Division D – A look at the Quarterfinals

D-1

Conference A

Half-A-Stars (1) vs. Hurricane SZN (4)

Previous Meeting: Half-A-Stars win 39-12

It’s always interesting analyzing your own team or game and while I can’t talk too much about our own game plan or what we expect in this matchup, I’ll do my best to provide some honest insight.

Firstly, throw out our week 1 matchup. We didn’t have Andrew and Hurricane SZN was without Quaysie. Same game, two brand new QBs. While we often got a lot of hype because of the guys on our roster, I would argue that Hurrican SZN doesn’t get enough. Forget about Quaysie for a second, but they probably have two of the most underrated players in the Division when it comes to the Parent brothers. They have the brains behind the whole operation, Andel. Tequan John and Ty Smith are also excellent players also that any team would be happy to have as their depth guys. What;s been missing? They have lacked a true rusher and the quarterback position has been a revolving door to put it lightly, but they finally have their guy and nobody should be taking them lightly. We certainly are not.

We’ve enjoyed a fairly successful season where Langburt could have easily won two awards if it were possible and everybody got their fair share of the ball. That’s our biggest asset, in my opinion, our depth. It’s tough to take one guy away because another can have a big game. We’ll need everybody against such a dynamic team this week and it should be a tight game. The key to the game will be the rusher on both sides.

Prediction: N/A

 

Les Princes de la Rive-Sud (2) vs. Bird Gang (3)

Previous Meeting: Bird Gang won 26-13

Their previous matchup saw a very frustrated Julien Fiset-Cyr struggle to complete passes against the Bird Gang defence and while I think this game will be tough for both QBs, I think he’ll have a much better outing. It’s always interesting to watch teams that have had a bye week as they sometimes come out rested and looking good, but other times they falter and lose some of that momentum. Which Princes team will we see.

Bird Gang on the other hand seems to have all of the momentum, coming off a huge win against Team Ethnik in the Wild Card round. It looks like Anthony Lazzara is their man behind center for the playoffs and while he’s a very capable quarterback, the boost really comes with having AJ playing wide receiver and teams having to worry about somebody other than Dan Lazzara. That 3-headed monster, along with Domenico Manno is enough to cause a lot of problems for opposing teams and Les Princes will have their hands full.

Bird Gang like to play fast and take their shots, whereas Les Princes are much more methodical, like to hold onto the ball and will try to win just by willing an extra possession for themselves. I think is an incredibly evenly matched game, but I like Bird Gang to rise up in the big moments.

Prediction: Bird Gang win 26 – 20

 

Conference B

Outlaws (1) vs. Les Centaures (4)

Previous Meeting: Les Centaures won 33-31

I’m calling it now, their previous meeting will mean absolutely nothing coming into this game. Outlaws we’re without a few key players and as good as both Jordan and Jason Rossie can be, Outlaws have simply been the class of this Conference and they simply have too much firepower to go away quietly. I mean common, Kevin Koussaie is on their team, nothing about them is quiet. Let’s take a look at how I think things will go down.

Stephen Harripersaud likes to do a combination of things. He’ll start the game off with quick slants to Koussaie and Josh Levine and have you over protecting the outside zones, until he begins to hit the middle of the field with guys like Shyanne Stewart, Vincent Benjamin or newcomer Isaiah Allard. Rather, rinse, repeat. While it’s not the most difficult to discern, it’s proven to be extremely difficult to stop and teams are continuously scratching their head at just how they got this roster into D-1. If you talk to Kevin Koussaie, he’d tell you that he’s even tried to keep this team in D-2 which would have been insane. Outlaws are playing with the big boys in D and they’re proving they belong, nay, dominate.

Les Centaures have a tough matchup and while I’m heavily favouring Outlaws, they may just be the right amount of gritty and disruptive to knock Harripersaud off his game and come away with the win. Jason Rossie, Chris Brockwell and Hugo Allamanno will need to have excellent games and make big plays for Jordan, and I’m still convinced that Blake Butler is not used enough – hopefully he’ll be suiting up because they need him. Jordan will have to keep the ball as much as possible and ultimately score on every drive. If they can find a way to never give the ball up and manage the clock well, they can keep the game within a score and then anything can happen. Gotta love the playoffs.

