Coed 2, that means they will struggle in Coed 1. That clearly does not seem to be the case for Labonté. He kept pace with Taylor in this one, throwing for just as many yards and touchdowns as his talented adversary. While my initial expectations for Average and Savage were pretty mediocre, if Labonté can keep up this level of play they may be able to turn a few heads.

Team Profile

Volts – Women’s Division (Courtesy of Iggy)

Don’t let the young Volts HS team fool you, they may look green, but they have a youthful exuberance about them and a depth of talent across the team, particularly on offense where they clearly have had loads of practice and outside-of-FPF experience. I was taken aback by the over-the-shoulder 25–30-yard catches, the high pointing jump balls, and the crisp comeback routes for touchdowns. Of course, the receivers are made to look even better when the ball is thrown in perfectly placed spots. It’s clear they have run reps together often, as the timing on routes relative to ball placement, arch and power showed no rust in week 1.

On defence, there were times they anticipated plays well. For example, on one defensive series, the nickel corner undercut a snapper drag and returned it for 6. On a separate drive, the corner jumped a sideline hook, only to read the QB eyes and have just enough time to back peddle into the slots seam route to outstretch her arms for a beautiful INT. These are just some of the plays that had Volts up 20-7 on the university caliber Flamants Rose with a little over 2 minutes left in the half. Unfortunately for Volts, for all the accolades and best tire-pumping I’m doing, the early season criticism is their inexperience and inability to close out a team when they have them on the ropes. Case in point, up big with 2 mins before the half, they let that lead slide by halftime by conceding a score, followed by a pick 6, to go down 20-18. They had a 2-score lead on a slightly stronger team, and it unraveled within 2 minutes and thereafter. The 2nd half was not as kind to the Volts, as they would end up losing 40-26. They definitely looked better in the first half, when the game was tied or when they were in the lead. They will need to learn how to play when losing though. The pace needs to be quicker on offense, the Defense needs to be a little more aggressive. When you are down 2 scores with 15 or less minutes and 5 plays, the offense needs to be run in the hurry up set, and the defence needs to be more aggressive to get a stop. As they often get calls from the sidelines, this falls on the coaches to better manage the game and communicate it to the players. While there was much good from the play calls themselves and the routes drawn up, there’s always room for improvement, and for the entire Volts team, they will need to learn to play better when down multiple scores and manage the clock.

This is an already talented team that has huge potential for improvement. The future is very bright for this team and if they stick around the division for a few more seasons, they could be running things before very long.

Week 5 Team of the Week

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. I will name one team of the week for both Coed divisions combined and a separate team of the week for the Women’s division. You can make the team of the week in both divisions. For the Coed team of the week, there will always be a minimum of two women on the offensive and defensive team.

Coed

Offence

Quarterback: Francois Deslauriers (Party Mix) 17 completions, 183 passing yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Jordan Prezioso (Bishop Sycamore) 6 receptions, 119 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Catherine Piche (Party Mix) 9 receptions, 48 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Lauriane Beauchamp (Power Rangers) 5 receptions, 97 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Edouard Gagnon (Team Commandos) 6 receptions, 65 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Julien Proulx (Average and Savage) 4 receptions, 70 yards, 1 TD

Defence

Rusher: Tam Vilaydeth (Power Rangers) 2 tackle, 2 sacks

Defensive Back: Alyson Francillon (La Secte) 4 tackles, 4 INTs, 3 PDs, 2 TDs

Defensive Back: Salim Tayae (Fitsquad) 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

Defensive Back: James Drysdale (Kiss My End Zone) 5 tackle, 1 INT, 1 PD   

Defensive Back: Alexia Vitta (Average and Savage) 5 tackles, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Célestine Chartier (Fitsquad) 2 tackles, 2 PDs

Women’s

Offence

Quarterback: Maude Lacasse (Brutes): 18 completions, 210 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Lauriane Beauchamp (Flamants Roses) 12 receptions, 189 yards, 4 TDs

Receiver: Gabriella Dulac (Gryphons) 14 receptions, 109 yards

Receiver: Mathilde Sybille (Bleu Proud) 6 receptions, 120 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Annabelle Chevrier (Brutes) 8 receptions, 115 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Joyce Généus (Les Bleus) 7 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Emma Touchette (Gryphons) 2 sacks

Defensive Back: Ariane Neveu (Flamants Roses) 5 tackles, 2 INT Sacks, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Océanne Samson (Gryphons) 4 INTs

Defensive Back: Laurie St-Pierre (Concordia) 2 tackles, 3 INTs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Elyane Corneau-Dulude (Concordia) 3 tackle, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Laurence Pontbriand (Brutes) 2 INTs, 1 TD

There you have your week 1 article! Thank you to Iggy for the Volts team preview section! As always, feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.