Division 3 Mid-Season Report Cards – Part 1

Okay, the NFL is taking a back seat, Mother Nature is pushing back to remind us it’s still the dog days of Winter, but that can only mean one thing; the FPF Winter season is at or approaching the middle of the season and that means the fan favorite mid-season report card is due. Of course, with the elongated schedule to accommodate all the increased number of teams in a limited-field availability season, there are some teams that have played 5 (or more) games, while others are still stuck at 3 or 4. That said, for this week, I’ll write the report cards for the teams that have played 5 or more games, and will do the other teams in the coming weeks as they play their 5th game.

That means this week, we have 11 teams to comment on and give a mid-season review for: Kiss My Inlaws (which will be written by Manu Allard-Roy), Arouch, Une Phrase Bien Fournie, Beer Belly Brigade, Mongoose, Backyard Bullies, Air Force 1, Blue Chips (also written by Manu), Greendale Human Beings, Griffnation and Speed Academy. The article will also include my Week 8 predictions.

The mid-season article format this year won’t be the crazy long recap for each team. Instead, I’ll give a grade for each Team’s Offense, Defense, and Overall grade with a 75-100 word paragraph to explain the rationale or comment on the team. I’ll also look at who has stood out as the team’s mid-season MVP. So you, the reader, understands the grading scheme, I’ll quickly break down what each grade means, more or less, and what distinguishes a ‘B’ grade vs a ‘D’.

Offensive/Defensive Grading Scheme

A: Outstanding offensive/defensive performance. You are the best at your craft and have proven it so far in 5 games. Offensively, you move the ball with ease and if you get stopped once or twice a game, I’m shocked. Defensively, I’m seeing 3-4 stops a game, and you’re averaging 1-2 interceptions a game. You are elite.

B: You are a good offense/defense. Offensively, you can drive the field for the most part, with a few hiccups each game. Because defense is hard, you are getting 1-2 stops a game and that is good in Division 3 where offenses know what they are doing.

C: You are an average/below average offense/defense. Your putting up 20-25 points per game and on defense, you barely get a stop in a given game. Your picks are lucky bounces off receivers hands.

D: You are really struggling on offense/defense. Your concepts don’t work at this level and you need to either revamp the plays or drop down a division.

Overall Grading Scheme

Whereas the Offense/Defense grades are basically saying whether you are good or bad, the Overall Grade is compared to expectations placed on your team relative to the beginning of the season. A “C” grade doesn’t mean you are a bad team, just that

A: Your team has greatly exceeded expectations. You are more likely to get this grade if you are a 3-2 team when you were expected to go 0-5 or 1-4, than a 5-0 team expected to go 5-0.

B: You have a good team, but you’ve slightly surpassed expectations. You either jumped a division and are sitting at 2-3 or so and staying competitive in games.

C: You are meeting expectations. I expected you to be exactly where you are at.

D: Severely under performing! You may have signed up in the wrong division

So without further ado, let’s get the article going!

Arouch (3-3)

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: B+

Overall Grade: B-

Mid-Season Team MVP: Antoine Préfontaine

Here’s the result of last week’s poll on whether Eric Lalonde is having a good season so far. Two thirds of the readers don’t think so, and neither do I. While I am satisfied with their 3-3 record, it’s really come at the strength of their defense. Averaging 3.6 TD’s a game will not usually win you games in Div 3, so to come away with 3 wins so far means the defense has carried. With 8 INTs in 6 games, Arouch’s defense has been very solid.

Beer Belly Brigade (3-2)

Offensive Grade: A

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: B

Mid-Season Team MVP: Alexandre Fafard

Had the mid-season report been written at the end of January, BBB would have received an A grade. They started the season with 3 straight wins and the offense has been rolling out of the gates, scoring 30+ points in 4 of their first 5 games. Nicolas Curotte could have been named the team’s MVP, but Alex Fafard‘s 25 TDs and just 4 interceptions in 5 games has been clutch, and their losses are a 1 point defeat to Lightweight and losing on the last play of the game to Mel’s Angels. They went 5-5 last Winter and look to improve on that record. So far, so good.

