Ottawa Week 5 Recap (D2)

 

Hey what’s up everybody? I am Brent ‘Bad News’ Bodkin, and I’m back once again to give you the 411 on FlagPlus Football in the nation’s capital.

                How’d you guys like the Super Bowl? Over-all I have say besides the 1st quarter, it was a heck of a game. Up until the last 2 minutes of the game (why they didn’t double team Santonio Holmes I have no idea) the Cards defense played great. As is the case with most things in the game of life, it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.

Anyways, let’s jump into week 5.

The last time we talked, I was hyping up February 8th match-up between the Tailgators and the Barracudas as a potential game of the year candidate. I talked about how this game would be a line em’ up drag em’ out affair. In short, the 99 Rams versus the 08 Pats. In fact, here is exactly what I said:

“No disrespect to the rest of the team’s in Division 1, but next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. will in all anticipation be a game of the year candidate, as the Tailgators take on the Barracudas… Although both teams have shown that they can play stifling defense, I just have the feeling that this game will be a shootout. Both teams just have to much offensive firepower for this game to turn into a defensive slugfest.  I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait.”

Unfortunately for D1 fans, the ‘Cudas and the ‘Gators must have still been suffering from a Super Bowl hangover, because the game resembled the 00 Ravens and the 86 Bears. As a football fan, I have nothing but respect for a hard fought defensive showdown like this one, but I just thought that with the high scoring machines that represent both offenses, one would think that the score would be a lot more than 14-13.

No matter the score, you have to give some love to both teams after a game like that. Whether the re-match in a few weeks between these two teams will be the fireworks display we expected, or another defensive slugfest, the one thing we can count on is that it’ll be another nail bitter. For now, the upper hand goes to the defending champs.

The Rugged Riders who made FlagPlus Football history two weeks ago by becoming the first team to switch divisions in season when they jumped from Division 2 to Division 1, made history a second time this season by winning their first game after the move. The Riders showed they belong with the elite as they hammered the now reeling Sharks 33-6.

Before I go on, I just want to take a second to say that the Sharks are are looking more and more vulnerable every week. Any ray of hope that they had for not only making it back to the championship game, but having other teams look at them as a legitimate threat are fading away.

The Riders defense was just dominant in this game as they recorded two interceptions, a sack, and three batted down passes. Even more impressive, was the fact that the Riders defense was able to hold a Sharks offense that came into the game averaging nearly 19 points, to just six.

Up next for the history making Riders is the ultimate test, as they take on the aforementioned defending champs. Although the ‘Gators are the favorite heading into this one, I honestly think that the Riders will give them a run for their money.

The Entourage surprised a lot of people including myself when they pulled out an upset win over the Heavy Hitters 32-19. This was a really tight game in the first half with both teams coming out looking sharp on offense. Going into the stoppage, the score was tied at 19 apiece.

The second half of the game was a completely different story. The Hitters offense just didn’t show up as they were shut-out in the second stanza.

The Hitters duo quarterback attack of Davin Corbett and Curtis Cates simply couldn’t do anything offensively against a somewhat surprisingly stellar Entourage defense, who were led by cornerback Justin Nolan and his two interceptions.

The Entourage, who have won two out of their last three games, will try to make it three out of four when they take on the slumping (1-4) Sharks. You can rest assured that the Entourage will come out firing in this one, as the they will look to avenge their week two 27-14 loss to the Sharks.

Now on to D2…

As I mentioned earlier, the Rugged Riders made the jump form D2 to D1. In order for them to do that, they needed a team who was willing to move down to D2. That team was the winless Atlanta Falcons. Well as the old saying goes, no matter how much things change, they always stay the same, holds true once again as the expansion Falcons still remain the only winless team in Ottawa, after losing to the Federal Express 26-12.

The loss wasn’t all bad for the Falcons,  there are some positives they can take from the defeat. The first one is that up until the second half, they were able to go toe to toe with the Express. If it wasn’t for a shortage of offense, there was more than a good chance that they could have pulled off the upset. Secondly, and most importantly, what they can take from this game is that they now know that they can compete in the division that they are in. If anything, that alone should give the team a huge boost of confidence.

Both teams won’t have to wait long for a re-match, as they play each other again next week on the back end of a home and home series. I have a feeling it’ll be a good one.

The final game of the evening was between the Browns and the Wise Guys. This was the second of four meetings between both squads. In the first encounter the Wise Guys blew-out the Browns 35-7.

 This time around the game was a little closer, as the W.G went on to the 27-14 win. The problem for the Browns is that their offense was sputtering all game. W.G only scored two touchdowns apiece in each half, but the Browns just couldn’t get any momentum going offensively.

Browns quarterback M. McPherson struggled in this contest completing only 6 of 23 passes for 74 yards. The Brownies will need more production out of the pivot position if they want to snap their two-game losing streak to the Wise Guys.

Round three of the Wise Guys versus the Browns will take place this week-end. Hopefully for the Browns, they’ll have worked out their offensive woes by then.

Well that’s it for my Week 5 review. I’ll see you guys next week.

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PEACE!!!