Ottawa Week 1 Recap

 

Happy new year everybody! What’s going on? Your boy Brent “Bad News” Bodkin is back. Unlike last year where I wrote the articles for the entire league, this season my sole focus will be on the highly under-rated Ottawa division.

Now with all the pleasantries out of the way, let’s get on to the 2009 Week 1 review.

For Division 1, Week 1 of the ’09 season started the same way as the ’08 season ended, with the 2008 defending champion Tailgators (formerly known as Touch This) taking on the Sharks, in a re-match of last year’s final.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, no matter what name the Tailgators choose to go by, the result was still the same, as the champs were successful in their first title bout, with a 41-21 blowout win.

The win was highlighted by a spectacular five touchdown-pass performance by Tailgator quarterback Craig Matthews, who flirted with perfection by completing 16 of 21 passes for nearly two-hundred yards.

The champs also shone on the defensive side with defensive-back Mitch Duggan leading the way with four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

The victory for the Tailgators puts the rest of the division on notice that not only are they as solid as last year on both sides of the ball, but if they have their way, their road to a repeat championship will once again be one without blemishes. 

The Barracudas, who rolled through the competition in the regular season only to be upset in the Conference finals by the aforementioned Sharks, looked to erase the memory of the loss as they took on The Entourage.

The Barracudas who were surely disappointed by the way their season ended last year, took out eight months of frustration on The Entourage by beating them 37-18.

The Entourage’s defense had no answers for the Barracudas’ offense that was led by quarterback Tom Patrick and his five touchdown passes. The pivot was on fire all game as he connected on TD passes to four different receivers, including three to Mazan Dikah.

Another wideout who had a strong game for the Barracudas, despite not registering a score, was Omar Alhattab who finished the game with four catches for 63 yards.

The only bright spot in the loss for The Entourage was the performance of receiver Arden Weiss who finished the contest with four catches for 39 yards and three touchdowns.

The other Division 1 team to make it into the win column during the first week of action was the Heavy Hitters who took on a fellow expansion Atlanta Falcons squad.

This game was never close; as the Hitters who acquired some players during the off-season from The Entourage, were too much to handle for the Falcons who went on to lose their inaugural game 41-18.

Hitters’ pivot Davin Corbett continued the passing trend in the nation’s capital by throwing for five touchdown passes as well. Three of Corbett’s five TD passes went to the Belony brothers Woodley and Wendell, who combined for five catches for 97 yards and three touchdowns.  The Falcons showed promise on both sides of the ball, but inexperience played a key roll in the final result. In a tough Division 1, the Falcons will have to get their game on track or they risk falling out of contention only a few games into the season.

In Division 2 action, the Rugged Riders, who are a returning team from last year, made their season debut against the Federal Express.

This game was decided in the first half, as the Riders led by veteran quarterback Mike Panetta, put up 28 first-half points on the expansion Express squad, in route to 38-6 victory.

Despite their offense having some trouble throughout the game, the Federal Express’ defense showed signs of life as the game moved along, they held the Riders to only seven second-half points. Unfortunately, for the Express, the game was already over by that point.

The final D2 game was between the Browns and the Wise Guys.

The Browns, are projected to be much improved this season. I am guessing the Wise Guys didn’t get the memo, as they easily crushed the aforementioned Browns 35-7. It should be noted however, that the Browns starting QB left the game about five minutes in with a knee injury.

Spear-heading the win for W.G was Tommy Solarik, Allan Byers, and Jeff Lalonde. Solarik, who not only continued the quarterback trend of you guessed it…FIVE touchdown passes, he also chipped in with two interceptions, and 26 yards rushing. 

Byers led the way on the other side of the ball by doing his best Ed Reed imitation by recording four interceptions in the win, while Lalonde added four tackles on defense and finished just shy of 40 yards receiving.

The win by W.G comes as a bit of a surprise given that not only were they the expansion team in this match-up, but they are the only team in the entire league that dresses only six players. What makes the win and the team for that matter even more remarkable, the fact that the starting quarterback Solarik, played in division two for the Convicts in Montreal last season. (Stinger alumni!!!)

Well, Week 1 of the season is in the books. For some teams like the Barracudas, the Tailgators, and the Rugged Riders it’s business as usual. For teams like the Sharks, the Browns, and The Entourage, it’s not time to panic yet. For the expansion Wise Guys, as the commercial says, anything is possible.

If you liked the article, hated the article, or simply feel that I left something out, feel free to let me know at
[email protected]

PEACE!!!