Bombsquad’s Breakdown (Div 1/2) – Week 11

Well, we had some upsets, some close calls and an all-around great first weekend of FPF playoffs. So kick back in case you weren’t there, grab a beer and check out how things went down.

Countdown to detonation.

1. The Demons down the Rainmakers 38-27. Early on, Ryan Kastner made a fantastic play and then left the game. Unfortunately, the play was on defense for the one and only play play he was on the field for. With Michael Samman on the sideline after being treated for an injury, Kastner made a great diving play defending a post pattern by Stephane Chartrand. Unfortunately that also led to a partial separated shoulder. In stepped Ben Leger who hasn’t thrown on a consistent basis in this league since 2009. He did an admirable job. It seems both QB’s love Michael Chitayat because he was everywhere despite the QB switch, catching 8 balls for 120 yards and 3 TD”s. But only two other receivers caught balls for the Rainmakers which will never bode well in a playoff game. Carmine Pollice did what needed to be done the only way he knows how: going 23-29 for 223 yards and 6 TD’s. He spread the ball across the offence but in the red zone it was Sean Kennedy who got sined brightest with 3 TD’s, capping off a huge playoff weekend for him (more on that later). Demons now face their rivals, Montreal’s Finest, in the semi-finals.

4. The Blazers defeat the Triple Sixers in what some call an upset 46-33. Leon Holder had 7 TD tosses and 4 of them were to the same Sean Kennedy I discussed in the D1 segment. He had 111 yards on 7 grabs. Kenton Lowe also had a great game with 9 grabs for 81 yards and a TD. It seems I just mentioned last week these two needed to be stopped. I guess we know why the game ended the way it did. Karim Chaoual had a rough game with 2 INT’s and only 5 TD’s. The Blazers seemed able to contain Pat Jerome and JF Marcotte, so I guess the writing was on the wall for how this would play out. Now the Blazers have a much bigger challenge ahead of them.

3. The One Night Stands took out the Tomahawks 44-33. To be fair, Mike Grilli did not look as rusted as I thought he might and found his old favorite target Dany Ostiguy six times for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns. But the Tomahawks were not able to stop the tandem of Andrew Blevings and Ryan Brewster who had 5 TD’s between them. Throw in Jeff Millar with a great pick on defense and nice long bomb TD on ‘O’, and you have a recipe for success, which moves O.N.S. into the next round of the playoffs. Definitely a team to watch.

2. The G-Men win over the Top Guns but not the way I thought they would, sneaking out a win 40-38. This was a great game. These young guys from Top Guns came to play and showed me and everyone else in attendance that they have a bright future in FPF, taking the G-Men to the brink. They actually were on the 5-yard line knocking on the door with 3 plays left when QB Mario Porreca broke the rush but then threw a cross-body errant pass into the waiting arms of Paul Kamel to secure the win. The Top Guns led for some of this game when most thought they would get blown out. But leave it to the experienced G-Men to find a way to win.

1. In the biggest upset of the weekend, the Air Squad knocked out the Wolverines 27-24. The biggest story is they decided to have Manuel Lauzon play QB. He did what he needed to do, buying time with his legs to give his receivers time to get open. Tony Tabet was doing all he could but once again another game was decided on converts as the Wolverines could not get any. Tabet used Jacques Void to his max giving him all 4 TD passes on 5 receptions. But the big story was Tabet’s 4 INT’s (three of them were to the big man for the Air Squad Sebastien Crisi-Lauzon who was everywhere). He also had an interception on a convert which doesn’t show up in the stats. This defense came to play and stopped a veteran squad. I did not think they could do it and they definitely proved me wrong. Great game.

BOOM! Just like the playoff hopes of the Wolverines and Triple Sixers who got upset this weekend.

My D1 SHOWSTOPPA this week has to be the Demons defense for getting the job done. They made sure they will play another week in the playoffs. Great job.

My Golden Boy is Two-Way Player of the Year Michael Chitayat in a losing cause who had 8 grabs for 120 yards and 3 TD’s leading in every category a receiver could (although tied for the lead in TD’s with Sean Kennedy), way to step up big.

My D2 SHOWSTOPPA is the big man for the Air Squad who got the pick that sealed the victory, Sebastien Crisi-Lauzon. He had a huge game. That is what the playoffs are all about.

My Golden Boy is the key player from the weekend’s other upset, as the Blazers Sean Kennedy caught 7 balls for 11 yards and 4 TD’s. Obviously hard to stop this big man.

Now a little preview for what is yet to come this week in the FPF. Round 2….ding, ding.

