From 8 to 4

FlagPlus Football is really one of a game. In tackle football, games are long and players usually have a second chance at redeeming themselves when they make a mistake; FPF doesn’t offer that luxury. In fact, with games being much shorter than our known counterpart, one mistake can define an entire game.

It’s crazy to think that ONE bad play, ONE second can change the entire outcome of a game, can turn a W into a L. One bad pass from a QB can make the last 20 irrelevant or one bad step from a DB can turn an impressive game into a bad outing.

In 44 minutes of football, every single second counts. Take nothing for granted, you could go home much faster than you’d think.

Let’s get started.

 

Week 11

 

Sunday night was home of some nasty games. On one side, I was treated to an impressive barnburner and witnessed games that could’ve went either way for most of the night. It was a blast.

Hopefully Tuesday night will offer the same kind of entertainment!

 

Thoughts of the Week

 

• Saving this file on my computer, I wondered how to label it… Week 11.5? 11.3? So complex.
• So many amazing quotes from only a handful of games.
• Playoff-mode Terry Tam is a whole different man.
• I heard the Broccasion/Top Sauce game “wrote itself”. Sadly, I’m sitting here begging to differ.
• 2 blowouts, a forfeit and a serious barnburner; just another Sunday night at Lachine.
• For those of you who play multiple divisions, the round of playoffs in Division B was INSANE. Sorry Division C.
• Some guys showed up ready to play, others got caught by surprise.
• Yes, Justin, I will talk about your catch at some point.
• Ironically, Chris Milard had a much better offensive than defensive night.
• Carl Nardone is a big man.
• It’s tougher than expected to pay attention to a blowout when ABE are on the fringe of getting knocked out of the playoffs.
• Look at that Kristian Cerantola smile on their team picture. It’s like he knew they’d be here. 

 

Recaps

 

Top Sauce took the field quite confident in their ability to beat Broccasion after Vince Nardone’s The Incredibles’ Division B team pulled one of the biggest upset of the night, but they were left shell-shocked. In fact, after the first half, Top Sauce were up 12-6 and their offense was hitting the ground running whereas their defense was lean and mean; things changed in an instant. With a 24-12 lead, Nardone was a little too comfortable offensively and Broccasion forced a 4 and out to get the ball; no biggie. Kristian Cerantola did what he usually does; ran around, bought time, found a receiver, scored. Missed PAT and we had a serious ball game on our hands at 24-18. As the referee whistles 5 plays left, Top Sauce were in enemy territory, with the football, on a 3rd There’s a thousand ways we can break this down, but a first down seals the deal (or a TD, but you know). Vince Nardone took the snap, had a brainfart, tossed an ill-advised pass infront of the endzone to a Justin McLean in double-coverage and Kyle Lebofsky came down with the football to get the cogs going. Following an incomplete, with 3 plays left, Kristian Cerantola bought time in the pocket and fired away an absolutely ridiculous pass in the back of the endzone to his brother Justin for 6. Many will talk about how ridiculous of a catch that was (and it was), but OH MY what a BEAUTY from Kristian; that pass is what makes him a good QB, lemme tell you. Broccasion converts, goes up by 1 and managed to get 2 PDs on the next 3 plays as Vince Nardone tried 3 40-bombs to get the Win but simply couldn’t connect; Broccasion advances to the final 4!

After last week’s upset, No Name were looking to create, yet another, shocker going up against No Fly Zone, but the men in white were far from an easy prey and took control of the game late in the 1st half that they never allowed their opponents to seize back. In fact, Rich Humes had the kind of game his team needs from him in the playoff; nothing spectacular, just precision and mistake-free football. Michael Roy had a very tough outing as he underthrew/missed a few receivers early in the first half and was only able to put up 6 points in the first half. To be honest, with a 14-6 lead at half, the game could’ve went either way, but No Name didn’t show up for the following 22 minutes as they were handed a chance to change the tides but couldn’t grasp it (literally). Down by 13 in need of some magic, Michael Roy was facing a tough 4th down situation in his own territory and took a shot downfield to Jonathan Grizzley who managed to blaze right past Eddy Martinez AND Steve Sanner. Perfect pass from Roy hits Grizzley straight in the numbers out of any DB’s reach IN THE ENDZONE to cut the deficit in half but wait, Jonathan Grizzley dropped said football and No Name turned the ball over as NFZ punched in their final TD of the night to seal the deal. A bitter finish to what could’ve been a serious barnburner.

