The Season is almost over? I just wrote a Mid-Season report!

After receiving your mid-season report cards a little late, I’m back again writing up on the division to see who’s trending up, who’s falling down, who’s close to wrapping up their season and who’s got games in hand. So welcome back, and let’s get back to the usual Iggy Magnets Fantasy Team of the Week (we all wanna see our names on there showcasing our outstanding performances, right?) Game Recaps and Division Headlines.

Clinched Playoff Teams

These are the teams that by virtue of points earned, and max points the “teams in red” can earn, have 100% clinched a playoff spot. They do not reflect any tie-breaking scenarios or go through intense breakdowns. They are simply teams that, without a doubt, have clinched a playoff spot.

EZW*
Blitzed Budds*
TOPSZN*

Division C Latest Happenings

Don’t look now, but EZW is starting to run away with the division. Sitting at the top of the Division at 7-0 with a Top 2 offense and Top 2 defense, these guys are looking like the heavyweight favorites as the season winds its way down towards the playoffs.
In a week that saw Hot Sauce Sports play against Vultures and EZW on the same night, many, myself included saw it as a challenge for HSS that would ultimately see them go 0-2. They proved to themselves that they are a team not to be overlooked after beating Vultures. The game against EZW however, according to Peeze “really showed us who the best team in the division is, and it’s not even close; EZW are that team”.
5-0-1 in their last 6, I told you to watch out for Blitzed Budds to heat up as the season would go along. Now after 9 games, they find themselves holding to the #2 seed with 1 game remaining against TOPSZN. If Shawn McGrath plays in that game, this will be BB’s toughest test since EZW back on June 21st.
One Step Closer got a huge victory over Les Montagnards to put them in 13th spot, one place out of the playoffs (currently occupied by said Montagnards). That’s why it was a huge victory. OSC got a win (and now hold that tiebreaker) over Les Montagnards if they finish the season in a 2-way tie. That win could be the reason why OSC gets into the playoffs and bumps LM out.
Did Shawn McGrath‘s injury get worse? Did he simply take time off since TOPSZN have officially clinched a playoff spot and are thinking, “it doesn’t really matter where we finish, any team is a tough matchup, but we’re confident enough with a healthy Shawn McGrath that we can beat anyone”. If it’s the latter, I like that line of thinking (mostly because it’s my own).
ESU Timberwolves are also fighting for the playoff hopes. A back-and-forth game against AF1, and a costly Objectionable Conduct penalty by Rayan Chalal on AF1’s final drive gave Simon Blais and his boys the free yards to hit Sam Leblanc for a 2-yard touchdown on the 2nd-to-last play of the game for the 1 point victory. ESU now have to find a win or 2 against EZW and The Infantry, two of the best teams in Div C. Huge hill to climb. Can Jordan Rossie pull off the ultimate upsets?
Man, Air Force 1’s last 3 games have a combined points for and points against of 111-111. They are playing in extremely close games. This is good for them since come playoff time, they will have accumulated many scenarios of when to call timeouts, when to score quick, when to chew the clock. The more times you are in those situations, the better you know how to react and manage the game. Give me then, the point of view that this is a good thing for AF1’s (eventual) playoff run.
The Infantry vs. Los Penetradores was a battle of Rory Semerjian vs. Joey Corcoran. The 2 players combined for a whopping 16 receptions on 19 targets, 289 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns this past Thursday night in Laval. Talk about explosive fireworks!
Los Penetradores are starting to turn heads. They were on a 2-game winning streak with wins against Les Montagnards and The Stoics. They finished the week with a loss to The Infantry, put a 3-point game against the Division C finalists from last season is impressive. Look for LP to make a late-season surge that squeaks them into the playoffs. They wrap up their season against Two Inch’s Gang, One Step Closer and The Commission, all teams that are currently sitting the red with them in the standings.
What is going on with the Vultures? They are on a 2-game losing streak and while putting up 65 points in 2 games for most teams is great offense, for the Vultures, with their defensive woes, it’s not enough. This is what I mentioned in the mid-season report, that if defenses can get 1 or 2 stops on the Vultures offense, and offenses can go score for score with them, this is the path to how Vultures lose games. They gave up 80 points combined in the 2 games (40 each) and went 0-2. The bigger concern is why is Ben McMahon “off” ? Can he and the Vultures regain their offensive touch? They’ve got back-to-back games against One Step Closer and The Commission on Thursday to get their season back on track.
Beer Belly Brigade got a very important win on their season against a short-handed TOPSZN team. The win puts them in position to control their own destiny. They might make the playoffs with just 1 more win. It has to come against either ESU Timberwolves or against their budding rivals, Vultures.
Is Mathew Lerner injured? Is he simply on vacation? Tough Lungs have gone to a combination of Danny Aylward and Justin Lerner in the meantime and got a win against the high-flying Vultures, but got wrecked by Blitzed Budds featuring defensive stallworths like AJ Gomes and Isiah Allard, both of whom had pick 6’s against Justin. I don’t blame him at all; those 2 are FPF’s best in both coverage and the rusher position. Like Beer Belly, perhaps 1 more win gets them into the playoffs. They’ve got Les Montagnards and Two Inch’s Gang left on their schedule.
If I’m Les Montagnards, I’m worried. They have 1 game left on July 28th against Tough Lungs and currently hold the last playoff spot, with a 3-6 record. All the teams below them that have 2 wins, have only played 7 games. Looks like Div C’s playoff race will be coming down to the wire.
The individual awards are a tight race in every position. Ben McMahon was running away with QB of the Year but after 2 average performances, that gap has been reduced. Who’s in line for 2-Way Player of the Year? Offensive Player of the Year? DPOY? The races are all really tight. Let’s see if anyone makes a late season surge to make them a clear-cut favorite.

