Week 7 Recap: Mid(ish) Season Breakdown   

Yes, I know, I should’ve done this last week. My bad for not realizing Co-Ed is an 8-game season until I had literally written all but the intro to last week’s article. But that’s not going to stop you from reading what I have to say about your team though, is it? Didn’t think so.

 

Recaps

Thanks for Stepping It Up, Frank

I called out my man François Deslauriers last week. I also predicted a win from his Party Mix team last week. See how I covered all my bases there?

In a parallel universe, Party Mix lost big to It’s a Match and I continue putting the blame squarely on Deslaurier’s shoulders for the team’s struggles. In this universe however, it’s all love from me to Frank for his team’s impressive 26-18 comeback win over an It’s a Match team that had won Round 1 by three scores.

This round started off rather similarly to the last, as Party Mix ran into a brick wall known as the It’s a Match defense early on. A heavy rush and tight coverage left the Party Mix offense finding it difficult to move the ball for all but a lone touchdown in the first half. On the flip side, It’s a Match threw Party Mix a twist by going with François Éthier at QB and moving Alexis Labonté to receiver (again), the latter finding some big holes in the Party Mix defense for a couple of big catches.

But the second half saw Party Mix flip the script. Deslauriers made the necessary adjustments on both sides of the ball, notably calling – and throwing – a ballsy hook-and-go to receiver Camille Fortier-Martineau, who made a smooth catch for a late game TD. Not too shabby, guys. Not too shabby at all.

 

Dinner Is Served. On the Menu: Your First Loss of the Season  

I hoped Confirmed Positive’s second battle with Served With Girls would be an epic one. The FPF Gods delivered.

From the game’s opening drive, which culminated in a 30-something yard bomb from QB Vanessa Birri to wideout Sabrina Gervais, you just knew it was time to buckle up for the ride.  Served With Girls answered in one play with a 40-yarder from Karl Lavallée to Charlie Loignon. Cp answered that answer with a 33-yard bomb from Birri to Mat René. SWG answered the answer to their answer with a 38-yard bomb from Lavallée to Salim Cherkaoui. When the dust settled, the halftime score read 13-12 in SWG’s favor. 

Then JD Chevalier showed up to the field.

Chevalier made his presence felt immediately upon arrival – first he did so verbally, telling me numbers 24 and 11 had arrived to the game. Then he did so physically, making tough catch after tough catch on the opening drive of the second half en route to a touchdown drive, which he then capped off with another tough grab on the convert. 20-12 SWG lead.

CP would answer back to make it 20-18, setting up the battle’s final act: on the heels of an athletic interception from Mat René, and the game clock winding down, Birri led her CP squad down the field and into the red zone. Four chances to win the game dwindled down to one as the SWG defense stood strong for three straight plays. On the fourth, facing a relentless rush from Lavallée, a flustered Birri wound up throwing the ball across her body into the endzone, and more specifically into the waiting hands of… none other than JD Chevalier for the game-sealing interception. 

An epic game all around. Is it bad for me to admit that I’m already looking forward to Round 3 in the playoffs?   

 

Midseason Breakdown

Sure, this looks like a reverse power ranking. But it’s not, okay? There are grades! And separate sections for key players! And stuff!

Speaking of grades: please note they’re based on my expectations for the team heading into the season. I.e. C means you’re meeting them, D you’ve fallen short of them, B you’re exceeding them, A you’re exceedingly exceeding them.

 

5. Flamboyant Dragons (0-4): If you’re losing all your games by a score, there’s hope. If you’re being outscored 39 to barely 11 points a game…, well I can’t really say it’s been a good season for Flamboyant Dragons so far. I’ve already mentioned in previous articles how much of that falls on the shoulders of QB Guillaume Fontaine and his struggles to throw accurate passes at times. But with a team with this many rookies on the squad, it’s clear this is a project that will take time. That’s particularly true when talking about the defensive side of the ball. Fontaine is the team’s leading tackler (by far – and trust me when I say it’s not because he’s been picked on; this man swarms to the ball), one of only two players with interceptions, and the team leader in PDs. This is an offense that has put up 20 and 19 points in back-to-back weeks. While that’s not exactly eye-popping, teams can and do win games with those kinds of scores – the difference being that they don’t give up 30+ points consistently. Someone, anyone, needs to step up. If the Dragons offense keeps improving as it has in recent weeks, and the defense does enough of the basics (make your tackles, respect your zones, etc.) to get a few stops here and there, there’s potential for a win this season. Might it come this week?