The Expos Take on Old Skool and hope to defeat Old Skool for the third time this season. The Expos are definitely still thinking about that painful championship game loss last April on that infamous play. The second time these two teams played it was Old Skool that got schooled. But these are the playoffs and Old Skool has many veterans like Mike Cuscuna and Andy Peterkin, weapons like Shane Williams and Mark Deslauriers. They defied the odds last year and won it all. You cannot write this team off. But this year, without a few players, namely Robbie Robinson and Vinny Gualano, Old Skool is a little overmatched. I think this game will be very close but I think the Expos will win it in the end and book their third straight ticket to the finals.

The Demons face Montreal’s Finest in the other semi-final. The Demons lost both regular season games this Winter, but believe they know how to stop the Finest offence. The Finest know all too well how hard it is to beat a team three times in one season. They also have their own Demons to exercise as they have lost in their first playoff matchup the last 3 seasons. Both teams are loaded with talent and either team can win on any given Sunday (or Saturday). The Demons players will admit that the first meeting this season between these teams was the worst game they played all year with many uncharacteristic drops. Needless to say, the Finest and Demons are both very hungry for this game. Will the Finest get over the Bye Week Curse that plagues them? Will the Demons finally defeat their rivals? Check it out this Saturday at Catalogna.

Victorious Secret takes on the underdog Air Squad after their emotional victory from last weekend. These kids have fire and definitely have talent. They have speed all over the field. Most importantly, they truly have the desire to win, which is what makes them so dangerous. But who will be throwing? Manuel Lauzon led them to victory but Nick Lafond was their QB all season. I think they should stick with what worked last week, especially taking on the Victorious Secret defense. This team has experience and their own fair share of talent. It also has four of the members from last year’s D2 championship team. I think the difference in this game will be the Victorious Secret defense. They were 2^nd best during the season and I believe they will be able to contain the Air Squad offense. I believe Victorious Secret will move on.

The Mercenaries battle the surging Blazers. Another team just off an upset win. Blazers QB Leon Holder has been controlling the ball much better as of late, limiting his turnovers while his two top receivers, Sean Kennedy and Kenton Lowe, have been carrying the load. Now they take on the Mercenaries who have had a very good season. H.O.F. QB Gino Di Fazio seems able to build winning teams out of thin air and it helps when you have players like Teddy Frenette, Stephane Chartrand and Adam Bailey. They also have the best defense in the league led by defensive guru Adi Sharma. It is this defense that I believe will make the largest difference in this game. I just can’t see the Blazers putting up another 40+ point game which I believe they will need. The last time these two teams played, they tied. the Mercs were very under manned. I do not believe that will be the case this week. Mercs win.

In one of the most intriguing matches of the week, Kevin Wyeth and O.N.S. faceoff against Carmine Pollice and the Trojans. This will be the second time these two QB’s will faceoff this weekend. O.N.S. has been very impressive down the stretch. The Trojans have been impressive all year. Both QB’s had great seasons. Both teams have great weapons. Trojans have Vinny Gualano and Jimmy Coupethwaite on offense, as well as both Ciampini brothers, Adam and Mike. Meanwhile O.N.S. has receiver of the year Andrew Blevings as well as perennial top receiver Ryan Brewster. These teams match up very well. Their meeting this season came down to a suspect interception which some believed hit the ground and was returned for 6 points. But which O.N.S. defense will come to play? The defense that showed up against the G-Men or the one we saw most of the season? Who knows. It is for this reason that I take the Trojans to win. I think it will be high scoring, but Pollice will have the advantage against the O.N.S. defenders.

Finally the Wolfpack battle the G-Men, who survived a scare last week against the Top Guns. Pascal Murray had a phenomenal season. The Wolfpack managed to be consistent all season long. The G-Men only fell behind the Pack in the standings in the very last week of the season. Both teams are stacked and have had the same core of players since their inception. These two teams parallel each other in so many ways it is very hard for me to choose who will win. It will be a very good game. You could argue that Gianni Settino shouldn’t have made the all-star in favour of Pascal Murray. But awards or accolades won’t help this week, it’s all about moving on and both teams want this bad. I could name players from both teams but they seem to cancel each other out. So I think I will take the Wolfpack to win based solely on how the G-Men performed last week. But it will be by less than a score. I should have just flipped a coin.

So there you have,

The results from round one.

You can see who moved on,

And which teams are done.

We are now another week,

Closer to the end.

To the finals we march,

And see who contends.

That is it once again for me. Thanks for reading and thanks for a great season for the teams who now must watch. You can email thoughts or poems to [email protected] but until then, another week has been defused.