Game Recap

Entering this game, the Vultures were coming off their first loss of the season to Tough Lungs just 4 days prior to their game against Hot Sauce Sports while HSS last played 2 weeks prior against Blitzed Budds, so both teams were coming off sour tastes in their mouths ready to get back on the winning track.

Vultures 6 play opening drive, 4th down TD to Phil Roberts. 6-0 lead.

HSS: Della Rocca’s 2 of his 5 incompletions came on his first 2 passes of the game. In fact, he got sacked for 5 yards on 3rd down, putting them in a 4th and 15 situation. In classic and great Peeze fashion, he did not punt to simply give the Vultures half the field to work with. Instead, he attempted his chances on 4th and long to snapper Jean-Sébastien Roussy, but was 2 yards short of the first down. You see, even without converting, he gave the ball back to the Vultures 23 yards away from their endzone, but gave himself the chance at converting for the first. If instead they punted, that would have given the Vultures the ball 25 yards away from the endzone with 0% chance at converting for a 1st down. Peeze‘s mantra for that is that “even if you can gain 1 yard by going for it on 4th, you should go for it”. My way of looking at it, is that a high-powered offense like the Vultures is bound to score. So even if my 4th down pass falls incomplete (worst case scenario), I’d rather they score from 5 yards out and take 30-60 seconds off the clock instead of 3-4 minutes, so that gives me more time to score to get one back. That said, let’s keep track of 4th down conversions, as already there were 2 big ones:

4th down conversion tracker: Vultures: 1/1, HSS: 0/1

So in my way of thinking of it, Vultures would go on to score on their 2nd possession. But that was not in fact the case. McMahon was picked off by DonnDre Borden and brought it all the way back to the Vulture 7-yard line. Without wasting any time, Paolo Della Rocca hit Alexi Dubois for the 7 yard TD on the very next play and convert on the XP1 attempt to go up 7-6 in the game.

Ben would go 4/4 on the next drive, capped off with a 3-yard TD to snapper Ryan Dobbs-Garnett. Up by 5, they decided to go for 2 points, but were unsuccessful. Score: 12-7 for the Vultures. Peeze wouldn’t take long to reply, as in just 3 plays, he took his team downfield as it was Joey Notaro‘s time to get into the endzone from 15 yards out. XP1 was good, score: 14-12 for HSS.

After Ben completed a 4-yard pass to Dobbs-Garnett, his next 3 passes fell incomplete, as the HSS defense got their 2nd stop of the game on just 4 Vulture drives.

4th down conversion tracker: Vultures: 1/2, HSS: 0/1

Once again, Peeze wasted no time, this time scoring with DonnDre Borden in 1 play, 18 yards downfield. HSS would once again convert for 1 point to take a 21-12 lead. Looking back, maybe Peeze scored too quick, as he gave the Vultures all final 5 plays of the 1st half to drive downfield. And that they did, as James Drysdale made just another highlight-reel TD grab in the back of the endzone.

