Division D: Road to the Finals

Division D – The Finals

 

D-1

 

1 Ice Up vs. 5 B.D. Bandits

 

Road to the Finals – Ice Up

 

Their playoff journey started against Texas BareManz and many believed that this may be the biggest challenge for Ice Up, including myself. They took the opportunity to prove most of us wrong and cruised past their rival easily. While it was their first of the playoffs, it seems so long ago, back to a time when Jack was still in Canada and tearing up defenses. Darius Simmons had a huge game and I don’t think he is talked about enough. With Jordan Mcinnis slated to start at QB again this Sunday, he and Mickey Marini make for an outstanding duo at wide receiver.

 

Next came their game against Supply and Command which also went easily in favor of Ice Up. They took advantage of a Peeze-less team and cruised fairly easily to victory. They took a lot of shots downfield and capitalized when it counted, enough to score 5 touchdowns on 14 completions by Zergiotis, split up between Mcinnis and Simmons. If you’re following, you are correct – Mickey Marini has yet to make an appearance at this point in the playoffs but don’t you worry, he’ll be making his triumphant return when its needed most. They scored 32 points and held Supply and Command to only 108 yards through the air to move on to the Semi Finals.

 

Finally, this past Wednesday, we saw them square off against the Diablos. Turns out that FPF has all of our backs. If we choose to road trip to the middle of nowhere for a tournament in order to represent the league we love so much, they’ll ensure that we get enough rest for our playoff game. As somebody who often asks a lot, I can assure you that Rob and the rest of the crew work hard to give us the best experience possible. Back to the game, where we saw the return of Mickey Marini and Jordan Mcinnis take the reins at QB for Ice Up. This one was much closer than they would have hoped and required a score on the very last play of the game to move on. Mickey helped out quite a bit with a touchdown on both offense and defense and Mike Ambrosino was Mcinnis’ go to target with 3 touchdowns of his own. Obviously this one was much closer for comfort, but they proved true to their name and that they may just have some ice in their veins.

 

Road to the Finals – B.D. Bandits

 

While the playoffs started with Brotherhood, there’s not much to say about the game a part from the fact that they are simply a classy organization (can I call them that?) and just how much respect I have for Ahmed Majid, Saad Majid and Jamal Gittens. Jamal basically played QB and safety on one leg and still managed to pick me off on an extra point and they essentially did what they could as a group to avoid the forfeit and give us a game. Great group of guys and a special shout out goes to Ryan who I’ve written about before but never had the pleasure of meeting. We had some fun trash talking on the field and then laughed about it afterwards. What the game is all about in my opinion.

 

Next up was the game we were expecting at some point and a game we looked forward to. We were disappointed with the tie against All Hooks during the regular season and we thought that we could win in a rematch. We were very aware to not take them lightly, knew that our defense had to play well and that we had to score a lot of points. We expected a shootout and therefore came out firing, scoring on our first two plays of the game. We had drawn up a very good game plan on defense and after a couple of stops in the first half, we had found ourselves with a good lead and simply tried to block that out in the second half. Everything went well for us against All Hooks this time around, we did a good job shutting down Jeremy White and didn’t give their other players a lot of space. Jaylan Greaves and Steve came up huge, Meis had a huge interception as well and overall it was simply our best game of the year as a team.

 

Finally, we played our rivals and the team we know best in the division, the Super Saiyans. It’s well known now that Rich Humes didn’t play and that seemed to have an affect on them as they had trouble with our defense. Jordan Allard ran for almost as many yards as he did passing and while he did do a lot of damage on the ground, we very much had a bend and don’t break attitude. Our defense came up huge and had my back in a game where I was able to find very little holes in their defense. We did just enough to be able to edge out the win in our closely fought game all season.

 

The Matchup

 

When comparing both teams, the biggest similarity that comes to mind is depth. Both teams have a lot of fire power and little to no weaknesses across the board. Here a few matchups within the game to look out for.

 

Steve Sanner vs. Jordan Mcinnis – This will be the blockbuster matchup to keep an eye on as it looks like Mcinnis will line up over Sanner in the slot on defense and Sanner will be eyeing on Mcinnis from the deep safety position, bating him deep. It’s easy to make the argument that whoever wins this matchup will decide the outcome of the game. Call this a microcosm of the game itself.

 

Mickey Marini vs. Mark Belvedere – I imagine that these two guys may line up against each other on both sides of the ball as well. If both teams try to eliminate top targets, this matchup becomes an intriguing one.

 

Zack Brzezinski vs. Jordan Mcinnis – Brzezinski is responsible for getting the Bandits into this position, and it will be mostly his job to contain Mcinnis in the pocket and try to prevent big runs and pass plays over the middle. Definitely an underrated matchup.

 

Darius Simmons vs. Meis N’Garane – Both are extremely athletic and can go deep at any time. It will be interesting to watch these two stud athletes go head to head.

 

Bring your popcorn, this one should be exciting.

