Tier 3 Report Cards, part 1

What’s up guys! We’re already halfway down the season or more for all but 5 teams. 3 teams are already 5 games down. I will do the report cards for 11 out of 21 total teams this week, and the remaining 10 will have their report cards in the following article. Let’s get on to it.

Killer Rays, 3rd seed, 4-1, 145PF, 113PA

“Went 2-8 in Div C, but were very competitive throughout the season. Lost some close games. Tyler Gurberg is the best receiver on this team and will keep being the main target for Tylar Bianchi. Aidan Lariviere and Curtis Ryan will be used as secondary options, and defensively Jared Arany (15 sacks in spring) will be holding it down and making it tough for opposing QBs. (3-7)”

This is what I had to say prior to the season start, and I must say I was pretty spot on with my assessment. Tyler Gurberg has not only been the best receiver on his squad, but perhaps the best in the whole division. His 443 yards and 11TDs are number one, but the main thing is the ridiculous number of targets. His 61 targets are almost twice as many as the second next, Craig Browning who has 31. While obviously the counting stats are great, he only catches 64% of the intended passes to him, which is really not that great. Depending that much on one player will be hard to do when they have to face tougher competition who can more adequately match up with Gurberg. Curtis Ryan has been a solid 2nd option, but Aidan Lariviere seems to have taken a step back offensively this season. Defensively, Jared Arany has been solid with 6 sacks, but not as dominant as he has previously been. While they are 4-1, their wins haven’t been dominant, and a loss to Rico Ryders leaves me questioned and unsure about the quality of this team. The huge win against Penetrators in Week 2 is obviously a great outcome. 

Grade: B+

Record Prediction: 6-2

Bébés Dragons Magiques, 11 seed, 2-3, 139PF, 152PA

“Not the greatest squad out there. Guillaume Boulanger hasn’t perfected his game yet, but he spreads the ball well amongst his receivers. The squad is solid all around, and they have one player in Timoté Nehma-Lacasse who really has superstar potential on both sides of the ball. (10-16)”

Wow, look at that, I was right again, except for the fact that Nehma-Lacasse isn’t on the squad. But regardless, Boulanger hasn’t perfected his game. 21TDs is solid, but the 7 interceptions and 8 sacks aren’t great. He’s throwing under 200 yards per game, and the team scored 86 of their 139 points in their two wins against bottom dwelling teams Griffnation and West Island Knights. Boulanger has done a great job spreading the ball once again, with already 5 receivers with above 100 yards on the season. The revelation on this team has been Nicolas Macduff who’s already got 262 yards and 8TDs. This team is really solid, but will need Boulanger to take a step if they want to get a double elimination game, as for now they’re on the outside looking in. Their remaining schedule is very hard, with games against Idaho Udapimps, New Diablos and Rico Ryders.

Grade: C

Record Prediction: 2-6

West Island Knights, 21 seed, 0-5, 94PF, 178 PA

“The first of two teams repping the West Island. The Knights are led by Marc-Andre Reeves, who has only thrown 72 passes in his FPF career, with 59 of them coming in 2018. Most of these guys are unknowns in the male division. Daryl Charles, David Olivier, Jeffrey Romain, Mederice Louissaint have some experience but it mainly comes from Co-ed. With most players having no experience or only a little, I don’t have much to go off of, and will have to assume they’ll be one of the worst teams in Tier 3. (19-21)”

I hate to say I was right again, but I was. While I though Marc-Andre Reeves was going to be throwing, we got a more experienced QB in Nicholas Masella, who had only thrown in Jr leagues so far, but had done great. It hasn’t gone as well as he’d hoped, throwing only 13TDs, with a respectable 5 interceptions, but 9 sacks and only 688 passing yards. West Island Knights’ struggles moving the ball have cost them a lot. Shamar Joassaint has been great and is a big threat due to his athleticism, but the team has had to be without Corey Williams for all but 2 games. Defensively, it’s been a struggle with only 3 total interceptions. Their last game was their best, as they only lost by 3 to Killer Rays, which is encouraging. A double elimination game is already out of the cards for this team, so the rest of the season will be very important to prepare for the playoffs, and we’ve just seen they can hang against good teams. 

