Division 1 Playoff Preview/ Division 2 Semi-Finals Review

After two weeks of waiting, let me be the first to say welcome to the Division 1 Semi-Finals.

(1) Allstars versus (4) Gryffindor

Previous Meeting: Allstars (45-40) Week 7 and Allstars (32-26) Week 8

As you can see by the scores in both meetings, each game was decided by a touchdown or less. Two teams that can put points on the board, but also can keep teams out of the endzone, I expect the third and final meeting to be just as close this time around.

The tackle football player in me loves the fact that this game is outside. If this past Tuesday was a preview of what the elements have to offer, we could be instore for some cold, wind, and perhaps a bit of rain. I stood on the sidelines with Dan Lazzara, as the both of us were at Loyola to watch the Division 2 and 3 Semi-Finals, and it was freezing. Much to my delight, Moe Khan was shivering, as he thought it was summertime and only wore a hoodie while scorekeeping.

This contest will not lack for playmakers as each side has a plethora of both. The game will also not be lacking Hall-of-Famers, as there will be an impressive seven taking the field in Kevin Wyeth, Jacques Void, Kishon Thompson, Dan Lazzara, Patrick Jérome, Matt Kirouac, and Paul Lapierre, as well as a couple of players who should be getting the call in the not to distant future in AJ Gomes, Isiah Allard, and Matt Bond to name a few.

We will get to see another matchup of Jérome versus Gomes, as the two locked horns Wednesday night in Division 2 action, that saw the latter emerge victorious as he led Terror Squad to a (37-33) win over Urgence Médic (More on that later). While Gomes would reach the endzone twice compared to only once for Jérome, Round 1 would go to the latter as he recorded more catches and yards than his opponent, and he registered the game’s only interception.

The one thing this game will be missing, is the presence of Emmanuel Kerfella and Domenico Manno of the Allstars and Gryffindor respectively, as both players will miss the matchup due to other commitments with the Montreal Alouettes.

Those are two big losses for both teams. For the latter, the loss of their Snapper, could loom large, as the underrated Receiver who played a big part in Khantraband’s Spring Season championship win back in October, has come up with several big plays for his team this year.

In Kerfella, the Allstars will be missing a key piece to a defense who not only is second on his team in tackles and pass breakups but has the ability to match up with any opposing Receiver on the field.

This may sound crazy; but I think the loss of Manno will be felt more. Hear me out. No disrespect to Kerfella, as he was a stud of U of M, and he is currently a solid contributor on Special Teams for the Als, and before that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but Manno is a big target with speed, and route running ability to attack the seams of a defense similar to that of a Tight End. He also appears to be Lazzara’s security blanket especially in the redzone and short yardage situations.

I always believe in not falling victim to recency bias. So, despite the recent success of Gryffindor/ Khantraband, the championship experience and hardware in this contest still rests heavily in the favour of the Allstars. That, along with my believe that they don’t have enough firepower defensively to get two-three stops needed against the Allstars offense, is my reason for picking against them in this contest.

Final Score: Allstars (40-28)

(2) Flag Moi L’Sac versus (3) Braves

Previous Meetings: Flag Moi L’Sac (57-56) Week 5 and Flag Moi L’Sac (43-42) Week 7

If you thought the games between the Allstars and Gryffindor were close, take a look at the two previous matchups with these two squads. Two games decided by less than a field goal. It honestly can’t get any tighter than that.

This should be an exciting game with no shortage of offense, as both teams have combined to score 198 points. That total only makes sense given that these are the two highest scoring teams in Division 1.

The other side of the ball is where there is a sharp contrast between both teams, as the Braves led Div. 1 in points allowed by a wide margin, with 257. The next closest team the Alllstars, gave up 314.

Flag Moi L’Sac, wasn’t so stingy defensively, as they have given up a division worst 404 points. As we all have seen, numbers only tell you so much, and in the first two games between both squads, the Braves top level defense, couldn’t keep their opponents out of the endzone. Can they do it this time around?

To do that FML, will need slow down the Samuel Nadeau-Piuze express. While his brother in Quarterback Alex Nadeau-Piuze might be the conductor, the latter is the engine, and he has powered through the Braves defense in both meetings, combining for 17 catches for 229 yards and five touchdowns.

Speaking of Alex Nadeau-Piuze, the veteran QB has been phenomenal against the Braves this season. While he has thrown one more interception than his counterpart Jonathan Maheu (3-2) in their two meetings, Nadeau-Piuze, has tossed 14 touchdowns to Maheu’s 12.