Backyard Bullies (4-1)

Offensive Grade: A

Defensive Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A-

Mid-Season Team MVP: Gianni Johnston

The schedule has been relatively easy for the Backyard Bullies, with their opponents having a combined record of 7-15-1, so it’s tough to evaluate just how good this team is yet. You definitely still need to go out there and win their games, and they’ve certainly done that behind the incredible rushing performances from Gianni Johnston, and the limited interceptions their QB’s have thrown, only 3 in 5 games. That is playing clean and winning football. With a balanced offense and defensive stud Vinny Gualano, Backyard Bullies turned some heads with a win over Dime and Bougie this past week.

Mongoose (2-3)

Offensive Grade: B

Defensive Grade: B

Overall Grade: C

Mid-Season Team MVP: Jean-Felix Daloze

The grades and QB stats are definitely strange. Given that the offense and defense have done well, it’s unusual that they are sitting at 2-3. Alex Gaudet‘s 18 TDs to 7 INTs stat is unlike him, but when taking a deeper look and remove the 1-off game vs. Sharks, he’s looked more like himself, throwing 17 TDs and 3 INTs in 3 games. They started the season 0-3, but a 3-point loss to one of the best teams in Div 3 in EZW, a write-off game vs Sharks, and then a 1-point loss in a game without your QB, their losses are explainable. The offense is balanced, as usual, and their additions of JF Daloze and Simon Duchesne have proven to be valuable pieces, with Daloze leading the team with 4 picks and both players snagging 13 balls on 17 targets for 120+ yards.

Air Force 1 (2-3)

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: B-

Overall Grade: C+

Mid-Season Team MVP: Jonathan Bigras

The team is missing that star-studded player to have everyone slide in their more natural roles. Jo Big is a fantastic offensive weapon with just under 300 receiving yards, but would be better suited as the 2nd option behind that monster on O that takes the focus away from him. That added weapon would also help the talented and over-looked QB in Simon Blais. He’s got great flag concepts and can pick apart a defense; they’ve been driving the field on teams, but he and the offense have struggled in the redzone to punch in scores. 2-3 is where I could have seen this team after 3 games, but what has me slightly concerned are that their wins have come against teams that is .500 in Arouch and 1-4 in Griffnation.

Kiss My Inlaws (4-1)

*Written by Manu Allard-Roy

Offensive Grade: A

Defensive Grade: B+

Overall Grade: C+

Mid-Season Team MVP: James Drysdale

The KMI squad have been doing KMI things, a high-powered offense with a defense that’s getting more used to playing together as the season goes on. Other than their week 2 loss against Beer Belly Brigade, the defense let up no more than 28 points. Alexi Dubois shows once again why he is one of the best defensive minds and players in the division. The addition of Brady Ohanessian is also huge, he can sub in as QB if Iggy misses a game (tbt The infantry game) and is a monster on defense, having already recorded 4 picks in 5 games. With the weapons on this team like Vincent Benjamin, Lucas Quenneville and the sure hands David De Andrade, Iggy will score more than 30 points per game. I had them finishing 10-0 and I was proved wrong by BBB but I’m confident in saying that they will not lose again.

Blue Chips (2-3)

*Written by Manu Allard-Roy

Offensive Grade: C –

Defensive Grade: D+

Overall Grade: B-

Mid-Season Team MVP: Sanders Armand

That last win for them was big to keep them alive and revive their flame. This team has all the potential and talent, i think they just need to be a bit more organized if they want to beat the top teams. The win against Mel’s Angels was impressive (28-26). Jordan Mitchell can shake any player on the field and make a play, but other defenses have been shutting it down and forcing him to throw. He struggles a bit more in that department, but after a 13/19 159 yards 5 TDs no picks performance against Griffnation, I see hope in the future for them. They just need to run more passing concepts to keep opposing defenses on their toes.

Greendale Human Beings (1-4)

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: D

Mid-Season Team MVP: Alex Joltopuf

The season started so promising, with a classic Greendale win: The offense was rolling seamlessly through Joltopuf, opening up other avenues for Brandon Aylward and Joey Taylor, and the defense created 2 interceptions against The BrotherHood. Since then? 4 straight losses, averaging 18 points per game and only 2 additional interceptions since Week 1. Their schedule did get harder, but I would have expected this team that made it to the Semi-Finals last Winter season to at least be more competitive in their games. I would have expected Greendale to be 4-1, not 1-4 if I had to guess their record after 5 games. Oddly enough, of their remaining 5 games, 4 of them are rematches against their opponents from last Winter’s playoff run, with the exception of Blue Chips. It would be a good time to string together a few wins and get on a run like they did last playoffs.