Prediction: Outlaws win 26 – 21

 

The Sheriff (2) vs. Super Saiyans (3)

Previous Meeting: Super Saiyans win 33-19

Besides my own, this is probably my favorite matchup of the night. Two teams that don’t really like playing each other and have the greatest amount of similarities and differences all at the same time. It should be exciting.

The Super Saiyans come into the game after a roller coaster type season, but could it have been exactly what they needed? They’ve been so accustomed to having dominant regular seasons and then losing momentum in the playoffs, I can easily see this season being the reverse and them finally getting a…. Nevermind, I won’t jinx it. Jordan had an excellent regular season and for some reason the Saiyans just seem even taller and faster than usual. Defensively they are led by the best rusher in the division in my opinion, Gianni Johnston, and have the brains and brawns behind him. The brains of the operation, Jon McQueen, makes it extremely tough on his opposition to beat their twin towers, Dylan Segall and Jared Gallant. Tyler Doucette has been excellent as well. In short, they have an embarrassment of riches that are extremely large and fairly quick and they will be tough to beat.

The Sheriff come into the game after enjoying a very successful season. Their biggest success is getting Luis Begin to play 10 games. They rely heavily on the combination of Alexis Bessette and Alexandre Noel and that may hurt them in the long run, especially offensively. I love the matchup here between Begin and Johnston and he may be one of the few rushers that can keep Begin from having 20-30 second plays. He’s most dangerous when the defence just gets fed up of defending and finally either Bessette or Noel get free. I would definitely focus on not letting Begin run because if he has both going for him, his arm and his legs, it can be impossible to stop.

At the end of the day, this matchup could go to either side. I like the hunger and experience on the Saiyans side and they have proven that they can solve the Begin riddle.

Prediction: Super Saiyans win 31 – 26

 

D-2

Conference A

Finessers (1) vs. Underducks (6)

Previous Meeting: 26-19

The ultimate battle between size and speed. The Underducks may come in as the underdogs, but they’re definitely flying high after their win last week and are hungry for an upset. Speaking of, if there is a team in the playoffs that has shown to be a little more volatile in the past and that can potentially crumble, it would be Finessers. Not to say that I don’t have any faith in them, I’m just saying that history often repeats itself.

I think the key for the Finessers is to get off to a quick start and get a lead and not look back. If they have to start fighting from behind early and Ryan Kharouf wants to start forcing throws, it can get out of hand. I don’t think that the Underducks have the kind of offense that will put up 40 so the game should always be in reach, but Kharouf just had to ball out like he would tell you he will and speed should have the advantage. It will be a tall task for the Underducks defense to stop both Nirosh Suresh and Bachaalani, pun not intended.

On the other side of the ball, The Finessers defense has a few weak spots that can be exploited if the Underducks can figure things out quickly. They’ll need to use their size and Mathieu Domon will have to use his legs to extend plays. His obvious target will be Renaud St-Laurent but for them to win, I think he’ll need to spread the ball around a little bit more. Can the depth players for the Underducks beat the depth players for Finessers? We’ll have to wait and see.

Prediction: Finessers win 31 – 19

 

Buffalo Wild Wings (2) vs. The U (4)

Previous Meeting: Buffalo Wild Wings won 38 – 20

If you asked me how this one would shake up before checking, I would have guessed that The U would be the higher seed and that Buffalo Wild Wings backed into the playoffs. That hasn’t really been the case this season as Evan Frank is still finding himself as a quarterback and to be real, Buffalo Wild Wings have just played better football for longer stretches during the regular season.

The U have used their players as one would expect – Nikki Papich has been the deep threat big play guy, Kyle Pedvis is their own version of Jarvis Landry and the combination of Kano, Schwartz and Finkelstein make up their role player guys. Normally I would write about how depth players will need to step up and all that super fancy analysis, but for this game I think it’s the complete opposite. The Buffalo Wild Wings are excellent at all positions on defence and I don’t think the role players doing well will be enough. The U needs Nikki Papich and Kyle Pedvis to step up and make big plays for their quarterback. The throws aren’t always perfect but if those two can help their quarterback out all game, The U has a chance for the upset. Hard to believe with a roster like that they can be the ones completing the upset.