Coyotes lined up against Honey Badgers and if the first few plays would’ve been an indication of anything, we were set for another amazing barnburne They weren’t. In fact, Coyotes managed to march and Sammy Feder found Kevin Smuda to go up by 6. The convert turned 6 into 8 and Coyotes had a comfortable lead they never lost. Doug McKernan was flustered by AJ Rashkovan who had an amazing game rushing as his receivers simply weren’t open and his go-to reads were taken away. After a bad sack (for about 16 yards), Honey Badgers were forced to punt away their first possession and the lead became 16. The following drives were pretty much all the same as Coyotes went into halftime with a ridiculous 28-6 lead and quite the confidence. Sure, Honey Badgers’ offense found groove late in the 2nd half, but it was too little too late as Coyotes took the W home 44-18. I’d love to give praises to Honey Badgers, but there wasn’t much going on offensively and their defense looked flat most of the night; aside from a few nice grabs from Alex Ganter (over Ofir Levy) and Jordan Moses, there wasn’t much there Sunday night.

 

Playoffs Standings

 

Names in bold: Teams that clinched a playoff berth.

Names strikethrough: Already eliminated from the playoff race

*next to name: Clinched division title.

 

Conf A	Team	GP	PTS	W(P-F)	DIV	PA		Conf B	Team	GP	PTS	W(P-F)	DIV	PA
1	Top Sauce	10	17	8	[4-1-1]	216		1	No Fly Zone	10	18	9	[51-0]	196
2	Honey Badgers	10	15	7	[3-1-1]	248		2	Former Tomahawk	10	16	8	[4-1-0]	232
3	Coyotes	10	16	8	[4-2-0]	250		3	No Big Deal	10	17	8	[6-0-0]	195
4	Broccasion	10	13	6	[3-1-1]	200		4	Stockton Slap	10	12	6	[4-1-0]	291
5	Show me Your TDs	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	197		5	BearSkins	10	12	6	[4-2-0]	220
6	Jagerbomb	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	282		6	The Commission	10	12	6	[3-2-0]	230
7	Eskimo Brothers	10	11	5	[4-1-1]	254		7	No Name	10	12	6	[3-3-0]	243
8	69ers	10	11	5	[3-2-0]	295		8	MVE	10	10	5	[2-3-0]	263
9	La Sauce	10	10	5	[3-3-0]	261		9	Varennes	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	246
10	Gotham Knights	10	8	4	[2-3-0]	241		10	Brunch Buddies	10	8	4	[1-5-0]	295
11	TOPSZN	10	4	2	[1-5-0]	344		11	Keyport Lock	10	4	2	[2-4-0]	321
12	Killa Beez	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	341		12	Les Blues Branleurs	10	2	1	[0-6-0]	365
13	Evolution	10	0	0	[0-6-0]	346		13	Warhawks	10	0	0	[0-5-0]	384

 

Quick notes:

• Both top seeds in Conference A fell in the quarter finals. Interesting.
• Division C’s first overall remains.
• Stockton Slap had a nice little bye week; hopefully it’ll help their cause.
• Broccasion just had a serious barnburner, can they repeat?
• Coyotes cruised right past Honey Badgers; can they have back to back finale appearances?

 

Playoff Matchups

 

• Coyotes (3rd) vs Broccasion (4th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: Coming back from their “bye week”, Coyotes haven’t lost a step and their offense was simply too much for, well, anybody in their way. After showing off how impressive this offense really is and now with a talented defense behind Sammy Feder, Coyotes are feared in Division C. With, basically, any player on the team able to break a game open either on offense or defense, Coyotes is the last team you want to take lightly.

