Darkhorse Contenders and More from Coed and the Women’s Division

We’re four weeks into the season now and we’re starting to get an idea of who the top contenders are in each division. While there are some teams that might not be as good as their record indicates (yes, I am looking at you Vultures) there are a lot of teams stuck in the middle of the pack. If you look at The IG Team and their championship run from last season, no one saw it coming. They finished the season with a mediocre 5-5 record and no one expected them to make a splash in the playoffs. Well, we were all wrong since they won it all. That begs the question, who are the overlooked teams this season in Coed and the Women’s division?

Darkhorses

Never Too Late Team (2-1) – Coed 2

This team is the definition of overlooked and underhyped. They are currently in 7th place with a 2-1 record, but the only reason they are not higher in the standings is because they have played so few games. This team has pretty much the same roster as Flashbang Team from the winter season except they made one key switch. They have added Paolo Della Rocca (or as he is commonly known and will always be referred to in these articles, Peeze) which let Charles Verreault return to his more natural position as a receiver. Peeze is the reason I am labeling this team a darkhorse. He has gotten off to a very average start to the season, throwing for 11 TDs and five picks, but those stats are going to change. Yes, right now he is looking like a bit of a role player quarterback but Peeze is just a season removed from making the semifinals in Division C as a quarterback. He is also one of the most infuriating passers you will ever play against. His game does not rely on arm strength, touch, accuracy, or really any form of athleticism.  Instead his game mainly depends on outsmarting his opponents and laughing at how easy it is for him. Last time Peeze played in Coed he had one of his best seasons ever. He threw for 45 TDs, his all time high in over 20 FPF seasons and eclipsed the 2000 passing yard mark for only the second time in his career. What that means is over the next seven games we can expect Peeze to pass for another 34 TDs and 1500 yards which makes for an average of 5 TDs and 215 yards a game. With the roster around Peeze on this Never Too Late Team those numbers are definitely achievable. Charles Verreault, Jeremy Augustin and William Paquette are just about as good a wide receiver trio as you will get in Coed 2. Defensively, this team has also been getting some nice production out of their female players. Ariane Brenko  already has a sack, an interception and a defensive touchdown. Sarah Bérubé might only have  played a game but she leads this team with three defended passes. NTLT will not finish the regular season in first place and there will definitely be a few more bumps along the road as this team closes out the regular season, but  by the time the playoffs roll around and this offense is firing on all cylinders, this is going to be a team that no one wants to face. 

1-9ers (3-1) – Coed 3

This team might have a 3-1 record but if you look carefully, it should be 2-2. They caught an extremely lucky break in week 1 when TIGRES violated the cap which resulted in the 1-9ers being handed a forfeit win when in reality they lost the game. The best way to describe this team is that their roster is experienced while their quarterback play is the exact opposite. Alexandre Blais and Lucas Quenneville are FPF vets at this point. They know how the game works and how to win. Quenneville is fresh off a division 4 championship in the winter season and made the finals playing with Benchwarmers in Coed  2. On the flip side of that, this team’s quarterback, Charles Presser, is as green as they come. This is his first time playing QB and while he might have a big arm he is by no means a natural quarterback. Although his stats so far might be impressive, 15 TDs, 4 INTs and a 100 QB rating the biggest way his inexperience is showing is in his ball distribution. Blais and Quenneville have been targeted 56 times while the rest of the receivers have been targeted 26 times. That means that roughly 70 of the targets are going the direction of just two receivers. Presser has run the ball 16 times this season and has completed passes to receivers not called Blais or Quenneville just 16 times. There is clearly a ball distribution issue on this team. I could also bring up the fact that the female receivers on this team have only been targeted 12 times. All of this to say, this team has a ton of potential and even more talent. The biggest issue right now is that they are not getting the most out of any of their players. By overusing Blais and Quenneville, those two receivers are getting double or even triple covered by opposing defences. If this team can start spreading the ball a little bit, their offensive production could soar. This team needs to find a way to start clicking offensively, and if they do, they could be a real playoff threat. 

