Weekly Extra Point (Div A & B) – Week 1

Yep, the rumours are true. The one, the only, the ORIGINAL Weekly Extra Point has returned.

It’s certainly been quite a while since this column appeared on the FPF website. A lot has changed since 2007. Back then, we only had 3 divisions. There were no weekly webcasts or well-produced videos of the Finals. Patrick Chenard and Nathan Taylor were promising young players. Carmine Pollice was a grizzled veteran who couldn’t stop winning championships.

Now, we’re up to 5 divisions in the Winter. We have the WEPL and the Road Show. Chenard and Taylor are standout CIS players. As for Pollice…well, some things never change.

And that’s what I love about FPF. You’ve got a bit of everything. For every young player looking to make his mark, we’ve got an older player who is a household name. For every touch football veteran, you’ve got a guy who has never played a down of organized football in life.

Nowhere is this diversity more apparent than in Divisions A and B. In DA, there are 4 established and well-known teams returning to try and claim the ultimate prize. Each retains the distinctive core that is associated with their franchise, though they’ve all made certain adjustments and additions in order to remain competitive. In DB, there are 9 teams gunning for glory and again, there is a lot of familiarity with these franchises. Some brought back the same rosters with a few changes, and some look fairly different.

In this first column of the season, I’ll be taking a brief look at each of these teams, telling you what you need to know. Week 1 rosters are included, but this will be a bare-bones preview, essentially resuming who’s on the team and what changes they made going into the season. The real fun gets started next week.

N.B. The rankings are the same as the ones FlagPlus Football uses when setting up the divisions and schedules. Consider them unofficially official pre-season rankings. Before you ask, I had nothing to do with deciding who ends up where. Blame (or praise) belongs squarely on the shoulders of Robert Campana.

Division A

1. DA’s Finest: Essentially the same team that just won the Division 1 championship, with a few exceptions. No Nathan Taylor, no Moe Khan and Akked Moore will apparently be playing part-time. I also heard Marc Champagnie might be out, but he was there for Game 1. Regardless, that’s a lot of changes for a team that prides itself on keeping its core intact.

Week 1 roster: Akked Moore, Delien Charles, Donald Shepherd, Karim Binette, Kevin Wyeth, Kishon Thompson, Marc Champagnie, Matt Kirouac, Oliver Phillip, Renaldo Jordan, Rochgi Benabdelkader

2. Mercenaries: The usual representatives from the Empire with an interesting twist: Paul Lapierre will be playing QB and Carmine Pollice will be playing snapper. Old Skool teammates Shane Williams and Louis Larouche join the Mercs to give them even more weapons.

Week 1 roster: Adi Sharma, Carmine Pollice, Godfrey Abu, Jacques Void, Jonathan Lyristis, Karl De Nie, Louis Larouche, Paul Lapierre, Randy Samuel, Sean Leroy, Shane Williams, Shayne Stinson.

3. Rainmakers: Same team, renewed emphasis on defence as two former Rainmakers known for their defensive prowess return: Teddy Frenette and Addley Dufour.

Week 1 roster: Benjamin Léger, Charles-Antoine Sinotte, Dan Adler, Derek Kastner, Francis Toupin, Lee Kiley, Michael Samman, Michael Chitayat, Ryan Kastner, Teddy Frenette, Tim Kraemer, Viktor Amédé-Soltendieck.

4. Snookers: The S11 (Spring 2011) Division B champions make the move to DA. The story here isn’t so much who won’t be on the team (Michel-Ange Pierrecin, a reliable performer for this group through the years), it’s who will (Andre John, one of the most talented FPF players in the lower divisions).

Week 1 roster: Andre John, Armen Kavaldjian, Michael Young, Raffi Bastadjian, Raffi Kozanian, Serge Moumdjian, Sevag Kaloussian, Shane Paquette, Tony Tabet.