Broccasion showed up BIG in the second half on Sunday to move to the Final 4 rather than go home wondering what if. Kristian Cerantola displayed his ability to throw dimes but also check down to receivers not named Justin or Kyle and he was able to take advantage of what the defense was giving him; something we’ve been longing for. Their defense continues to receive praises and show us all just how talented this core really is.

In a matchup of strengths vs weaknesses, I’m eager to see how it’ll all turn out. Broccasion jumps routes aggressively and defends the deep ball well, but are weak against deep cross patterns. Coyotes are smart, but tend to love those underneaths or deep throws. On the flip side, Coyotes’ take away the deep ball and forces you to grind the field against them as you’re already behind by 8 points, something that Kristian hates doing with a passion (it seems). With many key matchups that could turn things around, I feel like the Andrew Langburt might play a big part in this game. Jonhathon Louis will be the fastest player on the field and I’m intrigued to see how Langburt will move around to try and take away the deep throws down the sideline to him. If this becomes a defensive struggle and Coyotes cannot breach the 30 marker, we might see yet another upset from the Bros.

Key matchups: Kevin Smuda vs Kyle Lebofsky, Josh Feder vs Jonhathon Louis

 Prediction: 34 – 26 Coyotes

 

• No Fly Zone (1st) vs Stockton Slap (4th)

Previous matchup: N/A

Analysis: No Fly Zone finished first overall this season and made waves in the playoffs so far crushing both of their previous opponents to sail safely into the Final 4. With the division’s best defense and an offense that has one too many playmakers not to succeed, it’s tough to imagine No Fly Zone not making an appearace in the finales this year. With all their players, Rich Humes doesn’t even need to have a career-night to play next Sunday at Brossard.

Stockton Slap won a close one last week against BearSkins and were granted a forfeit to move into the Final 4. With an extra break/rest, the boys will look to upset, potentially, the best team in Division C this Tuesday night. Joey Taylor is finally looking like himself again and his receivers are making strides towards the common goal as Foti Evangelista, Matthew Rupcic and Sami Beg have been enjoying the revamped offensive system. If their defense can continue to create turnovers as frequently as they have, Stockton Slap is one tough team to beat.

In a battle of the scrambling QB, we’ve got two veterans going at each other with a loaded roster of their own choosing. Sure, one could debate that No Fly Zone has bigger name brands, but overall, Stockton Slap is far from undermanned. Look for guys like Brent Callender and Matthew Rupcic to make themselves known on defense against serious top-end talent and we might even get to enjoy yet another interception from Foti Evangelista. Stockton Slap’s defense could frustrate Rich Humes as he’ll try to get a rhythm going early, but it’ll be a defensive battle as Joey Taylor will face the same sort of trouble when it’s all said and done. Expect Vinny Gualano to step up and have a ground-breaking game as his team faces one of their toughest challenge so far. They’ve grown to know what Joey Taylor does, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can finally find the cure or if they’ll bang their heads against the wall wondering what went wrong.

Key matchups: Steve Sanner vs Foti Evangelista, Vinny Gualano vs Matthew Rupcic

Prediction: 28 – 26 No Fly Zone

 

 

That sums it for this week’s article. It’s always a pleasure to write and hear back from you guys. After all, the content is meant 99% for you. I keep a percent for me; ranting here and there is fun after all. You can always reach me via twitter @DagenaisFPF or via email ([email protected]). I’ll be at Lachine every Sunday night scorekeeping/playing and at the new Stade on Mondays so you can stop by and chat. Don’t hesitate. The look on Eagle’s face when we mention “Road Show / Finales / the end of the season” is filled with both dreadfulness and joy. I’m not sure which one conquers which though. Personnally, I prefer the first to the latter; he’s not a real person anyways.