Division B: The 10 Biggest 2nd Half Questions

The first half of the season is officially in the books. We have seen a lot of good football, a little bit of bad on occasion, and a ton of big plays, exciting playmakers, and even a few thrilling endings.

Poseidon’s Kiss sits atop the standings, but Mangoose, along with Silent Ticklers, Run It Once, and FINS UP are hot on their trail.

With the second half of the season now here, I want to look at the 10 biggest 2nd half questions that must be answered in Division B.

1. Will Poseidon’s Kiss finish the regular season in first?

The question became a bit more difficult to answer, as they suffered their first loss of the season last weekend versus the Silent Ticklers. The path to perfection is over, but their dreams of winning a championship are not.

This team has an elite Quarterback in Rocco Christiano, and he is surrounded by top-level weapons in names like Jahnai Lewis, Juwan Edghill, Owen Bujarsky, and Arnis Mehmetaj.

The problem for Poseidon’s Kiss, is that all the teams chasing them have solid to elite QBs too, the same type of firepower, and a legit Rusher. That last position is the one thing this team lacks. No disrespect to Evan Vavinis, who always brings effort, and some always amusing trash-talk, but rushing is not his specialty. Will that one weakness hold them back as we head towards the homestretch, and more importantly come playoff time?

As I mentioned in my article earlier this week, Poseidon’s Kiss is an impressive (4-1) in one-possession games. If you watch any type of football, you will know that that type of luck can change in a heartbeat.

I like this team, and believe they can go all the way, but I don’t think they will enter the playoffs as top seed.

2. Who will win Quarterback of the Year?

The leading candidates are Rocco Christiano, Will Power, Ryan Kharouf, Marc-Andre Reeves, Nic Schaefer, Brady Ohanessian, and Jordan Panetta. The race is tight and will most likely come down to the wire. Will the Quarterback with the team who finishes first be the winner? Will having the highest scoring offense be the difference? How much will a player like Ohanessian, who throws full-time in Division A be dinged by the voters?  

I could be wrong, but this feels like the first time in a while that almost every player in contention feels like they are a viable duo-threat QB.

The decision will be fascinating, as there are several more than worthy candidates. If I had to bet, I would say, Will Power. He leads all passers in yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, and QB Rating.

3. Which team will miss the playoffs?

If you look at the standings right now, Les Verges Folles, sit in that spot with a (1-5) record. An inconsistent roster has played a big part in their bad first half. With remaining games against Shake & Bake, FINS UP, Mangoose, and Run It Once, LVF, controls their own playoff destiny.

Les Verges Folles aren’t alone as it relates to teams that have left a lot to be desired in the first half. They are joined by Shake & Bake, Never Overtime, and Udaho Idapimps. In total, all four teams have combined to go (6-20). That record looks depressing, but hope springs eternal, as the second half of the season is here, and with it, a chance to turn things around.

Shake & Bake plays all three teams. In the craziest and most illogical schedule we have witnessed in a long time, Never Overtime has one game remaining, and it is against Shake & Bake, while as I already mentioned, both Udaho Idapimps and Les Verges Folles still must face Shake & Bake. In short, all the head-to-head meetings mean the standings should be written in pencil right now.

Some team will unfortunately miss out on the post-season. If I had to choose who, I would say Les Verges Folles. Roster and Quarterback inconsistency will always spell doom. This squad is experiencing both right now.

4. Who will win Defensive Player of the Year?

This award is decided by interceptions, sacks, pass deflections, touchdowns, and when possible, touchdowns.

There are several well-deserving candidates. Those names include Sam Anastasopoulos, Bakari Barrett, Sanders Armand, Simon Duchesne, Yvan Salomon, Thomas Coutu, and Tysen Otis Copeland among others.

In both tackle and flag football, interceptions, sacks, pass deflections, and defensive touchdowns are always looked at as the most important defensive plays. Tackles matter too, especially in flag, where defense often turns into a one-on-one matchup, and tackling a Receiver or runner in the open field is usually the difference between getting a touchdown or a producing a stop. This why players like James Langshaw, Mack Dessources, Carl Achy, Marc-André Lapointe, and Juwan Edghill should get serious consideration.

Since I asked the question, I will give an answer. I am going with James Langshaw.

5. Which team will make a second half run?

Whether it is Men’s, Women’s, 5 V 5, or the Co-Ed Division, there is always a team that makes a second half surge that sees them vault up the standings, and knockoff a favourite or two come playoff time.

I am going with Shake & Bake. I talked about them in my earlier article this week, as well as on the podcast, and I firmly believe that this team has too much talent and has not played their best football of the year yet.

They have an elite Quarterback in Marc-Andre Reeves. It will be on him as the team’s leader to lift his squad to the heights many people, including yours truly, thought they could reach this season.

They have five games left, which gives them plenty of time to get their act together. The first shot at doing so starts tomorrow morning against the Silent Ticklers, and then sees them play Udaho Idapimps, Les Verges Folles, Never Overtime, and then against the Silent Ticklers once more. Let’s see if Shake & Bake can get it done.

