Categories: Co-EdComplementary

Not Much Left To Play For in Coed Regular Season

While last week’s slate of Coed games featured some of the closest matchups of the season, this week was the complete opposite. Every game was lopsided except for a tie between the Fightin’ Tigers and Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. That game was a closely fought affair which ended with back-to-back interceptions. Unsurprisingly, that game will feature in the weekly recap segment.

To makeup for only featuring one match in the recap part of the article, I will add a ‘Thoughts of the Week’ segment where I will note down a few takeaways from the week’s games.

Week 9 Thoughts of the Week

  • I am having a hard time figuring out La Secte. Last week they looked phenomenal when they scored more then 30 points and were a possession away from beating Yin & Yang. My conclusion is that they are just as wildly inconsistent as Raphael Beauchamp’s quarterback play. The bright side for La Secte is when Beauchamp is hot, they have a chance of keeping most games close. However, when he struggles it is going to be a long night.
  • Funtastic 9 should not be winning but they are. During Funtastic’s first few seasons in coed I criticized them nearly every week for their gimmicky double QB plays and reliance on the run game. Instead of evolving their playbook into something more traditional, they embraced their gimmicks. They still run just as much and use a 2nd passer just as often. I have even seen them use the 2nd QB to open up the run game. They are not the first team to try these weird tactics in FPF, but they are the only team that has had any success with them. I am past the point where I will critique them for the way they play, but I will never understand why or how it works.
  • The fall of Les Semi-Croquants has been just as sudden as it has been unexpected. After their week 3 win over Party Mix and week 4 win over Funtastic 9 I was ready to crown them as Coed 2 champions. Since week 4, they have only beaten one team and that was La Secte. Either coed defences appear to have figured out the trick to intercepting Mariève Girard or I jinxed Girard by calling herthe next Sara Parker. Either way, she will need to clean up her game if Les Semi-Croquants hope to make it out of the first round.
  • It was another good week for women in Coed. Three women led their team in receiving yards and in general, their teams were rewarded for it. Two of those three teams went on to win. Power Rangers perfectly highlight the importance of involving everyone. They struggled through the first few weeks of the season and the podcast even questioned why, despite having the best female players in coed, they were reluctant to target them. Since then, a different female Power Rangers receiver has led the team in receiving yards almost every week and the rewards are clear: they beat 3rd Down For What twice and clinched the top seed.

Week 9 Recap

Fightin’ Tigers (25) vs Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (25)

This is not the game I expected to see between these two teams. The first word that comes to mind to describe it is sloppy. Both quarterbacks threw three interceptions and gave up a touchdown to the opposing defence. Seth Galina struggled to even complete a pass. Normally, Galina relies on a high completion rate and short checkdown throws to move the ball. That was not the case in this game. He completed less then 50% of his passes and averaged over ten yards a completion. While that might have been enough for the Fightin’ Tigers to eke out a tie in this game, it is not a winning formula for Galina moving forward. For this team to win, Galina needs to be completing upwards of 65% of his passes and averaging less than eight yards a completion. If Galina attempts to be anymore aggressive than that, the result will be another three-interception outing like we saw in this game.

I am still waiting for Julian McLaren Thompson to start making a difference for the Fightin’ Tigers. He is supposed to be the star player on this roster and yet he has not yet made a difference. In this game he caught one pass for five yards. He did not do much more on defence, recording two tackles. On the bright side, the Fightin’ Tigers’ defence played exceptional. Justin Blackie came up huge for the Tigers in this game. He was a force in the short game, recording eight tackles and singlehandedly limiting Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce’s yards after the catch. He made his biggest difference as a ball hawk. He intercepted SHCH quarterback JF Marquis twice, returning one of those picks for a score. Dylan Taylor also came up big, recording an interception for the Tigers.

Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce did not have any issues moving the ball. JF Marquis passed for 190 yards and added 60 yards to that total with his legs. In the passing game, his favorite target was clearly his snapper, Philippe Aussant. Aussant caught all seven balls thrown his way for a total of 64 yards. If Marquis wasn’t looking towards Aussant, he was probably looking for Alexandre Jubinville. He finished the game with four catches for 46 yards and a score. In the redzone, SHCS’ top target was Vincent Marquis. He only caught two passes, but they were both for touchdowns. Clearly, SHCS did not have an issue driving the field. However, they were plagued with the turnover bug. On top of the three interceptions Marquis threw, the team also turned over the ball once on fourth down. Thankfully for Marquis, his team stepped up for him on defence with three interceptions of their own. Vincent Marquis added to his two offensive touchdowns with a defensive touchdown to round out a phenomenal night for him. Hugo Quintin and Alexandre Jubinville also helped to bailout their quarterback with an interception each of their own. SHCS dug themselves quite the hole in the first half of this game, but they managed to claw out of it in the second despite throwing two interceptions. While they might have been able to salvage a draw out of this game, going down by two scores at the end of the first half and throwing three interceptions is not the key to continued success.