For Buffalo Wild Wings, it’s also relatively simple. Play ugly. Play hard nosed defense, make The U fight for every yard and have Tristan Rinaldis run around behind the line of scrimmage like crazy. If he gets into a jam, find his playmakers like Guillaume Fontaine or Philippe Chiochio but otherwise, play the kind of game where you’re never throwing to the same receiver twice in a row. I would try to avoid throwing at Papich or Pedvis as well, but ultimately if you’re getting 3 to 4 yards on every play then you’re moving down the field.

While I think the game will be close, I think The U have just a little bit more magic in their lamps and will be able to come up with an extra play or two to win the game.

Prediction: The U win in Overtime.

 

Conference B

The Infantry (1) vs. Ballz Deep (4)

Previous Meeting: The Infantry won 30-0

This is a true one seed against a four seed and what I mean by that is Ballz Deep are truly the underdog here. They’re up against a team that hasn’t lost all season and beat them 30-0 in their matchup only a few weeks ago. I’d like to look back at the matchup and say that Ballz Deep was missing a key guy like Matthew Peacock or Ryan Dobbs-Garnett but that wasn’t even the case and the Infantry still found a way to dominate. Nothing against Ballz Deep here at all, but I think this may be the most lopsided of the playoff games remaining.

Ballz Deep have had a pretty solid season for a relatively newly formed team and who knows, they can surprise everybody in this game just solely on the amount of experience they have. Their first mission will be to slow down Rory Semerjian who will clearly be Sean’s primary target as he has been all season. If they can manage to hone in on Rory, I think they actually match up pretty well in the other 4 positions and would give themselves a chance. The beat down a few weeks ago should have taught them a few lessons and could potentially give them the formula to beat The Infantry. The question remains, can they execute?

The Infantry on the other hand will just need to keep it simple and ultimately do exactly what they have been doing all season. They literally have no reason to switch anything up as they prove to themselves week in and week out that they are the upper class of the Division. Sean has developed into an excellent QB and has always been a great defender so he will look to show why he got his most recent award. Unfortunately for Ballz Deep, I don’t expect any surprises here.

Prediction: The Infantry win 27-13

 

Baby Sharks (2) vs. Les Voyous (3)

Previous Meeting: Baby Sharks won 43-12

Fresh off their loss on Monday night, the guys on Les Voyous will surely be hungry in this game to advance to the Semi Finals. Sebastien Dallaire will look to continue his momentum from game 10 of the regular season and his convincing win against Les OG’s last week and try to take out his frustration on the Baby Sharks. After all, nobody really likes that damn song, do they? Dallaire’s biggest asset has been his ability to run the ball and spread it around, keeping the opposing team guessing at all times. If they can get both Raphael Belice and Vincent Laganiere out to this game, they’ll be a tough offense to slow down.

For the Baby Sharks, it will rest on the shoulders of Nicolas Schaefer as it often does. He’ll try to use his favourite target, Marc-Antoine Chaput, as much as possible and use his strong arm to keep the defence honest. While he enjoys taking his shots down field, I think his best bet would be to eat up the middle of the field and utilize his short and mid-range game. Finally, once the defence gets comfortable, maybe take a shot deep. If he comes out of the gate aiming for the end zone right away, the game could easily get away from him. Defensively, the Baby Sharks aren’t a team that get a ton of interceptions but they can make you pay for mistakes. They’ll be adopting a bend but don’t break style defense and hopefully they can force Dallaire to turn the ball over in the red zone or get the ball back on downs.

Besides the obvious matchup from both of these quarterbacks, the game will come down to who can step up defensively and make a big play on that side of the ball. I think this will be a high scoring affair with drives going back and forth. Extra points will be extremely important as they always are and the winner will be the team who makes the fewest mistakes.

Prediction: Les Voyous win 37 – 32