Week 3: Weekend Recap and Monday Previews

Hey everyone,

 

Welcome to this week’s Monday article. Week 3 is off to a great start as the Holiday rust has shaken off and teams are starting to show their true colors. The divisions themselves are starting to take shape as elite teams try to separate themselves from the pack. In this weeks article, I’ll be recapping games from this weekend’s stormfest, including Masters of Coin vs. Fridge Raiders, Green Monster 2.0 vs. Johnny Fireball, and Les Hommes de l’Ouest vs. Clinkers. I’ll end the article by previewing tonight’s matchup between MACDO and Suicide Squad and the Warriors vs. Holy Trollers. But before that, just a few thoughts on my mind:

– KC and San Fran are Superbowl bound! A great matchup 2 weeks from now in Miami, it will be a battle between Offense vs. Defense, let’s see if the old adage “Defense wins championships” holds true.

– I’m happy for Andy Reid, who is bringing his 2nd franchise to the big game, 16 years after having brought a Donovan McNabb-led Eagles there in 2004. Andy, go get your championship to solidify your coaching legacy!

– Hope everyone got the to their fields safely on Saturday night during the snowfall and on Sunday in the aftermath. Driving to Brossard Saturday night was quite the adventure.

 

Be sure to catch my latest Power Rankings which come out on Peeze’s Saturday article, and follow my head-to-head matchup vs. Peeze in the Picks of the week for Div 6 and 6D. Last week I was able to best Peeze in Div 6 going 4-5 to Peeze’s 4-6 record, while Peeze got the best of me in 6D, his 9-3 record vs. my 8-4 prediction score.

 

Weekend Recaps

 

Masters of Coin vs. Fridge Raiders (Div 6)

Masters of Coin started off the game on the wrong foot in this one, as they were 2 players short of fielding a 6-man team. Likely stuck behind snow-clearing trucks on Saturday night, they eventually arrived 6 minutes into the game, giving the Fridge Raiders a 6-0 cushion to start the game. The Fridge Raiders had a chance to go up 2 possessions by starting the game with the ball, but Quarterback Yann Leeroy made a bad read and was picked off by what the stats say is Kyle Wiseman, but who I believed to be Josh Jadonik (maybe some jersey confusion with mis-entering player names due to 2 players being late?). This turnover was key for Masters of Coin to overcome the early “administrative” deficit. After Jadonik took the turnover past the half, Dayan saw a hole and ran it in to tie the game early at 6-6 apiece.

 

After back-to-back 40 bomb TD’s by both teams, it seemed this game was going to be a high-scoring affair, something that Masters of Coin is perfectly comfortable with. For the Fridge Raiders, their offense moved when there was motion in the backfield, either by their WR’s or the QB Leeroy buying time on the run. With a mix of pitches to the WR’s and fake draws, it drew the eyes of the MOC defense on Leeroy who was able to drive down the field to the redzone… until Max Dayan came up with the huge RZ interception to bring the Raiders drive to a halt. This is where MOC methodically drove it down the field, killing the clock all the way down to 4 plays when Dayan made a nice pump fake to shift the defence and find snapper David Nahon for his first of 2 TD’s in the game.

 

Unable to score with the 3 plays remaining in the half, and down 19-12 at the half, the game took a turn in the next 2 possessions. With MOC starting with the ball in the 2nd half, the Benji Zeigler show took over, first scoring a 17-yard TD, and then immediately after, on the Raiders next drive, took his INT to the house for 6. In a matter of seconds, the score went from 19-12 to 32-12 and it was game over.

 

The Fridge Raiders attempted a comeback by getting a quick 40-yard TD off a hook from Dugas Beaulieu and missed tackles from the MOC defense, but I didn’t see the urgency on their next possessions on offense (no hurry-up offense), nor the properly utilization of their timeouts to stop the elusive, never-stopping FPF clock.  When the Raiders scored, they did it quick (they connected on a 40 bomb with Dugas Beaulieu), but when they didn’t score, their drives bled the clock. To Masters of Coin’s credit, every time the Raiders put up a score, they would drive down the field and punch it in for a score, eventually leading to an outstanding 47 points (with 6 minutes less of gameplay than usual, due to their 2 late players!!)

 

Final score: Masters of Coin 47 – Fridge Raiders 26

 

 

Johnny Fireball vs. Green Monster 2.0 (Div 5B)

 

The first half was dominated by Johnny Fireball in this one, putting up 2 scores and shutting out the Green Monster 2.0’s offense, including a pick on Patrick Jazon. The second half was another story however.

 

Entering the half, Edouard Leroux was able to lead his troops down the field for a 3rd score, to go up 18-0. Now down by 3 scores, Jazon has no choice but to throw it deep. After taking a shot deep, defended well by Leroux, I thought that the Fireball defence would learn to send 3 guys deep more often… the next play went for a 38-yard TD to Chad Dumeignil, his same target on the previous deep shot.