Week 9 Team of the Week

Offence

Quarterback: Tam Vilaydeth (Power Rangers) 22 completions, 173 passing yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT

Receiver: Ryan Dobbs-Garnet (Yin & Yang) 4receptions, 6 targets, 53 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Philippe Aussant (Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce) 7receptions, 7 targets, 64 receiving yards

Receiver: Jasmine Farmer (Power Rangers) 4receptions, 4 targets, 50 receiving yards

Receiver: Quaid Johnson (Party Mix) 5receptions, 5 targets, 44 receiving yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Anna Chevrier (Fightin’ Tigers) 3 receptions, 4 targets, 50 receiving yards

Defence

Rusher: Felix D’Aoust (Funtastic 9) 3 sacks

Defensive Back: Laurence Fleuryant (Funtastic 9) 1 tackle, 3 INTs

Defensive Back: Justin Blackie (Fightin’ Tigers) 8 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 defensive TD

Defensive Back: Gino Di Fazio (Yin & Yang) 2 tackles, 2 INTs

Defensive Back: Constance Millaire (Power Rangers) 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Louis-Philip Thibodeau (Les Semi-Croquants) 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD

Week 10 Predictions

Fightin’ Tigers (2-6-1) vs Funtastic 9 (6-2-1)

Both of these teams looked good last week. Funtastic 9 blew away La Secte and the Tigers finally managed to keep things close against Coed 1 opposition. I do not think the Fightin’ Tigers are ready for all the different looks that Funtastic will throw at them. You can gameplan for double quarterbacks and run heavy offences, but it is a whole thing to actually stop them. I think the Tigers biggest issue is that they have not seen any team that plays like Funtastic this season, or ever for that matter. Funtastic have been great when playing a team for the first time and I think they will keep that streak alive in this one.

Prediction: Funtastic 9

3rd Down For What (6-2) vs Party Mix (5-4)

3rd Down For What’s bye week came at the perfect time. They were reeling after back-to-back losses to Power Rangers and they were in desperate need of some time off to regroup and calm down. Despite the two consecutive loses, 3rd Down For What is still a notch above Party Mix. They have the depth to man-up against Party Mix and the experience to play an airtight zone defence. The only advantage Party Mix have in this one is the contribution of their female players on offence. Marilou Cote Noel and Co. have been on a tear recently. On the other hand, no team in Coed 1 targets their female players less then 3rd Down For What. If the women on Party Mix step up, they might be able to keep this one close but ultimately, 3DW will prevail.

Prediction: 3rd Down For What

3rd Down For What (6-2) vs Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (3-5-1)

In Coed 1, 3rd Down For What and Power Rangers are in their own tier at the top, Party Mix are somewhere in the middle and Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce and the Fightin’ Tigers are firmly entrenched at the bottom of the division. In other words, the talent gap between these two teams is too huge for any amount of luck and good fortune to overcome. 3DW should win this one easily to secure the second seed in Coed 1.

Prediction: 3rd Down For What

La Secte (0-9) vs Power Rangers (8-1)

Power Rangers are the best team in Coed 1 while La Secte are the worst team in Coed 2. This game will not be pretty. If La Secte can score a touchdown or keep Power Rangers below 35 points, they should consider that a win in their books.

Prediction: Power Rangers

Ying & Yang (4-4-1) vs Les Semi-Croquants (4-5)

When I made my mid-season power rankings, I had placed Les Semi-Croquants in first place. Wow, how things have changed. Since the mid-season mark, they have been struggling. Mariève Girard has been looking like the quarterback we first saw last summer instead of the passer we saw during the first few weeks of this season. Unless Girard can turn things around, this team might not make it past the first round of the playoffs. I do not see Girard turning things around in time for this game.

Prediction: Yin & Yang

The last week of the regular season is finally here. For the most part, the playoff picture is already settled. Power Rangers have clinched the top seed in Coed 1 and Funtastic have clinched the same in Coed 2. The main battle left is the one for second place in Coed 2. The winner of the Yin & Yang vs Les Semi-Croquants game will claim the second seed while the loser will take the number three seed. No matter the outcome of that game, the two teams will faceoff against each other in the first round of the playoffs.

Good luck to everyone in week 10 and as always, contact me at [email protected] with any questions, comments, or critiques about the article.