FPF Junior Week Three Brings with it more Story-lines and Upsets

We are already in week three on the FPF Junior Season. Goes by fast doesn’t it? This week, we moved on from the Lachine dome to rather play our games at Stade de Montreal and Kirkland. Next week, all the games will be played at Kirkland and your scorekeepers will Marc-André until 2pm and me from then onwards.

This week I had my first six hour scorekeeping shift and I was lucky to see the entertaining games I did. They made what is normally a long work day quite enjoyable. Out of all those games, the NS Hurricanes vs Buffaloes stood up because it came right down to the wire with Hurricanes winning on the penultimate play of the game. I was able to catch five other game during the afternoon including the NS Lions. It was the first time I saw them in action this season and they look like a well oiled machine. Without further adieu, lets jump straight into the recaps from this third week of FPF Junior action. I will be covering more games this week but in slightly less detail in an attempt to discuss as many teams as possible.

Week Three Recaps:

NS Hurricanes (13) vs Buffaloes (12)

The Kirkland games got off to a great start with this game between the NS Hurricanes and the Buffaloes. After stepping in after their first string QB got injured last season, Nicholas Masella has established himself as the top for the Hurricanes. On the night,  he attempted 25 passes and completed 15 of them for a total of 164 yards as well as 2TDs. The only knock against those stats was an interception. His leading target on the night was definitely Kevin Beaumier whom caught 6 passes for 69 yards, one of those was a TD grab. Their secondary receiver was Jushane Davis who caught 3 passes for 52 yards. While those may be impressive numbers, there was no impressive stat on the night than Ashtin Philistin and his 13 tackles. Many players don’t even accumulate that many in a season while Ashtin Philistin wracked up that many in just one game. It seemed that every time the Buffaloes completed a pass Ashtin Philistin was right there limiting his opponent’s yards after the catch.

The Buffaloes did not take the same conventional one QB approach that their opponents did.  They had three players whom all completed passes. Impressively, only one of those passers turned over the ball. When facing off verus efficient opponents like the Hurricanes, it is essential to protect the ball if they want any chances of winning. QB Nicholas Koussaie, understood that perfectly. He attempted 17 passes, completed 11 and tallied up 76 yards and a TD in the process. Nicholas Koussaie did an admirable job of taking what he had in front of him and not forcing the ball downfield. When they did want to go deep, it was Jordy Melnik who has throwing the ball. No matter whom the Buffaloes had under center, Zachary Nelson was a top target. He caught a staggering 8 balls on his way to tallying 33 yards on the night. On the defensive end of things, it was Dean Fleming who made the biggest impact with his four tackles and key interception.

NS Lions (31) vs Wolverines (12)

This was the first game I saw the NS Lions play this season and I was very impressed with what I saw. They moved down the field efficiently and limited space of the other end of the ball. Their play started with a very solid showing from Kaelen Trepanier who aired it out for a very impressive 176 yards. Even more importantly, he passed for five scores compared and only 1 pick. His leading target on the night was the sure handed Bradley Parent. The speedy receiver caught 5 balls, accumulated 72 yards and got into the endzone twice. Not to be outdone, teammate Max Gagnier also caught 5 passes, totaled 59 yards and scored one TD. On the defensive end of things, Carter Soles got the job done with four tackles as well as two defended passes. His teammate, Justin Tasse also had himself quite the game with 2 tackles, a key interception and a defended pass.

Coincidently, the Wolverines QB Justin Schwartz passed for 176 yards just like his counterpart. However, what ultimately made the difference was the fact that he only completed two touchdown passes while the Lions passed for 5TDs. These stats tell quite a story: the Wolverines could move the ball but they struggled in the red zone. If they can get things worked out in this most critical area of the pitch, we could start to see them tally up the wins down the stretch to the playoffs. One of the solutions to their red zone struggles could be found in Oz Golsse. On the night, he caught 5 balls for a total of 85 yards and one TD. If the Wolverines could start finding him more often in the redzone, it could go a long way to solving their scoring woes. The Wolverines QB also stepped up on defense where he batted down one pass and finished the game with 4 tackles. Making the biggest difference however was Jason Dankner who picked off his opponents once and accumulated two tackles.

Sooners (26) vs AP Hurricanes (20)

After a touch loss las week, the Sooner bounced back in a big way in week three to get their first win of the season. Kingston Paquet finally went off for his team. He did an admirable for a freshman quarterback, completing 67% of his passes for over 100 yards and two scores. After seeing Kingston Paquet play last week, it was clear that he had the skill set to be one of freshman’s very best. A good passer is only as good as the people he has catching the ball. That is why Kingston Paquet is lucky to have Emmannuel Drouin as  receiver. The talented young man caught four of his QB’s balls for a total of 53 yards. While may have been the leading receiver, he did not have either of his team’s TD grabs. Those two came courtesy of Raphael Gadbois and Thomas Banks. The Sooners final TD came courtesy of a beautiful rushing play by  Kingston Paquet. On the other side of the ball, only two Sooners got their name on the scorecard: Kingston Paquet with an interception returned for a touchdown as well as Emmanuel Drouin with a pick and tackle of his own.