Halftime score: HSS 21-18 Vultures

Starting with the ball, the best scenario worked out for HSS, by scoring on the opening drive. It was Will Power‘s turn for the TD, as he took his touchdown for 28 yards. Because of all the extra points they had previously converted, they were up by 9 points (2 score lead) and would once again convert for 1 point to go up by 10. Score: 28-18.

The teams would exchange TD scores (with no converts made by either team) to make it a 34-24 game. Where it got interesting was that following McMahon’s 22-yard run downfield for a touchdown, they converted for 2 points to make it a 2-point lead for HSS. That’s important because even if HSS would score a TD it would make it an 8 point game (1 possession), making the (future) extra point attempt all that more important. Score: 34-32.

And then this is where the game took a turn. A pass that was intended for Roussy was tipped by Roussy himself and landed in the hands of Gary McMahon, his 2nd INT on the season. That bred new life to the Vultures. But what happened instead? 2 incomplete passes by McMahon and a Joey Notaro sack later set up 4th and 14 that fell incomplete. That’s 3 stops from the HSS defense on the Vultures and was one of the keys to victory for HSS when all was said and done.

At the time though, the HSS offense, after a 1st down sack by James Drysdale, was unable to gain a first down on 4th and 6, which brings us back to our 4th down tracker.

Final 4th down conversion tracker: Vultures: 2/3 (both touchdowns), HSS: 0/2

Peeze had a chance to put the Vultures away on that possession; drive the field methodically, chew the clock, score a TD to go up 8 and go for the XP1 (which he was 4/4 so far on the night) to put them up 2 possessions. Instead? 2 plays later and Kevin Donnet (surprisingly) caught his first pass on the night, a 9 yard TD to put the Vultures up 38-34, their first lead since going up 6-0 at the start of the game. A 4 point lead meant the Vultures would go for 2, but weren’t able to convert (as they ended the night 1/6 on converts). That’s when the refs whistled in 5 plays. 5 plays for Peeze to mount a comeback in a game they were up for 80% of the game. It started with an 8 yard completion to Roussy on an 8 yard out route, followed by Joey Notaro gaining 10 for a first down, and ended with a 17 yard TD wheel route by DonnDre Borden, beating his 1-on-1 matchup. 3 plays is all it took to put his team on top 40-38. But did they leave the Vultures enough plays with 2 to score? On the first play, McMahon was sacked by Notaro for a 7-yard loss, leaving the Vultures 47 yards away from the endzone. On the “last” play of the game, Yavar Ashrafi contacted McMahon to put them 10 yards closer, so now 37 yards out; a pass that McMahon could now reach into the endzone. Unfortunately, the pass was incomplete and the Vultures suffered consecutive losses for the first time since Winter 2019, an incredible run without losing 2 in a row.

Players of the game:

Hot Sauce Sports: Paolo Della Rocca – 19 completions, 24 attempts, 201 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT, 4/6 on converts.

Vultures: Benjamin McMahon – 20 completions, 31 attempts, 135 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 6 rushing attempts, 60 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 1/6 on converts

Game Preview

The Stoics (4-2)

vs.

The Commission (1-5)

First off, this game is outdoors on Sunday July 17th (today if my article comes out on time) at 9pm. It doesn’t seem too windy today, so both QBs should not be affected too much by the wind conditions. This game for the Stoics will actually be their 2nd of a double-header on the night, first playing against Peeze and Hot Sauce Sports at 7pm in Lachine.

With the way Chris Rivest reads the field, he should be good for 5 TD’s tonight. That means that Gino Di Fazio will need to either match the 5 TD’s and beat The Stoics on converts, or score 1 more TD that Rivest.

