Top 8 Burning Questions, and Elite 8 Revealed

Welcome to Week 7 of the FlagPlus Football Spring Season.

We are now officially in the second half of the season. This marks the starting point, where most teams start to make their playoff push.

Before we can get to the post-season, there are a few questions that need to be answered.

 

This week’s article, will be the top 8 second half of the season questions that need to be answered.

 

Who is the better team? Simon Says, or Easy-Jake-Oven?

Both teams currently sit at (6-0). They have the highest scoring offenses in Division C, and each have given up exactly 116 points, which leaves both squads tied for the second best defense overall.

If you look at both teams schedules so far, Simon Says, has had the tougher road so far, as they have faced harder teams than Easy-Jake-Oven.

Looking at their remaining games, Simon Says, finishes against Game Changers, P.O.P, Mercenaries ,and Gym Class Heroes, who have a combined (13-10) record, but there should be an asterisk besides it, because GCH, makes that record look worse than it really is, given the fact that they are winless.

 

For Easy-Jake-Oven, their schedule the rest of the way, sees them take on Keyport Lock, A-Squad, Junkyard Dogs, and Game Changers, who have combined to go (12-11-1). It should be noted though, that both A-Squad, and JYD only have one win.

 

Naturally, you can’t blame either team for who they play against, as their only obligation is to beat whoever is on their schedule, but at the same time, it is hard to overlook the discrepancy in opponents.

 

 

Which Quarterback will finish with the most yards passing?

Jake Applebaum is the current leader with 1,253 yards.

He is followed by:

Chris Olson Pineapple Express (1,241 yards)

Simon Dagenais Simon Says (1,241 yards)

Craig O’Brien P.O.P (1,201 yards)

Simon Duchesne Jagerbomb (1,911 yards)

P.O.P plays Simon Says in Week 8.

Pineapple Express take on P.O.P in Week 10.

I am putting my money on Simon Dagenais, but chances are, the title for most passing yards of the season, will come down to the last week of action.

 

 

Who is a sleeper team that could go all the way?

Earlier in the season, I mentioned GloGang and the Mercenaries, as my two sleeper teams in each conference.

This time around, I will only pick one, and that is GloGang.

I have said this a few times this season, but GloGang, is fast and aggressive. They even have some swag, that borderline on cockiness.

Led by Tomas Guerrier, Sifax Kaced, and not the for much longer underrated Oliver Suri, their defense epitomizes all three of those attributes. More importantly, they have demonstrated the ability to shutdown opposing offenses.

I have also talked a few times this season about their Quarterback Arno Desjardins. While he does occasionally fall in love with the deep ball a bit too much, his accuracy, and ability to make virtually every pass, run, and to throw his receivers open when need be (an often overlooked talent), are what makes him so good.

GloGang, is a lot like those Blue Chips squads, that looked to beat teams with speed, athleticism, and big play ability. The difference is, while Jordan Mitchell, couldn’t consistently best defenses with his arm, Desjardins can.

 

 

Can the offensive explosion we have seen over the last month last continue?

In that time frame, we have seen thirty nine teams score at least 30 points a game.

That number also includes ten squads who have produced 40 or more.

There are three who have scored more than 50 points.

One team has put up 60 points.

Last Spring Season, we saw a total of 6,244 points scored during the regular season.

Heading into tonight’s action, exactly 3,239 points have been put up by Div C teams. If the current scoring pace continues, we will break last year’s mark by 234 points.

Can we do it?

 

 

 

Will we see as many upsets this summer, as we saw in the playoffs last year?

 

Last summer, we saw The Commission, upset by Jagerbomb in the Semi-Finals, that could partly be attributed to bad turnovers by the TC offense, and a shady offside call on a fourth down play late in the game. Fittingly, the rematch is tonight in Lachine.

After dominating the regular season by finishing (9-1), the Mountain Lions (Easy-Jake-Oven), lost to the Junkyard Dogs, in the Quarter-Finals.

In the 2018 Spring Season, five teams finished with 2 losses or less. Currently, six squads have the potential to fall into that category.

This season, we have also seen a number of upsets in the regular season, which should set up a spectacular post-season.

Let’s see how this all shakes out.

 

 

Can The Huffmen make a second half playoff run?

I had a chance to catch their game this past Tuesday against the Junkyard Dogs, which ended in a (39-39) tie.

After a rough debut outing with The Huffmen, that saw him throw 4 interceptions, newly installed Quarterback Corey Walwaski, looked sharp in his second game with the team, as he threw 6 touchdowns, and a game-high 223 yards.

While there might be a throw or two that he would have liked to have back, including a pick-6 to Junkyard Dogs’ Rory Semerjian, Walwaski, did a good job of attacking the holes in the Junkyard Dogs defense.

The addition of Walwaski, also allows the team’s former QB Terry Tam, to go back to his natural position of Snapper. The move has paid immediate dividends, as Tam, has 7 receptions for 73 yards, and 2 TDs, since the change, and he gives an offense that already had solid weapons at receiver, yet another option.

Although The Huffmen failed to pick up their first win of the season, they got a valuable point, that currently puts them just 2 points behind the aforementioned Junkyard Dogs for the 8th and final playoff spot in Conference A.