The AP Hurricanes were within a score of winning. Their offense was lead by the strong armed Markus D’Alessandro who aired it out for nearly 100 yards in only 5 completed passes. It is clear that he has very elusive receiver who can create yards after the catch as well deep threats who can carve out big chunks of the field with each reception. Receiver Nicolas Vanden-Abeele embodies both of those characteristics. That skill-set permitted him to tally 2 catches, 42 receiving yards and 2TDs. The AP Hurricanes defense was led by a remarkable performance from Anthony Solomon-Payne who, to add to his three tackles, managed a very impressive three defended passes. If the Hurricanes could have transformed a few of those PDs into interceptions, they might have managed the win on Sunday. I’m sure those INTs will come soon and with them, victories.

Buckeyes (26) vs Tar Heels (12)

The Buckeyes QB Alex Kahan and receiver Dylan Hacker put on a show on Sunday  night. The two connected on four occasions for a very impressive 100 yards as well  as 2 scores. While most of the Buckeyes yards came courtesy of that duo, I would negligent I if I didn’t mention Harrison Oberman and his 2 receptions for 2 yards or Nico Zaharatos and his 2 receptions for 25 yards and one score. Alex Kahan also added to the scoring with a rushing touchdown. If we turn our attention to the defensive side of things, the emphasis once again falls on Harrison Oberman who, to add to a tackle, had a key interception as well as on Nico Zaharatos who finished the match with a team high 4 tackles to go along with his team high two defended passes. Jonathan Atlan also got his name on the scorecard with a defended pass of his own.

On the Tar Heels’ side of things, they started the game off with Garner Ross under center. After passing for 47 yards and a score, coach Khoury replaced his starting quarterback his star receiver Samuel Crudo who put up similar numbers. He completed three passes for a total of 28 yards and a score. Despite the Tar Heels completing less than 10 passes, three of their completions found the sure hands of Jonathan Jagermann. The Tar Heels had two scores on the night. One came courtesy of 23 yard reception from Charles Presser and the other on a short catch from Jesse Dym. On the defensive end of things, the only Tar Heel who managed to get his hands on a ball was Emmanuel Feldman with his defended pass to go along with a pair of tackles. Eric Lazarovitz also made his presence felt with an all-important sack as well as a tackle.

Bears (12) vs IB Vikings (6)

The Bears did not take a conventional path to victory: they used to quarterbacks. The first, Bryson Brojde had a strong showing and tallied 45 yards as well as a TD in only 4 attempts, 3 of which were completions. On Nicholas Maniatis side of things, he also completed three passes for nearly as many yards (37) as well as a TD pass of his own. No matter who was under center, most passes seemed to find their way into the hands of Oliver Velan who caught three passes on the way to his 44 receiving yards and touchdown. Not to be outdown, Sean Van Frank caught two passes for 37 yards as well as a TD. If we look at the other side of the ball now Zev Diner was tied for the team lead in tackles with 3 three. That title was shared with QB Nicholas Maniatis.  Close behind those two was Bryson Brojde with a pair of tackles to call his own.

If we look at the IB Vikings, they did a great job at moving the ball. Quarterback Kevyn De Serres-Payne aired it out for a very impressive 120 yards. Despite passing for the equivalent of three field lengths, he only managed to find the end zone once. With improved passing in the final third of the pitch, the IB Vikings would be a real force to be reckoned with. At receiver, it was the Chopra siblings who stole the show. Jailen Chopra stole the show with 4 catches for a very impressive 72 yards as well as his team’s only score. Close behind him in terms of catches was his sister Aleena Chopra who racked up 3 catches for 20 yards of her own. The IB Vikings’ defence was led by the strong play of Jordan Backler who managed three tackles as well as one of hi team’s two defended passes. Tied with him in term of tackles was Simmion Hyde who also had three. The Vikings’ final defended pass came courtesy of Aladdin Baroudi.

Week Three Team of the Week:

Offence:

QB Kaelen Trepanier (NS Lions): 176 passing yards, 5 TDs

RB Zachary Levy (Thundering Herd): 82 rushing yards, 2TDs

WR Zachary Nelson (Buffaloes): 8 receptions, 33 receiving yards

WR Dylan Hacker (Buckeyes): 4 receptions, 100 receiving yards, 2TDs

Phoenix Thomas (X-Men): 4 receptions, 76 receiving yards, 3TDs

WR Oz Golsse (Wolverines): 5 receptions, 85 receiving yards, 1TDs

Defence:

Rusher Cedrick Leroux (AP Hurricanes): 4 sacks

DB Ashtin Philistin (AP Hurricanes): 13 tackles

DB Jared Boidman (Mustangs): 2 tackles, 3 INTs

DB Max Sabourin (Thunder): 6 tackles, 1 INTs

DB Jedaiah Ward (Falcons): 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 defensive TDs

DB Lucas Piscopos (Musketeers): 6 tackles, 1 PD

Week 3 had its fair share of great games and stand-out individual performances. I look forward to seeing exactly what new wee 4 will hold. The Falcons and NS Lions will face off in a duel of two of Varsity’s best and we will see Ryan McGrath face off versus another one of the league’s very best receivers in Spencer Fitzpatrick when the Spartans and Knights face off.

A quick reminder that all of next week’s games will be held in the Kirkland dome. On that, see you all on Sunday for the next round of FPF Junior action.