In both meetings, the Braves had last possession. The Braves were able to put the ball in the endzone and successfully complete the 2-point conversion, but they started the drive down by 9 points, so the final score was just made a little bit closer. In the second game, after allowing a go-ahead touchdown to FML’s Jean-Christophe Morin-Phaneuf the Braves got the ball back with two plays remaining and were not able to convert a Hail Mary attempt.

Since both games came down to such close margins, it appears to be a safe bet that the same thing will occur in the final meeting. Conversions played a key part in both matchups. Let’s look at how both teams did on conversion attempts.

In the first contest, each side was perfect on their extra point tries, as the Braves went 4 for 4 for 2-points, while Flag Moi L’Sac were 3 for 3 on the 1-point convo.

In the second matchup, Flag Moi L’Sac almost duplicated perfection once again, as they went 3 for 3 on 1-point, and 2 for 3 on the 2-point convos. The Braves who deviated from their usual formula of just going for two in the first meeting, got back to basics in the second game as they only went for 2-point conversions. Unfortunately for them, they only converted half of their attempts as they went 3 for 6. As we all know conversions are huge, and they can win or lose a game for you. In the previous game it proved to be the difference.  

Ignoring their recent struggles against Flag Moi l’Sac, the Braves have been the class of FPF for the last few seasons. They get better as the playoffs go on. If it wasn’t for the loss of the ultra versatile Mike Pierrecin the weekend of the Finals, they would have probably beaten Khantraband to win the Spring Season Division A championship. There is no doubting that Flag Moi L’Sac has had their number so far this year, but I think the Braves are just too good of a team to be beat three times in a season.

Final Score: Braves (38-35)

Division 2

We already kicked off the playoff fun in Div. 2 two weeks ago. This past Tuesday at Loyola played host to the final four teams, all doing battle for the right to play in the Division 2 Finals this Sunday in Brossard.

Terror Squad versus Urgence Médic

Two powerful teams with playmakers on both sides of the ball, championship experience, and Quarterbacks who not only know what it takes to win but can beat teams with their arms and legs. You couldn’t ask for anymore than that. Terror Squad had the speed advantage, while Urgence Médic had size and length in their favour.

An uncharacteristic slow start by Urgence Médic, that saw them commit two turnovers via a turnover on downs and an interception had them digging out of a big hole early, as they scored only once on their first three possessions. Adding insult to injury, was the fact that Terror Squad would score after each UM mistake.

In addition to capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes, another key to the win for Terror Squad, was their quick pace offense as the team scored on four, three, two, five, and eight-play scoring drives. Quarterback Tam Vilaydeth did a great job distributing the ball as well as protecting it. The Hall of Fame QB threw TDs to five different Receivers. For the latter, he had only four incompletions, and he did a good job making 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Emile Beaudoin, a non-factor, as he rarely threw in his direction.

The dagger in heart for Urgence Médic, was a 4-yard touchdown by Terror Squad’s Nicholas Groppini on fourth down, which put his team up (37-27) with four plays remaining. UM would respond two plays later with a TD pass from Jesse Dupuis to AJ Gomes on the final play of the game.

Final score Terror Squad (37-33).   

Talking to Gomes after the game, he said that the Urgence Médic defense couldn’t get enough stops, and his team couldn’t get into a flow. Those two factors, in addition to the slow start doomed UM from the start. The 7-time All-Star, also said that he excited for the team’s future, and he was proud of how his team played and matched up, given they were taking on a team in Terror Squad who was stacked with Division 1 players, in names like Patrick Jérome, Alex Pilon, and Serge Pilon Jr.

Having Division 1 players or not, credit the Terror Squad defense for the job they did on the Urgence Médic Receivers, as they limited their explosive offense. Outside of Anthony Lapointe and Mathieu Houle who combined 16 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns, no other pass-catcher had more than four grabs or 28 yards. That’s good defense no matter how you look at it.

KGP versus Party Crashers

I said last week that KGP would win this game by two touchdowns. I was wrong. This game was a thriller that came down to the final play and was a pleasure to watch.

The scoring started fast in this one, as the Party Crashers took a (6-0) lead three plays into the game with a 34-yard score by Emile Taillefer. After a touchdown by KGP’s Quaysie Gordon-Maule helped give his team an (8-6) advantage, KGP would get the ball back six plays later on an interception by James Acker.

KGP would make their opponents pay for their mistake, as QB Phil Cutler would hit Jonathan Garfinkle for a 40-TD to extend the deficit to (14-6), one play after missing him in the right corner of the endzone. The Party Crasher would respond with a TD of their own by Isaac Simard, making the score (14-12) KGP.