Grade: D 

Key Players: Guillaume Fontaine, Guillaume Fontaine, Laurence Gagnon  

Prediction: 0-8

 

4. It’s a Match (2-3): And the award for most inconsistent Co-Ed team goes to… No, seriously though: a combined 57 points for, 6 points against in the first two weeks of the season; then a combined 20 points for, 49 points against in the next two; and finally an 18-26 loss to Party Mix this past week. So the good thing is it seems It’s a Match’s pendulum is starting to swing back in the other direction. That is, until they freakin’ decide to switch QBs again next week. The decision to go back to François Éthier on Saturday didn’t yield the final result they were seeking, but it definitely was an improvement over his last game at QB back in Week 3. It does reassure me that his first game throwing was perhaps more due to rust more than anything. If Éthier continues to play as he did on Saturday, there’s hope for this team yet, especially with one of the premier defenses in Co-Ed backing him up. Seriously, this is a defense which has kept Vanessa Birri’s arm to three touchdown throws; shutout a team; and overall allowed barely 16 points per game. Could they upset either Confirmed Postive or Served With Girls these next two weeks?

Grade: C    

Key Players: Alexis Labonté, Lovinski Gelin, Kathleen Tran, the whole damn defense

Prediction: 3-5   

 

3. Party Mix (2-3): For a team consisting literally of 10 FPF rookies plus François Deslauriers, who’s a rookie in his own right at the QB position, I really have to take a second to applaud them for how they’ve performed so far. Especially when considering how quickly they’ve rebounded from a tough 0-2 start. Deslauriers is getting more and more comfortable in the pocket with each passing week, their defense steps up big when needed, and this team overall is one charging with a full head of steam heading into the final stretch. There are some legit budding stars on this team, particularly slot receiver Audrey Le Templier and two-way nightmare Camille Fortier-Martineau. There is speed and generally good hands abound on this roster, and not a big ego in sight – and I wouldn’t expect anything less from a team captained by such a savvy vet as Frank. I won’t go so far as to predict outright wins versus Confirmed Positive and Served With Girls. But there’s no doubt in my mind they’ll give both one hell of a fight.  

Grade: A 

Key Players: Audrey Le Templier, Camille Fortier-Martineau,  …François Deslauriers  

Prediction: 3-5  

 

2. Confirmed Positive (4-1): This team was a shoo-in for the top spot… right up until their heartbreaking loss to Served With Girls. Despite the fact I have to respect the final result of that game, it was one that taught me things about this team that have me convinced that a strong finish to the season awaits them. First among them is QB Vanessa Birri’s leadership. Despite uncharacteristic drop after drop by one of her receivers, Birri continued to go back to said receiver play after play – until finally one resulted in a big catch over the middle, and more importantly a regained confidence in time for the second half. The only other QB I’ve seen do something like that? None other than Kevin Wyeth. Good QBs avoid a receiver if they see them struggling early. Great ones keep feeding them the ball knowing they might need a game-winning catch from them later. That didn’t necessarily happen here, but what this game did show is that this team doesn’t need Pat Jérome or Jacques Void to compete (and I mean, Mat René is a preeeeetty decent back-up option). Not to mention, one slip-up without the pair doesn’t negate the ridiculous scores by which they’ve beaten everyone else at this point in the season.

Grade: B

Key Players: Vanessa Birri, Pat Jérome, Sabrina Gervais

Prediction: 7-1

 

1. Served With Girls (4-1): This is the midseason breakdown after all, and at this point in the season it’s hard to argue with them being anything but the top spot. The main reason, of course, is that they’re coming off an impressive win over the team I had previously ranked first atop my power rankings. I also have to give them credit for proving my earlier concern about them – that their potential lack of caliber female players would come back to haunt them – completely wrong. They don’t lack the talent – they just have so many other weapons to choose from on the offensive side of the ball. Indeed, as the team’s two leading tacklers, Sandra Clement and Sarah Mckinley’s football abilities are pretty evident on the field thank you very much. As long as the three-headed monster that is JD Chevalier, Charlie Loignon and David Shopov continues to make impressive 40-bomb touchdown catches (13 in total between them), and their defense continues to make timely stops, there’s just no way this team loses another game this regular season.

Grade: B

Key Players: JD Chevalier, David Shopov, Sandra Clement

Prediction: 7-1

 

 

Predictions

Confirmed Positive vs. It’s a Match   

Flamboyant Dragons vs. Party Mix

 

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That wraps up Week 7 of the Co-Ed Division. Questions, comments, criticism? Let me know on Facebook or on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. See you at the fields!