Les P’tites Miettes (1-3) – Women’s 2 Division

This P’tites Miettes had a brutally hard schedule to start off this season. Their first game was against Blue Thunder, a team I consider to be  amongst the best in the W2 division. Their second was a narrow loss to The Rock, a W1 team and their third game was versus Wildcats who are currently 4-0 and despite being a W2 team, they are likely better than most of the W1 teams. All in all, they ran the gauntlet over the first three weeks of the season and unfortunately emerged with a 0-3 record. The good news is that their schedule from here on out, barring their week 6 game versus Subzero, is looking quite a bit easier. The best news for this team might be the fact that Morgane Cosimano-Valois, their quarterback, is trending in the right direction. After a disastrous outing versus the Wildcats where she threw for no scores and less than 100 yards she bounced back versus Touch Down For What? and threw for a whopping five scores and over 230 yards. The fact that Cosimano-Valois has the potential to go off for a whopping five scores on any given night, she has already done it twice this season, is what excited me the most about this team.With receivers like Esther Morin-Struthers and Alicia Lépine, offense should never be much of an issue for this team. The issue they are facing is on the defensive side of the ball. They have conceded the third most points in the division and are struggling to produce turnovers. This team only has three interceptions on the season and does not have a single player with multiple INTs. Part of the issue for this team might be that they have too many defended passes. Let me explain. They have batted down nine passes this season which means that P’tites Miettes defenders have managed to touch 12 opposing passes but only three of those turned into interceptions. That is not a fantastic ratio, but the odds suggest that it should be pretty easy to transform a few of those PDs into INTs and that might be all that this team needs to turn the corner. As of now, I am convinced that this P’tites Miettes team has a top tier offense. The numbers also suggest that this defence is underperforming and leaving turnovers on the table, or rather on the field. If this team can start producing an additional pick or two a game, the rest of the Women’s division should be very worried.

Week 4 Games of the Week

Blue Thunder (6) vs Supernova (14) – Women’s 2

This game was a tale of two QBs for Supernova. Camille Bergeron got off to a rocky start in this one. She completed just five passes and threw three interceptions. It was clearly not her best day.  What saved Supernova in this game was the decision to put Florence Brault in at quarterback. While she was far from spectacular she did just enough, throwing for a little bit over 130 yards and two scores, to lead her team to victory. What we have seen all season long from  this Supernova team, and what we saw in this game is that they do not win because of their offense but rather despite it. It was the Supernova defence that saved them in this one. They allowed less than 100 total yards to their opponents. On the season, Supernova have conceded just 50 points in 4 games which is an average of just 12 points against per game. What is the most surprising thing about this Supernova defence is that they aren’t producing a herculean amount of interceptions or sacks. They have four INTs on the season and even fewer sacks. That was reflected in this game where they only picked off Juliette Beauvais of Blue Thunder twice. This team’s bread and butter is creating turnovers on downs. To be fair, producing turnovers on downs is easier in the Women’s division since you can only gain one first down, by passing midfield, instead of one every 10 yards. That is exactly where Supernova excelled in this game. They forced six turnovers on downs and were perfect on fourth down, not allowing a single conversion on that critical down. This Supernova defence might get credit for being a strong cohesive unit but if there is one player that stands out amongst the rest it is definitely Alexann Leblanc. In this game she was all over the field and totaled 3 tackles, 2 sacks and an interception. This Supernova team has one of the top defences in the division. If their offense can start clicking with Florence Brault under center, this team could be a title contender in Women’s 2. 

As for Blue Thunder, this is a game they would probably love to forget, but instead, they should learn from it. The one bright side from this game was Charlotte Grimmel who went off on both sides of the ball. She accounted for over half of their passing yards and caught the team’s only score. Defensively she caused even more issues because she picked off her opponents three times. That being said, the moral that Blue Thunder need to take away from this is that flag is a team game. Despite Grimmel having a performance for the ages, your team is always better when everyone is contributing. Instead of looking for big chunk plays to their star receivers, this team needs to learn how to check the ball down and be ok gaining 5 yards on first down. Blue Thunder struggle on 4th down and I have a feeling this is because they are consistently placing themselves in 4th and long situations. If they can do a better job of gaining yards on first and second down, they will find themselves in a 4th and manageable situation instead of an impossible 4th and 15 which more often than not results in an INT.