Despite the fast-paced action, both teams would not score for the remainder of the half, as a dropped pick six, and a Hail Mary caught out of bounds by Taillefer, ended the first stanza.

KGP started the second half with the ball, and were able to find paydirt, as Garfinkle broke several shaky tackle attempts to find his way to the endzone on a 21-yard catch and run, capping off a five play drive to extend the KGP lead to (20-12).

After taking a deep shot against Defensive Back Mathieu LePage down the right sideline that went incomplete due to his glue-like coverage on Taillefer, The Party Crashers would answer back with a touchdown by Phil Pharand in corner of the endzone, as the Receiver did a great job keeping his toes in bounds. Taillefer, would catch the 2-point conversion, tying the game up at (20-20).

While that play was a thing of beauty, the next would be anything but, as after a sack on Cutler by Francois Hogue and an Unnecessary Contact penalty on Acker (the call was legit, but how often do you ever see that called on an offensive player?) the KGP offense was bailed out by a blown coverage by Taillefer, as he stopped covering on a play, believing that Hogue had picked up a second straight sack. Instead, Cutler was able to escape, and he tossed up an off-balanced wobbler into the hands of Gordon-Maule, who evaded two would-be tacklers, and made his way to the endzone.

The Party Crashers wouldn’t waste anytime responding, as they would tie the game up at 26, with a 31-yard touchdown by Pharand, and a 2-point convo by Hogue, who hauled in a back shoulder bullet over the middle from Quarterback Frédéric Dupuis.

After re-establishing their lead on Gordon-Maule’s third touchdown of the game, the former Concordia Stinger would get burnt for a TD by Taillefer, despite getting called for Pass Interference on the play. If you are going to commit P.I then you have to make sure the Receiver doesn’t catch a touchdown. The 1-point convo attempt was no good, so the game was tied 32 all.

With five plays remaining, Cutler and his offense didn’t wait long to strike, as after a drop by Gordon-Mule on first down, the QB hit LePage for a 39-yard bomb to re-take the lead with three plays left (38-32).

The excitement didn’t end there however, as after taking a deep shot on first down the right sideline that was once again batted away by LePage, in what Referee Tom Cesari who was the head ref for the game, and is the best ref in FPF, called textbook coverage, Dupuis was able to hit Pharand, on the opposite side of the field for a 37-yard gain, after the WR was able to break two tackles, before being tackled at the 3-yard line.

This set up the final play of the game. Dupuis, would get the snap from Louis-Philip Thibodeau, look to his right, and then try to jam a pass down the middle of the field. As the ball was coming out of his hands, he was sacked by Rusher Julien Paiement.

Final Score (38-32) KGP.

It is a heartbreaking way to end any game, let alone a playoff matchup. Two really good teams went to war, and unfortunately someone had to lose. That is the beauty and agony of sports.

This game simply came down to blown coverages and some questionable throws late. The Party Crashers deep ball coverage let them down several times throughout the contest. On offense, the decision to continuously go at Mathieu LePage wasn’t smart, especially when the two players responsible for coverage on the opposite side of the field in James Acker and Quaysie Gordon-Maule, not only gave up touchdowns, but were both called for pass interference during the game. Football is a thinking man’s or woman’s game, but it can also be very simple at times.

On the positive side, Emile Taillefer and Phil Pharand are terrors on the outside. They have speed, great route running ability, and solid hands. More importantly, The Party Crashers are legit. They are deep (they had 11 guys in their lineup Tuesday night), have interchangeable parts, chemistry, and speed for days. What they lack in size, they make up for it in intensity and a no-quit attitude. This team has arrived and will be a force to be reckoned with in Division 2 going forward.

 We are now down to our final two teams who will be doing battle for the Division 2 championship. Terror Squad versus KGP, 9PM at Brossard this Sunday.

Before we get there, we have Division 1 Semi-Finals action, with the top seeded Allstars taking on the four seed in Gryffindor, and the second and third place matchup between the Braves and Flag Moi L’Sac. I fully expect to see two great games at Loyola tomorrow night.

Picks (favorites in bold)

Braves vs Flag Moi L’Sac – Braves (My pick for Game of the Week and Upset Special)

Allstars vs Gryffindor – Allstars

Regular Season: (50-22-1)

Last Week: (2-0)

Playoffs: (6-0)

Good luck to everyone in their games next week. We are one step away from the Finals. I will see you guys at Loyola. Happy Victoria Day, I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend.

If you liked, loved, or hated the article, or simply feel that I left something out, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected], or reach me on Instagram @brent_b51