6. Who will win Two-Way Player of the Year?

This one will be tough. Defensive and offensive touchdowns, passing, receiving, as well as rushing yards, catches, sacks, pass deflections, tackles, and interceptions. They all count. There are a lot of familiar names up for this award with players like Sanders Armand, Rocco Christiano, Thomas Coutu, Mack Dessources, Marc-André Lapointe, and Brady Ohanessian. Other playmakers have thrown their names into the mix like Jahnai-Copeland Lewis, Danick Coulombe, and Jaylan Greaves.

There are a lot of possibilities. Since I must pick one, I am going with Sanders Armand. He has three touchdowns and 200 yards receiving, to go along with a trio of interceptions, 15 tackles and four pass deflections.   

7. Will we see more than one Rusher reach double-digit sacks?

As of this writing, Thomas Coutu leads all players with nine sacks. With four games left for his team Mangoose, there’s a pretty good chance he will reach double-digits.

When looking at the rest of the field, Brandon Vickers, is in second place with three. There six Rushers who have recorded two, and 13 other players that have one Quarterback takedown. With names like Manu Allard-Roy, Mike Zenobi, Emile Descoteaux, Joey Notaro, and Team Canada’s own Phil Pharand among others, it is more than a little surprising that we have seen so few sacks this season.

Each of the players listed above have at least four games left to crack that magical number of 10. Despite that, I don’t think it will happen. This will be the first time since the formative stages of FPF, that we only have one Rusher crack double digit sacks.   

 8. Who will win Receiver of the Year?

This might be the most interesting race among all the positions. There are a slew of worthy candidates here. Never Overtime’s dynamic duo of Mack Dessources and Rhami Aboud, have continually been the engine that moves their team. This season is no different, as they are first and second respectively in yards, with 659 and 590 respectively. They are also tied for the Division B lead in touchdowns with 13 apiece.

FINS UP possesses a stellar pair of their own in Joey Notaro and James Langshaw. The former, is only one of five players to record at least 10 TDs, while the latter is third in yards with 401.

Some other names worth considering are Juwan Edghill (Poseidon’s Kiss), Marc-André Lapointe (Udaho Idapimps), Jaylan Greaves (Run It Once), Maximilien Sadori (FINS UP), Carl Bernola (Les Verges Folles), and Adam Rosen (Silent Ticklers).

I am going with Mack Dessources. Not only does he lead all players yards and is tied for the lead in TDs, but the eight-year veteran is also first in catches and targets with 57 and 76 respectively.

9. Which team is most in danger of being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs?

The easy answer here is Never Overtime, as they have the worst defense in the division, giving up an average of 38 points per game.

I want to go out on a limb here however, so I will say Udaho Idapimps. They have blowout wins, one-sided losses, close victories, and last-second defeats. One week they scored 20 points one week, and 54 the next. To sum them up perfectly, they have been consistently inconsistent. That rarely ever works come playoff time.

With four regular season games left on their schedule, Udaho Idapimps have a chance to find some consistency, and shore up a defense that has been a little leaky without the presence of Marvin Steinberg, who was on their Winter Season Division 2 squad. Let’s see if they can do one, or both. If they can’t do either, I think their trip to the post-season will be short. 

10. Who will be playing for the Division B Championship?

Poseidon’s Kiss is the top seed. Besides lacking a solid Rusher and having a thin roster that has trouble being punctual for early games (you guys know I am right) there aren’t any other flaws on the roster.

Defense wins championships, so a team like Mangoose should be seen as a legit favourite.

The Silent Ticklers have championship experience, and the weapons to go toe-to-toe with anyone.

FINS UP has the best Quarterback in the division in Will Power, and have the speed as well as chemistry to match any other team.    

Run It Once has the most talent of any team in Div. B, along with a perfect blend of size and athleticism. They are littered with ball-hawks on defense.

Udaho Idapimps have big game experience, grit, length, and speed. Their have shown they can light up the scoreboard from time to time and get an occasional stop on defense.

Never Overtime has the top two Receivers in the league, and two Quarterbacks in Ryan Kharouf (when healthy) and Olivier Sabourin, who know how to get the ball in their hands early and often. Their defense is generous to say the least, but the team’s plan seems to be to outscore their opponents, so they don’t have to worry too much about the other side of the ball.

Shake & Bake have the weapons, but can they find the chemistry, and more importantly execution, that they have been missing all season?

All Les Verges Folles need to do is get into the dance. As we have witnessed over the years, anything can happen at that point. They have a bye this week, but when they hit the field again, they take on Run It Once and Shake & Bake on back-to-back days. Can they capitalize? We will find out soon.

Nine teams total, eight teams make the dance, no first round byes. One versus eight, two plays seven, three vs six, and four locks horns with five. The fun starts in a month. I am going with Mangoose and Run It Once.

Picks

Shake & Bake vs Silent Ticklers – Silent Ticklers

FINS UP vs Poseidon’s Kiss – (My choice for Game of the Week)

Run It Once vs Mangoose – Run It Once (Upset Special)

Last Week: N/A

Regular Season: N/A

That is it for time out. I will be back either late Sunday, or Monday afternoon with another article. Good luck to everyone in their games this weekend, and next week! Enjoy Carimas and the Jazz Fest!

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, please feel free to contact me at [email protected], or on the FPF Facebook page.