Grade: C-

Record Prediction: 1-7

Joes Panini, 1st seed, 4-0, 146PF, 84PA

“Matthew Zeppetelli at QB but his brother AJ is not on the roster. A bit of an unproven roster. Big Fat Bats were a solid Div D team last season, but the loss of AJ is worrisome, especially considering the connection both brothers had. Ryan McNally is also gone. That leaves Joe Morgese as the best remaining player. The team did add Nicolas Knez who did good with 4th and Schlong. I’m not that high on the squad this season. (15-18)”

Alright, I messed up. I messed up bad. I was wrong, I admit it. Matthew Zeppetelli has been formidable, throwing 22 TDs in 4 games, while only throwing 3 interceptions and getting sacked only twice. The absence of AJ Zeppetelli at the beginning of the season had me worried, but I surely overreacted. I also undervalued how good Michael Caparelli is, on both sides of the ball. With AJ back now, this team is looking very dangerous and are now amongst the favorites. Their remaining schedule is also fairly easy, and their next game against Illegal Use of Hands will be their biggest test. If they can beat them, Joes Panini will be in a great position to maintain that number one seed going into the playoffs. 

Grade: A

Record Prediction: 7-1

Born in the 80s, 8 seed, 2-1-1, 143PF, 124PA

“David de Andrade back under center. Craig Browning, Bakey Charles, Huge Stensland, Julien Proulx are all back and that is already a very solid base for a roster. The team also added rusher Sebastian Dufour who is a wild card in any given game. Simon Dufort also joins the squad, which gives De Andrade even more depth. This roster is one of the best in Tier 3, and the team will only go as far as De Andrade will take them. (8-15)”

I was kind of right again, though my initial assessment was basically: This squad is good, but how good is David De Andrade? The answer is, he’s good, but perhaps not great yet. He’s thrown for over 200 yards per game and has 19TDs, but his 6 interceptions are a bit of a worry. Ideally, you wouldn’t want your QB to throw more than 1 interception per game, and De Andrade seems to be a bit too careless with the football at this current point, though he’s not far off from being elite. Craig Browning has been great, and so have Julien Proulx, Bakey Charles and Hugo Stensland. So nothing’s particularly wrong. Well, they’ve played tough teams. Killer Rays and West Island Boys are some of the best teams in the division and coming out of those two games with a tie isn’t catastrophic. They’ve also got 7 interceptions defensively, which is very good. Honestly, they’ve won the games they were supposed to win, and squeezed a tie out of West Island Boys.

Grade: B

Record Prediction: 4-3-1

Team Sexy, 5 seed, 3-0-1, 140PF, 81PA

“A Div5B team which went 6-4 in the winter moves to Tier 3, which is loaded this season. I don’t expect much. This team is still fairly new, Benjamin Berbrier has been solid throughout but perhaps isn’t good enough yet, and the competition will be as good as it has ever been for him. Sam Anastopoulos will be a guy to watch for, and same goes for Andrew Steinberg. This team will likely struggle and find itself in the bottom half of the standings. (15-21)”

Guess what, I was right again. Wait, no. I was really not expecting this team to be this good. It is true they haven’t played the best of teams, but they’ve come out of those games victorious, and by big margins. Benjamin Berbrier hasn’t been incredible, but has been solid enough to lead his team to wins. Sam Anastasopoulos has been a 2-way monster, with 6 TDs on offense and 5 picks on defense. Andrew Steinberg has been great as a deep play guy. 10 for 14 on more than 20 average yards per play is ridiculously good. Though this team has been stellar so far, I have my doubts that this will continue. Berbrier’s 145 passing yards per game on average are below average, yet it hasn’t stopped the team from averaging 35 points. As the rest of their schedule toughens up, it’s expected for them to lose at least one if not more games. West Island Boys, Rico Ryders, and Born in the 80s will all be challenging. 