 

The Green Monster defense needed a big stop, and were able to get 3 incomplete passes out of Leroux. A big moment in this game was upon us. 4th and 10 from the Fireball 10-yard line, and they decide to go for it. I thought it was a risky play, but my god, did Leroux and his teammates get lucky… Leroux looked to hit his man on the wheel route, was tipped by the Green Monster defender who should have picked it off (or batted it down). Instead, he tipped it right into the hands of Guillaume St-Jean, who was able to race down the field for a heart-breaking score. 24-7 Johnny Fireball.

 

Unfazed by the score, Jazon on the very next play was able to buy time in the pocket (he’s well known for his agility and tackle-evading moves), and once again went deep to, this time to brother, Jesse Dumeignil for another 40-bomb TD, as he was all alone in the middle of the endzone.

 

After finally being able to stop Leroux and his teammates due to nice pressure by Jazon rushing (this guy does it all!), everyone watching this game expected one thing and one thing only… another deep shot. Low and behold, another deep shot, this time to Darnell Kevis Riley, but it is finally covered well, and incomplete as JF finally adjusted to Jazon’s deep shots. This adjustment however, gave Jazon the chance to take off for a 7-yard run and hit the intermediate routes, on way to scoring another TD. After the score was 24-7, the comeback was in full swing, as Jazon reduced the score to 24-20.

 

This game went down to the last 5 plays where Johnny Fireball simply needed a first down for the win, but were unable to get it! They were however, able to punt and pin Green Monster 2.0 on their 1-yard line with 1 play remaining. Jazon, shifty as he is, was able to evade the rusher, and heaved a 49-yard miracle to the endzone… and was batted down by Edouard Leroux, giving his team the win after nearly letting 17-point lead slip away. Very exciting game!

 

Final score: Johnny Fireball 24 – Green Monster 2.0 20

 

 

 

Clinkers vs. Les Hommes de l’Ouest (5B)

 

Tone of the game: This was a huge game for both teams, as both Clinkers and Les Hommes de l’Ouest (LHDO) went into this one with 0-2 records, attempting to avoid the alarming 0-3 start.

This one had a feisty feel to it all night long, as Tony Khoury got into the heads of his opponents, but not without getting into some trouble himself, as I’ll get to shortly.

 

Les Hommes de L’Ouest started this game a little funny on attack. They found themselves on 3rd down often, but would convert on 3rd either with Antoine Cote’s running ability (7 rushing attempts for 86 and a score), or by using his mobility to gain time and hit receivers that would eventually get open. They did so all the way to the 1-yard line, but the Clinkers stuck together (ha.ha… if you know what a Clinker is… if not, Urban Dictionary, please) and were able to smother the endzone with their big bodies, doing their best Gandalf impression of “You Shall Not Pass!”

 

Unfortunately for the Clinkers, they were unable to muster a single yard, and decide to punt from their 1-yard line (giving the ball to LHDO at the half – love this rule implemented in Winter 2019). The Clinkers D stepped up once again, allowing 8 yards on 3 plays. LHDO could have once again pinned them at the 1, but decided to go for it, and Cote was able to slither and juke his way through 3 guys for an awesome 18-yard TD run.

 

From then on, Marc-Andre Desaulniers was focused and executed 3 straight completions, the 3rd a 29 Touchdown pass to Phil Aussant running a post route for a great TD. Bit of a wobby pass, but a great read by never looking down his receiver. MA was able to pull the safety away from the middle of the field which left the middle of the field wide open for Aussant, so the fact he didn’t fire it in didn’t really matter.

 

My takeaway from LHDO’s offense is that they heavily relied on Cote’s running ability. Don’t get me wrong, he was great running the ball, but at the cost of hitting the easy hooks and out routes. He was able to drive them into the redzone with his legs, and got them to the 3-yard line on their 3rd drive. Since he couldn’t run it in, he still bought time moving right to left, and back right, but forced his pass cross body to the left side of the field and was picked off by Alexi Dubois who made a nice read on the play, taking it to half field.

 

MA was able to punch it in for the score, but on the convert, I saw him take a snap on the run and roll out, watch out!! Big man coming through!! He was actually able to convert the XP when throwing on the run. Was a cool thing to see.

 

On the following LHDO drive, after a deep ball was incomplete, their ball ended up in the Clinkers bench. Khoury punted the ball back to them with a LHDO player nearby and got called for an OC penalty, which now sits players out for 10 plays. One of comments from the other side of the field I heard was “But I can’t throw with my left hand!!”. A bit comical from a 3rd party’s perspective, but Khoury’s known for getting under team’s skins, but he’s gotta avoid the OC.

 

Score at halftime: 13-6 for the Clinkers.