For Rivest, and I mentioned this before but will do it again, the offense seems to be running through Cesar Garcia-Diaz more and more as he is becoming a bigger and more featured star in The Stoics offense. In 4 games, he’s leading the team in both Receiving yards (296) and touchdowns (7). Hopefully for the The Stoics, he can be there for both games tonight, as he is a matchup nightmare for many teams. The Commission will also have to worry bout both Vincent Cheung and Kevin Boustany, 2 of the better route runners for The Stoics. If The Commission do have Mike Pierrecin available, which they may or may not, then I believe The Commission have the DB’s to cover the triple threat of The Stoics. If not, it’s a close call. Also for TC, for the most part, Zackary Alberts-Gill rushing Chris Rivest will not be an issue for most downs, as Rivest likes to get rid of that ball quick before any rusher can get close enough to be a disturbance. That said, Alberts-Gill will need to be patient, because as the game goes along, and if The Commission D can start picking up Rivest‘s offense, Rivest will hold onto that ball just a little longer, and that’s when Alberts-Gill will need to strike. It may only come 3/4’s into the game, which is why he will have to stay patient, but his time to come up big for The Commission will be in the late stages of the game.

For The Commission’s attack, they need to start forging a consistent roster to build chemistry with Gino. There’s no more time to waste as The Commission only have 1 win on the season and will need the win tonight to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Once The Commission get into the redzone, there’s no time or downs to mess around; hit Alex Blais as your main RZ target, even if the D knows where it’s going. While driving the field, The Stoics need to keep a particular eye on Hakim Kasbi-Filiatrault. He is a danger on all routes and The Stoics will need to put their best defender on him.

The Commission, despite their 1-5 record, have been a tough out all season for their opponents, including the 7-0 EZW. So is there an upset special (Brent Bodkin trademark) in the making here? Something tells me The Commission have a trick up their sleeve and The Stoics are not rolling on all cylinders. Give me another close game. Give me The Commission 26-25 over The Stoics.

Prediction: The Commission 26 – The Stoics 25

Division C Fantasy Team of the Week

Quarterbacks (2):

QB1 – Jeremy White – G1 (EZW): 27/32, 84.4% completion, 281 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs, 142.8 QBR, 5 for 7 on converts.

QB2 – Corey Walwaski – (The Infantry): 23/33, 69.7% completion, 259 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT, 119.8 QBR, 1 Rushing Attempt, 5 Rushing yards, 2 for 7 on converts.

Receivers (5):

WR1 – Rory Semerjian – (The Infantry): 11 receptions, 13 targets, 153 yards, 5 TDs, 1x XP1

WR2 – Joey Corcoran – G2 (Los Penetradores): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 136 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR3 – James Nguyen – (Two Inch’s Gang): 7 receptions, 7 targets, 133 yards, 3 TDs

WR4 – Daniel Mancini – (ESU Timberwolves): 3 receptions, 4 targets, 111 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR5 – Etienne Laurence-Gervais – G1 – (EZW): 11 receptions, 12 targets, 101 yards, 2 TDs, 2x XP1

FLEX (1):

Victor Charland – (Two Inch’s Gang): 21/32, 65.6% completion, 279 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 119.7 QBR, 1 Rushing Attempt, 13 Rushing Yards, 1 for 6 on converts.

Defensive Backs (5) + Rusher (1):

DB – AJ Gomes – G1 – (Blitzed Budds): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD, 1 PD

DB – Joey Corcoran – G1 – (Los Penetradores): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD, 1 PD

DB – Jules Fortin – G2 – (Blitzed Budds): 5 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD, 1 PD

DB – Nicolas Blais – G1 – (EZW): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def TD

DB – Luis Begin – (One Step Closer): 1 tackle, 2 INTs

Rusher – Khalil Agrebi – G1 (Les Montagnards): 2 sacks, 1 PD

Week 7 Game Picks

My Picks are in Bold Green

Hot Sauce Sports vs. Ravens

ESU Timberwolves vs. Beer Belly Brigade

The Stoics vs. Hot Sauce Sports

The Stoics vs. The Commission

EZW vs. The Infantry

TWO INCH’S GANG vs. Los Penetradores

EZW vs. ESU Timberwolves

TOPSZN vs. Ravens

Vultures vs. One Step Closer

The Commission vs. Vultures

The Infantry vs. Air Force 1

Epilogue

Well, that does it for this weeks article. It appears I’ll be on Calling The Audible in the coming weeks, so whether you like my hot takes in written or oral form, you can get your pick of the litter.

I usually scorekeep on Tuesday nights in Loyola, so feel free to come say hi before playing your game or reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger to let me know if you like the articles, hate ’em, what you wanna see more of / less of.

Cheers!