Week 6 Recap: Kicking Off the Race to the Playoffs in Style

Winless teams getting their first win; an undefeated team being undefeated no more; last-minute subs coming to the rescue. So many other surprising results (we’ll leave some for the podcast guys), all in a single week’s worth of Division D games.

Your team wasn’t among those hit by the hurricane of madness that is the final stretch of regular season games? Don’t worry, there are still three more weeks to go. Your time will come. The only question is whether your team will be the one to be surprised or doing the surprising.

Recaps

Time for a trip down to Atlanta

They finally did it. It took six long weeks, and it took place against a one-win team, but at the end of the day Pandas did what they needed to do to earn their first W of FPF – and they did it in dominating fashion. Taking on a Weapon X team that was starting its third different QB on the season, the Pandas defense had little trouble keeping the Weapon X offense from moving the chains… like, at all.

But that’s to be expected versus a rookie QB who threw four INTs in his first-ever FPF start last week. The real story in this game was the Pandas offense, in which there was no boneheaded mistake made to overshadow an excellent performance by QB Ryan Kharouf. Kharouf called efficient plays, distributed the ball well, and most importantly was able to get the job done in the red zone, all of which led to a 21-zip halftime lead.

That’s not to say Pandas were perfect – far from it. Kharouf struggled to adjust to a Weapon X defense that switched it up in the second half, as evidenced by the fact the only Pandas score of the game’s final 22 minutes was a pick six by Thomas G-Lajoie (will we ever know whether the G actually stands for something?). Fortunately for Pandas, their second half struggles didn’t really matter due to the total ineptness of the Weapon X attack. X6s for everyone!

Battle of the Subs

Gators vs. Get Off My D went from awesome-looking matchup to potentially disastrous game when there was no Corey Walwaski nor Jad Aridi to be found on the field at the coin toss.

Then it wound up being a better game than expected.

Gators called up long (and I mean long)-time FPFer Matt Bishara to bail them out, and that’s exactly what he did. While Bishara’s patented ugly-but-it-works unorthodox offense may have taken some getting used to for most of the Gators receiving corps, it certainly wasn’t the case for Eddy Martinez, who looked right at home catching passes on key downs from his former QB.

On the other side, GOMD made the most of the cap room left available by an absent Aridi and added speedster Quasyie Gordon-Maule in his place. Yet as dazzling as he was, it wasn’t Gordon-Maule who stole the show for GOMD, but rather snapper Yoni Lehrer, who was bailing out QB Jeff Rosenblatt all night long with some sick one-handed catches – all while racking up YAC on grab after grab.

The stats tell the rest of the story in this one. Both offenses went tit-for-tat most of the night, until Gators, trailing late, managed to punch it in and turn Rosenblatt away on the ensuing drive to earn their fourth victory of the season.

J’aime ça

The French language: where one word, “j’aime,” can mean “I love” just as equally as “I like.” In the context of Taimesaheiiin’s game versus Hot Boys Hotline, this headline is a reference to the latter, because I refuse to ever love a result that ends in a tie.

Still, it’s all about the baby steps, and TSH certainly took one by ensuring they won’t be finishing 0-10 this season. That being said, it was one seriously ugly step.

Both QBs struggled mightily to get into a rhythm passing the ball, as TSH signal-caller Alex Gaudet’s only saving grace was his ground game. Through the air, it was poor execution and mistakes galore.

But it was arguably an even more frustrating night for HBH QB Tom Gatehouse, whose ability to move the ball with ease was a bittersweet one as most drives ended with his offense getting stonewalled once in the red zone.

The most bittersweet moment of all for HBH came in the game’s final moments. Gatehouse and company looked to be driving down for the game-winning score with time winding down, only to turn the ball over on downs once again as the referee whistled for five plays. Fortunately for them, the defense was able to manage a goalline stand down the other end after Gaudet managed to drive the field himself.

That the HBH defense was able to hold for a tie is certainly relieving for HBH and their playoff hopes. That they needed one to avoid losing to a team still searching for its first win in FPF is sure to leave a bad taste in their mouth for days to come.

Power Rankings

Prestige Worldwide (6-0): They took on a top team and laid waste to them. In other words, it was just your typical week for PWW.

Backyard Bullies (5-1): It wasn’t Brennan Burke’s best game, and the defense gave up 4 TDs to a team missing its top deep threat. But good teams get the job done nonetheless in those instances, and ByB did just that.

5-Star (5-1): Jeremy Anderson: 233 total yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT on defense; Jordan Moses: 139 yards receiving 3 TDs, 1 INT on defense; Dilan Daoust: 1 receiving TD, game-leading 6 tackles on defense. The three-headed beast continues to maul its opponents.

The Alpha-Ts (4-1-1): Gamecocks were without Jordan Prizant, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesse Dupuis lit up the Gamecocks defense.

Gamecocks (5-1): A steep fall for a team that was without its starting QB, but Daniel Goloff is more than serviceable. The don’t get a pass from me here.

Gators (4-2): Corey who?

St. Lunatics (4-2): A blowout loss to the top team is understandable, but I still wish I would’ve seen a bit more fight out of them.