Grade: A+

Record Prediction: 5-2-1

Bleue Dry, 15 seed, 1-3, 112PF, 117PA

“Frederic Juneau’s squad was one of the best in Div D in spring, especially offensively. Guillaume Dufresne was ridiculously good with 939 yards and 14TDs. Yvan Desjardins is also one of the most underrated players in all of FPF. Samuel Sicard and Philippe Burgoyne also provide depth. This team could cause some real damage, and many teams won’t know how to handle both Dufresne and Desjardins. (6-16)”

Well I was wrong again I guess. I truly expected more from this team, and after seeing their game against Illegal Use of Hands, I truly had to tamper expectations. Guys were dropping balls left and right, even though Frederic Juneau was placing the ball perfectly and making the right decisions. Yvan Desjardins could have had 4TDs and over 100 yards, but struggled a lot and ended up with 2 catches on 7 targets, and only 28 yards. The absence of Guillaume Dufresne in that game couldn’t have been more noticeable. Dufresne has been stellar as usual this season with 234 yards and 6TDs in only 3 games, but the team needs way more from Desjardins who’s only got 91 yards and 3TDs through 4 games. Defensively, they’ve only got 3 picks and it’s looking bleak on that side of the ball, as I saw Alessandro Barazzoni completely dismantle them. Juneau will need more from his receivers. Although, this is still a very talented team, and could surely bounce back strong in their 4 remaining games.

Grade: D

Record Prediction: 3-5

Idaho Udapimps, 2nd seed, 4-0, 169PF, 85PA

“I’m going to try to be as impartial as possible even though this is my team, but after winning Division D-2, and adding even more key players to the squad, I can’t deny that Idaho is one of the favorites. Let’s just say Brady Ohanessian will have a plethora of options throwing the ball. Manu Allard-Roy will once again be a main threat alongside myself. David Gutkovski, Alex Szalipszki, Eric Christian Schiocchet and Ignacio Valdes Manzanedo are all players that can explode in any given game. The player every team should be worried about if they face Idaho is Rory Kelly. A bit of an unknown in FPF, Kelly can only be described as an athletic freak and will cause matchup nightmares for everyone. (1-5)”

I was right! Well it’s my team so I knew everyone and knew what to expect, and I haven’t been disappointed. With the best differential in the division, Idaho have almost twice as many points scored as allowed, and that’s despite being without QB1 Brady Ohanessian for the team’s first two games. Both him and Gutkovsky were great, but they have had one of the easiest schedules with Griffnation, West Island Knights and Mengoose games which all ended in blowouts. It was tougher against Penetrators but the team clutched up. While I have been doing very well myself with 295 yards and 10TDs in 3 games, I have unfortunately injured myself and will be out for the near future, and with 3 games in the next 10 days, the team will most likely be without myself and will need to find solutions to beating 3 solid teams in Bebes Dragons Magiques, New Diablos and Wide Open Bar. Manu Allard-Roy will once again have to step up in my absence, but so will Dave Gutkovsky, Ignacio Valdez-Manzanedo and Alex Szalipszki. The team will need to continue excelling defensively. With 12 picks in 4 games, this team is one of the best on defense. Rory Kelly’s absence hasn’t been noticeable yet, but it might in the next few games. 

Grade: A

Record prediction: 8-0 (I believe in you boys)

Trapstars, 14th seed, 1-3, 74PF, 98PA

“Probably one of the most accomplished team in Tier 3, Trapstars went 4-6 in Div C last spring, but didn’t look too great and got outclassed a couple times. Ryan Garber will surely be at QB, and Cooper Young will once again be the main option, and be looking for another award. He was targeted 94 times in the spring and Dylan Garber was targeted 73 times. Dylan doesn’t look like he’ll be on the roster this season. Does that mean Young will have even more targets? Will James Wiseman and David Giroux get a bigger role? While many may look at them as favorites, I must have some reserves, especially since they’re only 6 on the roster. (4-12).”