 

Prediction: N/A

 

D-2

 

1 Baby Kangaroos vs. 1 CheatCode

 

Road to the Finals – Baby Kangaroos

 

While the baby Kangaroos have two of the premier names in FPF on their roster, they have had a relatively bumpy ride through the playoffs so far. It definitely bodes well for them that they have been able to win in close games and it may help them gain a little bit of experience as a group, however it’s worth noting that they have not looked like the powerhouse we expected.

 

Their first game is the exception as they had a relatively easy win against Sunday Touch Boys and everything they did seemed to work well. Eric Maiorino enjoyed one of his better games, throwing 6 touchdowns on a day that his defense only allowed 150 yards. The Sunday Touch Boys offense seemed to do well in general, but just ceded too many possessions to the Baby Kangaroos and they just couldn’t be stopped. The Kangaroos came into the game as big favorites and didn’t disappoint.

 

The next game began the true test for the team led by Zwirn and Taylor and I think Vick in a Box was quite a surprise. They managed to keep the game within a score and the Baby Kangaroos needed to score once on the ground and once on defense to win the game. This game was definitely within the grasp of Vick in a Box but the difference in this game was the experience on the Joey’s roster. They were able to make more plays on defense and the offense did just enough to guarantee victory.

 

In the semi-finals, they had their biggest scare of the post-season against the Green Lantern Corps. Turns out Hai Minh Luong was overseas and Jerson Previllon stepped in at QB and was a  play or two away from getting the upset. Both in this game and in the game against Vick in a Box, the Baby Kangaroos are proving that they rely heavily on Taylor, Zwirn and Kritselas to move the ball. The challenge will to stop the trio all while keeping an eye on Maiorino running the ball. Green Lantern Corps were good on defense in this one, the problem was that Maiorino was just so efficient with the ball and GLC did not get any sacks or turnovers to help their cause. The Baby Kangaroos  are the kind of team that play a smooth offensive game and can make big plays on defense, so to beat them, you need to get their offense off the same page.

 

Road to the Finals – CheatCode

 

CheatCode have had a much easier route to the Finals. Their first game isn’t much to write about as they didn’t even have to play their opening round due to a forfeit by Grabuge. I think we all assume they would have had an easy go of it, but a free pass is a free pass.

 

Their first real game of the playoffs came in the quarterfinals and their rust showed a little bit. Team Ethnik gave them a real challenge, especially on defense as Joe Kano seemed to have a little bit of trouble hitting his receivers and even managed an interception. Joe Kano loves the deep ball and if you can get him frustrated early it gives you a much better chance. In this game, Kano had his defense bail him out picking off Benoit Lawlor 3 times and that turned out to be the difference. A lot is to be said about the CheatCode high powered offense, but if their defense can manage to make a few plays as well, they are a dangerous group to face. Papich, Felima and Lindor all had underwhelming games but Tim Horner did the most damage with over 100 yards and 3 TDs. It perfectly showed off what made CheatCode as dangerous as they are and proved they can literally attack you with any of their 4 wide receivers.

 

Finally, their matchup against Voodoo worked out perfectly for CheatCode. Voodoo relies heavily on one or two players and CheatCode simply have an embarrassment of riches that could just be contained. Joe Kano used 6 different receivers and 4 different wide outs had a touchdown in this game. The Voodoo offense couldn’t get going partly due to the fact that Patrick St-Armand had to throw, losing out on him playing wide receiver. Either way, it was a good chance for CheatCode to get ready for the finals and it was encouraging to see so many players contribute on both sides of the ball.

 

The Matchup

 

In a game with so much talent, will the team with the biggest names win or the one with slightly more depth? Joey Taylor and Zach Zwirn will have a lot of ground to cover on defense, but will CheatCode be able to slow them down when it’s their turn to defend? Here’s a look at the best matchups this game has to offer.

 

Nikki Papich vs. Zack Zwirn – Both are extremely athletic and have a large wing span, good at getting open and provide a reliable option for their QB. The question will be whether Zwirn focuses in solely on Papich or tries to roam and take away more than one of CheatCode’s weapons.

 

Michael Homenok vs. Kevin Felima/Tim Horner – This is where things may unravel for the Baby Kangaroos. It’s easy to see where CheatCode’s depth has a huge effect on this game. Ultimately, zone will probably be the move as they hope to try and force Kano to make plays rather than have all of CheatCode’s weapons run wild the entire game.

 

Joey Taylor vs. Patrice Lindor – While they may or may not line up against each other, both are the engine for their respective team and both have a ton of FPF experience. Which one of these players will give the emotional edge to their squad if the game stays close?

 

Vladimir Pirrus vs. Eric Maiorino – This one is probably the worst matchup that Maiorino has seen so far in these playoffs, and he’ll have to work with far less space than he is used to. Will getting the ball out faster and less room to run be the formula to take out the Baby Kangaroos? We shall see.

 

Bring your pop… oh wait, used that one already. You get the point. It’s the finals, two number 1 seeds, hard to ask for anything else. I don’t imagine anybody had any other teams closing out their brackets.

 

Prediction: CheatCode 33 – 25