Drink Team (19) vs Les Crevettes (12) – Coed 3

This was not Alexandre Roel’s best game by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, this was probably his worst performance of the season. He threw his first two interceptions and only scored three times. Having not personally seen this game it is hard to tell what exactly went wrong but I am happy to chalk this one up as an off game for Roel and a strong showing for Les Crevettes’ defence. What has impressed me the most from this Drink Team offense this season has been the performance of Erika Magini. She leads all DT receivers in both yards, with 170 and in TDs with 7. Apart from Magini the strength of this DT offense comes from their ability to spread the ball. Seven different receivers recorded a catch for them in this game and four of those receivers had four or more targets. They are doing a fantastic job of spreading the ball and that is keeping opposing defences honest. Drink Team has the most prolific offense in the division with 165 points and their defense isn’t too shabby either, with 50 points conceded which is also good for the division lead. Mederic Lauzon showed that he is more than just an offensive player in this game. He single handedly wrecked the Crevettes’s offense and produced a stunning three interceptions in the process. The other key contributor on defence was Darryl Dorcely. While he can play all over a defense, Dorcely’s best position is definitely rusher and he showed why today. He sacked Emile Charron-Ligez twice and held him to just two rushing attempts for 21 yards. What impressed me from Drink Team in this one was their resourcefulness. In the past, they won games by outsourcing their opponents by 20 or more points. In this one, that was not an option. They dug deep and pulled out the necessary interceptions and sacks to win this one despite only putting up three scores.

For Les Crevettes, this was an impressive showing on the defensive side of the  ball. Yes, their offense struggled and only put up two scores but this team has been struggling to put up points all season. The last time this team scored more than two TDs was all the way back in week 3. Instead of focusing on the negative, let’s take a look at what they did well, and that was their defensive effort. Coming into this game DT were averaging nearly 50 points a game and Les Crevettes held them to just 19 which is a huge achievement. Vincent Dubé was the showstopper on this defense and recorded two interceptions. As a matter of fact, Dubé is the only player in Coed 3 to have intercepted Alex Roel this season. On top of intercepting Roel for the first time this season this defence also held the very dangerous Valery Shelder to just one catch for 11 yards. While this Les Crevettes team might have a lot to improve offensively, this is a defensive performance that they can build an identity around. 

Week 4 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. The team of the week will be made up of players from Coed 2, Coed 3, Women’s 1 and Women’s 2 divisions. Only stats will be considered when choosing players for the team of the week. That means 100 receiving yards in Women’s 1 is equivalent to 100 receiving yards in Coed 2. In the spirit of the Coed and Women’s divisions, every team of the week will have a minimum of two female players on the offensive and defensive team.

Offence

Quarterback: Sara Parker (SubZero) 360 passing yards, 8 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Frédéric Chevarie (Fitsquad) 6 receptions, 106 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Laurence Pontbriand (SubZero) 6 receptions, 125 yards, 5 TDs

Receiver: Lucas Quenneville (Kiss My End Zone) 9 receptions, 137 yards, 4 TDs

Receiver: Manu Allard-Roy (Vultures) 6 receptions, 114 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Alexandre Blais (1-9ers) 6 receptions, 102 yards, 3 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Nicholas Fon (We Love Big TDs) 1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 INT, 4 PDs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Thomas Trépanier (Deep Ballz) 2 INTs, 1 PD, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Charlotte Grimmel (Blue Thunder) 5 tackles, 3 INTs

Defensive Back: Ariane Neveu (WOS) 4 tackle, 2 INTs, 1 TD   

Defensive Back: Gabrielle Audy (Les Schtroumpfs) 2 tackles, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Mederic Lauzon (Drink Team) 3 INTs

Week 5 Predictions:

Please note that the bolded team is the one I am predicting to win

Coed 2:

Les Marchands de Vitesse vs Pig 6

Fitsquad vs Beeftons

EZFun vs Kiss My End Zone

Block Party vs Plenty of Fish

Street Runners vs Deep Ballz

Les Marchands de Vitesse vs The Rookies

Pig 6 vs Never too late team

The IG Team vs Vultures

Coed 3:

Free Agents vs Fast not furious 3

Michael Scott’s Tots vs Catching W’s

We Love Big TDs vs Drink Team

Thunder Buddies vs Kamikaze

TIGRES vs DreamKillers

Les Crevettes vs Les Schtroumpfs

Women’s 1&2:

Red Nation vs Touch Down For What?

B.I.T vs Wolfpack

Supernova vs Wildcats

Wolfpack vs Les P’tites Miettes

The Rock vs Blue Thunder

Subzero vs Wildcats

WOS vs X&X