Griffnation (1-4)

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: B

Mid-Season Team MVP: Mack Dessources

Griffnation has only 1 win on the season, a 1-point victory over the winless Wide Open Bar, but I expected this from the team. They are moving WAYYY up from Tier 3 and didn’t decide to move down to Div 4 after going 3-7 in Div 3 last Winter as Never Overtime. The team has punched above their weight class since starting in FPF. It would be time to go down a division, see success in the form of a 7-3, 8-2 record with a deep playoff run, and THEN move up divisions. The team has talent but needed to get more reps together and develop their playbook to see what works best, all while staying competitive in games. By Div 3 teams are rolling well-oiled machine offenses and you can’t afford to be in development mode. With a 74.9 QB rating, it may have been Oli Sabourin‘s last crack at playing in Div 4 and by not grabbing taking that chance, it appears to be a wasted opportunity. If they can squeak out 2 more wins somewhere in their schedule, they could slide into the playoffs as a bottom seed.

Speed Academy (0-5)

Offensive Grade: D

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: C

Mid-Season Team MVP: Jimmy Marneris

After losing Shelder Valéry and Rabbi Bositampen from past seasons, Speed Academy would have been better served dropping a division to Div 4. That said, they likely fell into the trap of having a QB above the Div 4 QB cap and not being able to replace some very good talent and depth on the team to keep pace in Div 3. The obvious threat is Jimmy Marneris with his 330 yards and 4 TDs, but after that, there’s no receiver with 200 or more yards, although Darryl Dorcely would probably have reached that mark if he played all 5 games so far. While both sides of the ball are struggling, they do get a C grade for meeting expectations, but ouf, overall, it has not looked pretty. I will say though, they were more competitive in their game against Mel’s Angels this past week, but made a highly questionable decision to waive the game instead of going for the onside kick after their TD when down by 7 🤔🤔. Someone explain it to me!

Une Phrase Bien Fournie (0-5)

Offensive Grade: D

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: C

Mid-Season Team MVP: Alexandre Paré

Like Speed Academy and Griffnation above, it’s a team that is probably better suited for Division 4. This team struggled in Div 3 last Winter as well, but did show signs of progress as the season went along. Without Vincent Dethier on the team this time around, with a Team Rating Request, the team may have been able to play in Div 4 and work on their development, all while staying competitive in games. The team has athletes to play the game, it’s just tough to do so when teams in Div 3 have been playing for 5+ seasons together. I will say though, Alexandre Paré’s 5 interceptions in 4 games is a serious threat the in defensive backfield which has him with the 2nd most picks in the Division. QB’s beware!

Okay, that does it for the Report Card teams that have reached 5 or more games! Let’s take a look at last week’s poll and see what the community voted on as the best in the Group’s:

For Group A’s best Offense, everyone agreed with our 4 contributors from last week: EZW is that dynamic, high-class, powerful offense that is toughhh to stop.

The Best Defense in Group B was more divided by our contributors, and the community agreed with the closest poll, but ultimately That’s What She Said’s defense was voted as the best!

I’m just happy the division thinks the same as me! The boys are top-notch receivers!

With our contributors splitting the QB votes between Jules Regimbald and Simon Dagenais, who would the community favour to break the deadlock? They went with the FPF veteran, doubling down for Simon Dagenais!

Week 8 Game Picks

Mel’s Angels vs. The BrotherHood – The BrotherHood (as Mel’s Angels missing a ton of players)

Beer Belly Brigade vs. Backyard Bullies – Beer Belly Brigade

Une Phrase Bien Fournie vs. Greendale Human Beings – Greendale Human Beings

Griffnation vs. EZW – EZW

The Infantry vs. Lightweight – Lightweight

Les Gros Coqs vs. Wide Open Bar – Les Gros Coqs

Minions of Migdesyan vs. Dirty Birds – Dirty Birds

Friends with Danny vs. Sharks – Sharks

Bruins vs. Arouch – Bruins

Alright, that does it for Part 1 of the Mid-season report cards. Make sure to keep tuning in for more of my takes, Game Picks and more questions answered by the Div 3 community!

As always, hope to see you all in action on the fields, as Week 8 gets on its way this Saturday! Good luck to everyone and go ball out!

Iggy Magnets