Two and a Half Dabs (5-1): Not a particularly impressive victory, but one THD needed to get back on track.

Zoo (5-1): 25 second-half points from a team not known for coming from behind gets a hat tip from me.

Friends in Low Places (4-2): They went up against a contender and lost a tight battle. No shame in that. No time to dwell on it either, however, with JYD up next.

Just Missed the Cut

Frosty Bronsons (3-3): They lose some points simply due to JYD’s record, but trust me when I say they dominated the best team with a losing record in all of Division D.

Random Thoughts

-Looks like the league has gotten serious about enforcing the no jersey number, no stats rule. This screws up my ability to recap/analyze, and ruins your chances of winning awards and proving to your girlfriend that you actually did score three TDs in a single game of football. No one wins. Wear a damn jersey with a number on it, will you?

-I just found out SABRFC stands for Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Rugby Football Club. Thank you for answering the mystery of your jerseys having collars, and for actually being deserving of having your name in all caps (looking at you, Zoo).

-Rest assured the playoff scenarios will be up as soon as next week… if Simon decides to get on it.

-Random fact of the week: If I checked properly, Prestige Worldwide are the first Division D team to go 6-0 since Lobster Dinner did it in Spring 2014 (we won seven straight before recording our first and only regular season loss). The last Div D team to go 10-0? Centurions the year before.

-Shoutout to Brent Callender for having recorded his fifth career sack over the weekend. To Josh Feder: how do you let that happen, man?

-Quote of the Week: unnamed DB to unnamed ref about a questionable action by an opposing receiver: “he can’t do that!!” Ref back to DB, casually, as he strolls past said DB: “he just did.” You can argue about the call, but you can’t argue with that sass. Somebody toss this ref a pair of shades.

-I felt bad about having choked away a win two weeks in a row. Then I watched the NBA Finals and told myself it could be worse.

-The number of LeBron James jerseys I’ve seen in the past three days is astronomical. Where y’all fans been hiding at these past couple of years?

-It seems a weekend of partying is solid motivation to get your work done early in the week. Enjoy the fact this was published on a Wednesday night; I’m back on my regular schedule next week.

-People, please vote Laval’s Finest vs. Lightweight for GOTW. Just so you can see what the hell Simon Dagenais’ receivers have to deal with trying to catch his grenade launcher throws.

Previews

More Money-Less TDs vs. Sticky Hands

And with a single Sticky Hands win, this matchup suddenly became a lot more interesting. Sticky Hands, coming off their best game on both sides of the ball (their 26 points scored and 19 given up are the most they’ve put up and fewest they’ve allowed in a single game this season, respectively) could provide a trap game for a More Money team feeling pretty high and mighty after shutting out Ghosts.

The much-anticipated return of receiver Nicolas Saro didn’t take place this past week, leaving us (and more importantly Sticky Hands) to hope we’ll see him back on the field this week. His presence coupled with that of Kevin Gauthier would actually make for an argument for Sticky being the favorites in this one. Especially considering that Sticky’s defense isn’t as bad as it seems at first glance – considering the team’s offensive struggles, the secondary has done more than its share of the work. But ultimately, with the status of both Saro and Gauthier up in the air, I have to go conservative here and stick with the surging MM<TDs.

St. Lunatics vs. Bromigos

Tl;dr, I’m picking St. Lunatics. Bromigos probably feel slighted by the fact I’m picking against them a week after they took down my own team. But the way I see it, if they struggled to put up points on Supply and Command’s trash defense, I do question their ability to score on the elite secondary of St. Lunatics.

That’s not to say they won’t have a chance; I can say from first-hand experience that rusher Jean-Mathieu Vidal, despite having just three sacks to his name this season, could very well set the tone right off the bat and throw Lunatics QB Dom Benevento off his game. But there are certainly mismatches to be exploited and undisguised coverages to pick apart. It was too late for my own team by the time I figured it out, but I have a feeling Benevento will realize it early enough to secure his Lunatics a W.

Predictions

I had to count twice because I couldn’t believe it, but it’s true: 7-9 for me this week, which is somehow still better than Nic Belleau’s 7-10. We’re now at 61-35 (63.54%) and 61-41 (59.8%) respectively. It looks like a last-play loss to Bromigos was good for something other than breaking my heart after all.

Blue Devils vs. Pandas

Justice League vs. Weapon X

Backyard Bullies vs. Les Affreux

Friends in Low Places vs. Junkyard Dogs

Get on Deck vs. Les Indécis

5-Star vs. Gators

Gamecocks vs. Zoo

SABRFC vs. Fuzzy-Kittens

Get Off My D vs. Longhorns

Two and a Half Dabs vs. Prestige Worldwide

Hot Boys Hotline vs. Magic City

Supply and Command vs. All Blacks (N/A)

The Goats vs. Ghosts

On Les Empêche vs. Taimesaheiiin

More Money-Less TDs vs. Sticky Hands

St. Lunatics vs. Bromigos

Frosty Bronsons vs. The Alpha-Ts

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Be sure to check out this week’s Division D podcast with Simon Dagenais and Terry Tam at www.youtube.com/flagplus, recorded live on Thursday at 9 p.m. Until next week, Blanchard out.