With games against the A-Squad, KGP, Backyard Bullies, and GloGang remaining, The Huffmen, sit well within striking distance to make a run to the post-season.

 

Was the Mercenaries first lost just a hiccup, or the start of something bigger?

The Mercenaries, suffered their first loss of the season (22-21) to Jagerbomb. This was one of, if not the best finishes in Div. C this season.

Fast forward to the final game’s final five plays. After the Mercenaries turned the ball over on downs, and trailing their opponents (22-15), all Jagerbomb had to do was milk the clock, and not turn over the ball, to guarantee the win.

After a gain of seven yards on first down, and then an incomplete pass on second, the stage was set for a crucial third down. Instead of taking an easy quick hitter, Quarterback Simon Duchesne, opted for a deeper throw. Perfectly timing the pass, was Mercenaries Rusher Isaiah Allard, who jumped in the air, tipped the pass to himself, and caught the ball before hitting the ground. Talk about impressive!

Given new life, the Mercenaries, were able to make it pay off two plays later, as their QB Gino Di Fazio, hit Allard for a score in the back of the endzone, to shrink the lead down to (22-21) Jagerbomb.

Instead of going or the 1 point conversion and the tie, the Mercenaries, elected to go for 2 points and the win.

As soon as he got the snap, Di Fazio, tried to go back to the well again, as he looked in Allard’s direction again, but he was covered.

Di Fazio, then saw Wide Receiver Kendall Mayers, open just inside of the left pylon at the front of the endzone. The Hall-Of-Famer, tried to zip the pass in, but it went off the fingertips of the Jagerbomb defender (22-21) final. Heartbreaking, and fantastic finish to a really good game.

Back to the original question. The Mercenaries, finish the regular season with four tough final games, the first of which is tonight versus Pineapple Express, and then against All Hooks, Simon Says, and The Commission.

For as impressive as the (5-0) start was for the Mercenaries, all of those wins came against squads without a winning record. The team’s remaining four contests, come against teams who combined to go (17-7), with All Hooks, accounting for 4 of those losses.

Clearly, it’s put up or shut up time for the Mercenaries. A huge win tonight, would quiet a lot of doubters, and serve as a statement by the team, that they are for real.

 

 

Are the Game Changers and Keyport Lock, true contenders?

If you go only by their records, than the answer is an emphatic yes, as the Game Changers only loss was to Keyport Lock (33-30) this past Wednesday night, while the only defeat Keyport Lock has suffered, was at the hands of the Dream Breakers (37-25) back in Week 4.

As far as wins go, Keyport Lock, have earned theirs over GloGang, Junkyard Dogs, KGP, The Huffmen, and as I mentioned earlier, Game Changers, on Wednesday night.

For the aforementioned Game Changers, they have wins over The Huffmen, A-Squad, KGP, Junkyard Dogs, and Backyard Bullies.

Do you see where I am going with this?

In short, out of those combined 10 wins, only one has come against a team with a winning record. Yeah, you guessed it, the Keyport Lock win over the Game Changers.

With that being said, the answer to the question is probably no for most people.

 

Looking ahead however, the Game Changers, finish off the regular season with games against Simon Says, GloGang, Dream Breakers, and Easy-Jake-Oven.

On the other side, Keyport Lock, finishes with Easy-Jake-Oven, Backyard Bullies, A-Squad, and All Hooks.

 

On paper, the Game Changers, have the much tougher schedule. Should they win at least three, or even two of them, the answer to the question will have to switch to yes.

For Keyport Lock to be viewed as a serious threat, they will have to sweep their last four games, or at the very least, go (3-1), and look extremely convincing while doing so.

 

 

With the second half of the season now and full swing, I have decided to unveil my first Elite 8 power rankings of the season. Obviously, wins and losses get the priority, but strength of schedule definitely plays a factor.

 

Here we go:

 

Elite 8

 

1. Simon Says

2. Easy-Jake-Oven

3. Keyport Lock

4. Game Changers

5. Mercenaries

6. Pineapple Express

7. The Commission

8. P.O.P

 

 

Picks

 

Game Changers vs Simon Says – Game Changers (Upset Special #1)

Dream Breakers vs Stoics – Stoics (Upset Special #2)

Mercenaries vs Pineapple Express – Mercenaries (Upset Special #3)

Jagerbomb vs The Commission- N/A

P.O.P vs All Hooks – P.O.P

Gym Class Heroes vs KGP – KGP

The Huffmen vs A-Squad – The Huffmen (Upset Special #4)

Backyard Bullies vs Sweat & Beers – Backyard Bullies (Upset Special #5)

Keyport Lock vs Easy-Jake-Oven – Easy-Jake-Oven (My pick for Game of the Week)

GloGang vs Junkyard Dogs – Junkyard Dogs (Upset Special #6)

 

Last Week: (6-2-1)

 

Season: (37-17-2)

 

That’s it for this Week. I will be back next timeout, with a review of this week’s action, and a Week 8 preview.

 

Good luck to everybody in their games tonight, and this week!

 

Enjoy the long weekend, and be safe!

 

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter@BADNEWSB51

 

Cheers!