Categories: Co-EdComplementaryDivision

Week 9 Recap: The Playoff Picture Gets Clearer

Only two weeks separate us from the Co-Ed playoffs. Only one playoff spot remains up for grabs, and no playoff seeds have been locked in just yet. A frantic finish awaits us. But we begin by looking back at the week that was.  

 

Recaps

I’m Winnin’ Anyway*

I’m sure Party Mix are still trying to get the bad taste of their 44-12 loss to Confirmed Positive over the weekend out of their mouth. On the bright side, they clinched a playoff spot despite the loss. On the not-so-bright side… their performance vs. CP doesn’t particularly bode well for Party Mix if and when the time comes for these two teams to play a third time come the postseason.

The game got off on the wrong foot for Party Mix before any player actually stepped foot on the field, as the team had only one female player show up in time for the game’s 6 p.m. start. Result of the delay: a 6-0 lead for Confirmed Positive. When Party Mix had enough for a legal roster a few moments later, that six-point deficit quickly turned to a 12-point one when CP QB Vanessa Birri wasted zero time finding the end zone, hitting Maxime Patterson for an easy 25-yard toss on just her second throw of the night.

PM didn’t give up there though, scoring on their own two-play drive when Deslauriers hit Christian Bergeron in stride for a 34-yard catch and run.

But that’s about as close as this one would get. Birri had little trouble carving up the field on the back of the dynamic duo of Patterson and Pat Jérome, as her side cruised to a 31-12 halftime lead. An interception from Deslauriers on an ill-advised pass to start the second half essentially squashed any chance of a comeback.

Week 9 isn’t the ideal time for a team to suffer their most lopsided loss. But it could be worse: you could have suffered your most lopsided loss – and seen your playoff hopes fade away at the same time. Speaking of playoff hopes fading…

 

Dragons Feeling the Heat

So much for my belief of a closer game than the first time Flamboyant Dragons and Served With Girls went head-to-head. Well, it was about as close – for a half. The Dragons found themselves in a 13-point hole entering the second half in this one, one better than their Round 1 battle with SWG. It could’ve been even closer still, had Dragons QB Guillaume Fontaine’s red zone throw not sailed on him on the last play of the first half.

But it did. Then the second half came. And that can be summed up about as well as you could the first half – things went really well for SWG, while things went awfully wrong for Flamboyant Dragons.

As much as you can’t completely blame the Dragons defense for allowing a total of 46 points to a dangerous receiving corps such as SWG’s, you certainly can put some blame squarely on the Dragons players for their struggles on offense. Self-induced mistakes included unfortunate overthrows and drive-killing penalties. Oh, and and one very, very untimely OC by Fontaine, which resulted in two INTs by Alessandro Colella on two attempts on back-to-back first-half drives when the latter had to step in for the former. That’s two INTs that could’ve led to two more scores for the Dragons and two fewer scores for SWG – or basically the difference in what wound up being a 46-24 win for SWG.

 

Power Rankings

  1. Confirmed Positive (6-1): Soooo Pat Jérome’s back.
  2. Served With Girls (5-1): 24 points is the most Flamboyant Dragons have scored in a game all season. More the result of their offense finally starting to get rolling, or a worrisome sign for the SWG defense?
  3. Party Mix (3-4): What gives me hope for this team is the fact they were without both Camille Fortier-Martineau and Audrey Le Templier for arguably their biggest test of the season. That 44-12 final score isn’t indicative of what this team at full strength is capable of.
  4. It’s a Match (2-4): Hope you made the most of the bye week to plan for Served With Girls.
  5. Flamboyant Dragons (0-6): An actual decent performance from QB Guillaume Fontaine, and it has to come on a week where the Dragons defense gives up their most points allowed since Week 3. If ever there was a time for a complete game from this team, this upcoming Saturday is about as ideal a time as it gets.

 

Playoff Race

With three of the five teams having clinched a spot (bold = clinched), the games to watch this week will be, well, both of them. A win or a tie for It’s a Match this week means they’re officially in the playoffs. A loss from them, and a win from Flamboyant Dragons this week, means the Dragons’ playoff hopes remain alive for at least one more week.

Conference A

Team

GP

PTS

Wins

PA

1

Confirmed Positive

7

12

6

96

2

Served With Girls

6

10

5

128

3

Party Mix

7

6

3

164

4

It’s a Match

6

4

2

117

5

Flamboyant Dragons

6

0

0

241

 

Predictions

Confirmed Positive vs. Flamboyant Dragons

Served With Girls vs. It’s a Match

 

***

That wraps up Week 9 of the Co-Ed Division. Questions, comments, criticism? Let me know on Facebook or on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. See you at the fields! 

*If you get that reference, it’s because you watch good movies. Good for you. If you don’t…well… I’m not sure what to tell you. Be cooler. King Kong ain’t got shit on me, though.