Oof. I feel bad for this team at this point. Obviously, the injury to Cooper Young is extremely worrisome, and I’m a bit unsure as to whether he’ll come back this season, but Trapstars are in desperate need of his services. After beating RudeBoyz in Week 1, they’ve lost their last 3 games and have only 74 points scored in 4 games, which is bad. Ryan Garber hasn’t been awful, but only 2 full games played combined between Dyaln Garber and Cooper Young has complicated things for Ryan. If Dylan is on the roster for good, that will help unlock Ryan’s game. The other guys (David Giroux, Jordy Melnik, Adam Lieblein and James Wiseman) have done good but they need a true star. Their defense has held it down pretty good with 8 picks, but they need to score way more. 

Grade: D

Record Prediction: 3-5

Lightwork, 7th seed, 3-1, 97PF, 84PA

“They have an unproven QB in Tyler Havlena, but have some proven talent on the roster with Michael Khazaka, Alexandre Delisle and Anthony Mungiovi. The question will be whether they have enough depth, and if Havlena will be able to adjust quickly to the toughest competition he has faced so far. Could be one of the worst teams or a surprising underdog. (16-21)”

Well surprising underdog it is. Big wins against Bandits and Bleue Dry, but the big loss against Team Sexy was without starting QB Havlena. Without a real good test yet, this team has a lot of confidence but might fizzle out after a huge loss and very tough games remaining. Tyler Havlena has proven he can throw the ball and deserves to be in this division, but hasn’t done enough to prove he’s ready to lead this squad to a championship. 12TDs and 4 interceptions in 3 games isn’t good enough. No receiver necessarily pops out statistically, but 4 of them have over 110 yards. A very complete roster which plays great defense. Havlena just has to be a bit better for them to truly be contenders. 

Grade: A

Record Prediction: 4-4

The Penetrators, 9th seed, 2-2, 86PF, 88PA

“One of the most dangerous teams in Tier 3. They went 8-2 in Div D and were led by Justin Goodman who was fantastic in spring. Nicholas Fon, Jared Boidman and Matthew Caponi were the 3 main offensive weapons. The team also went ahead and added Rocco Cristiano to play receiver. One of the most athletic players in the whole league being added to an already great squad should have most teams worried. This team will definitely make a run and is one of the favorites to win it all. (1-4)”

I’m disappointed. It’s not necessarily the record, I mean losing against Killer Rays and Idaho Udapimps isn’t the worst thing in the world, but the points for man. 86 PF in 4 games for a team this talented is just horrible. Justin Goodman only has 12TDs, and 4 interceptions and a woeful 10 sacks allowed. Rocco Chistriano is as adverstised, one of the most athletic and talented players in the division, and yet Goodman has only been able to give him the ball 12 times, and 7 of those were in the loss to Killer Rays. Their defense has been solid, but Goodman needs to be way better and put the ball into his studs’ hands more. With a relatively easier schedule, they should bounce back and be in a double elimination game.

Grade: E

Record Prediction: 5-3

Score predictions

New Diablos vs. Mengoose

Bebes Dragons Magiques vs. Idaho Udapimps

New Diablos vs. Bebes Dragons Magiques

Illegal Use of Hands vs. Bandits

Illegal Use of Hands vs. Joes Panini

Trapstars vs. Bleue Dry

Team Sexy vs. West Island Boys

In n’ Out vs. Bandits

Lightwork vs. The RudeBoyz

The Penetrators vs. Rico Ryders

Wide Open Bar vs. Idaho Udapimps

Mengoose vs. In N’ Out

The Penetrators vs. West Island Knights

Killer Rays vs. Griffnation

CURRENT RECORD : 16-8 (66.67%)

Good luck this week!