 

Much like the Fridge Raiders-Masters of Coin game, this game turned in a hurry. After MA was again able to drive down the field for the TD, a bad read by Antoine Cote led an easy pick 6 by Eric Cantin. Also like the FR-MOC game, Les Hommes de l’Ouest were able to score quick and pick off MA in the next Clinker’s drive, but their drives, like the Raiders did not have enough urgency with the clock winding down. LHDO were eventually unable to take advantage of the turnover, and MA led his team on yet another score. The highlight of the night definitely occurred on this last drive I mention by Clinkers. MA threw a deep ball to his left sideline with Charles Presser on a fly. Had the ball hit the ground, it would have easily landed out of bounds. In other words, he put it perfectly so that only Presser could catch this ball. Looking right, then left, Presser high points the ball, and is able to get his first, then second foot down, secures the ball with both hands as his third step takes him out of bounds. A great throw and an even better catch! Definitely worth staying at Lachine on Sunday night, 11:45pm to see that play! Gotta love FPF!

 

Like I mentioned, there was a rising tension in this game, and there were a couple of moments near the end that had that “rubbing salt in the wound” moments, as on the Clinkers side, Khoury had the last laugh with the game winning TD and waited in front of his flag for the LHDO player to pick it up who had to wait until his teammate passed it to Khoury (This was the height of the strain in this game) . On the LHDO side, they weren’t going down without a fight, as they decided to put up another score with 2 plays left when they were down 13. I will mention however, that the handshake had no Milan Lucic with-the-Boston-Bruins moment, and Khoury even came to their bench to shake their hands again and passed a lighter “Good Game Boys” comment, ending the chippy affair on a (slightly) positive note.  

  

Final score:  Clinkers 33 – Les Homme de L’Ouest 28

 

 

Monday Night Football Previews

 

MACDO vs. Suicide Squad (Div 6)

If you’ve read my Div 6 Power Rankings on Peeze’s Saturday articles, then you know how I feel about Suicide Squad. If you’ve just committed on reading your own division’s Power Rankings, let me catch you up to speed. Suicide Squad has taken the #1 spot in both editions so far. Led by Alex Noel at QB, who is tearing it up thus far in the season, Suicide Squad are the team to beat in this division, sitting at 2-0. On the other side, MACDO have yet to crack the Top 10 Power Rankings, and are looking to avoid going 0-3. MACDO is definitely going through the toughest stretch in their schedule, as their 2 previous opponents have a combined 4-0 record, and are facing another undefeated team in Suicide Squad.  Having played MACDO myself in week 2, they are a decent squad, but overmatched in this one. Louis-Phillipe Naud, the MACDO QB, will have to be perfect in this game and throw no picks if they are to beat Suicide Squad. Helping him, his 2 greatest offensive weapons, Phillippe Diquinzio and Julien Proulx will also have to be at their best.  On defence, MACDO will have to force Noel to throw at least 3 interceptions if they want to win this game, something I don’t think will happen.

 

On the Suicide Squad side, it’s simple. Keep doing what you’ve been doing all season: Spread the ball on offence (Noel has already hit 10 different receivers in 2 games, so they can literally lineup ANYONE at receiver and have success), and force QB’s into errant throws and have Noel pick ‘em off. And of course, Noel has only run for 10 yards so far, but by no means should teams think he’s not capable of exploding for a 30, 40-yard run. He’s clearly looking to pass first and work on the air attack, but he’s keeping the running game in his back pocket in case he needs it.

 

Prediction: Suicide Squad 34 – MACDO 14

 

 

Warriors vs. Holy Trollers (Div 5B)

The Solimene brothers are back, and Michael and Stefano found themselves playing in their usual positions in week 2, after Stefano was forced to step in at QB in week 1. They were able to connect 5 times for 45 yards and 3 TD’s in week 2, showing their brotherly prowess, something that I believe, will lead them to success throughout the season and in their game vs. Holy Trollers. That combo, as well as Januson Vas and Peter Giannias will play key roles vs. Holy Trollers as they try to stay perfect on the season at 3-0.

 

For the Holy Trollers, it’s Kevin “Neckdana” Kousaie leading the charge for the Holy Trollers, already with 98 yards and 4 TD’s on the season. It isn’t only him, but the entire receiving core that is pitching in, as out of 6 receivers, their lowest yardage producer is at 25 yards. Gotta love a truly balanced air attack!

 

Both teams have height and physically imposing guys out there. I have a feeling both teams will be sore tomorrow after this game. But before that, give me Michael Solimene to dissect the Trollers defence and go up 2 scores early. The Holy Trollers will attempt a comeback, and even get it within 1 or 2 points, but the Warriors will continue scoring thereafter and will never look back.

 

Prediction: Warriors 37 – Holy Trollers 27

 

 

If you made it ’till the end, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the analysis as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m always open to new ideas, suggestions, or shoutouts, so feel free to email me @ [email protected], or message me on Facebook (I’m pretty sure I’m the only Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB in Montreal). If you feel like you prefer talking FPF over a pint, I sometimes host trivia and often attend trivia as a player at NDG’s own local pub, Honey Martin, on Tuesday nights. Come swing by and we’ll analyze divisions, teams and game strategy!

Cheers,