Division B

1. Triple Sixers: La grande nouvelle est l’absence de Patrick Jerome, qui a été le joueur de concession pour les Triple Sixers pendant les 7 dernières saisons. Ceci étant dit, l’ajout de Kevin Challenger, jumelé avec le retour de l’ancien Triple Sixer Alex Giroux, devrait comblait à cette perte un peu. À la défence, Nic Arsenault-Hum retrouve son ancien coéquipier de l’Express, Mathieu Thuot, et Francis Imbeault devient un joueur à temps plein. L’équipe à battre, selon notre expert (Robert Campana).

Week 1 roster: Alexandre Giroux, Corey Greenaway, Francis Imbeault, Jean-François Marcotte, Karim Chaoual, Mathieu Thuot, Nicolas Arsenault-Hum, Pascal Tshilambo, Raphael Fradette.

2. Darkside:

Gino Di Fazio’s team has some reliable names, but is surprisingly lacking in star-power, compared to past offerings. Still, there is a lot of talent here in names like Void, Haney and Ojeaha.

Week 1 roster: Gino Di Fazio, Jacques Void, Jonathan Lyristis, Laurent Foucault, Martin Hamel, Rick Cummins, Shawn Haney, Theo Ojeaha.

3. My Ditkas:

The QB carousel continues to turn for the former Trojans, as Nathan Thompson will attempt to do what Rick Nincheri and Carmine Pollice were unable to do in S11 and W12, respectively. They’ve also added James Floreani and Vince Nardone for more depth.

Week 1 roster: Adam Ciampini, Brian Eudoxie, Donald Shepherd, James Floreani, Mike Ciampini, Mitch Chiba, Nathan Thompson, Paul Denardis, Sean Avraam, Vince Nardone, Vinny Gualano

4. Big TDs:

This team was the talk of the off-season, as there were rumors that they would acquire Nathan Taylor, Anthony Thompson and Jason Prince. None of the 3 were present Week 1, although I have been told Prince will join the team soon enough. As for the two former Texas All-Stars, only time will tell. That being said, one concrete addition that should pay huge dividends is Paul Lapierre. When you have a QB that likes to scramble and improvise as much as Jamil Springer, a big target like Lapierre can make the difference between an INT and a TD.

Week 1 roster: Chris Cesari, David Cesari, Jamil Springer, Paul Lapierre, Rashawn Perry, Ryan Browne.

5. Blazers: The only question is which Blazers team we will see. Will it be the early W12 version that struggled out of the gate, or the stretch run W12 version that turned heads and nearly pulled off a big upset against the Mercenaries in the playoffs?

Week 1 roster: Daniele Gentile, Derek Daoust, Devin Daoust, Dilan Daoust, Jamal Garner, Leon Holder, Robert White, Sean Kennedy, Terry Tamvakologos.

6. Gladiateurs: À l’attaque, ils ramènent les mêmes joueurs qui ont contibué à la saison exceptionnelle de François Lebeau, une saison qui s’est conclue avec la nomination de ce dernier comme le quart-arrière par excellence de la division 2. Cependant, en défence, ils ramènent les mêmes joueurs qui ont alloué une moyenne atroce de 37.4 points par match. Avec même une petite amélioration sur ce côté du ballon, ils seront des vrais aspirants au championnat.

Week 1 roster: Alex Manseau, Alex Lever, Charles Baillargeon, François Lebeau, Matthew Bishara, Nicolas Guimier, Simon Rhéaume.

7. Maniax: This team is the biggest wild card in the bunch. Godfrey Abu and J.-R. Verger headline what is an imposing and athletic group. More notably, this season will see Tony Khoury and Rapha Beladjat returning from long-term suspensions. If they can avoid further disciplinary problems, this will be a tough team to beat.

Week 1 roster: Aalim Payne, Féguel Exumé, Godfrey Abu, Grégory Lavaud, Jean Gérard, Jean-Richard Verger, Rapha Beladjat, Scott Charles, Tony Khoury, William Abu, Wooby Fontaine, Woody Fontaine.

8. Messengers of Happiness:

This year’s award for most random collection of FPFers has to go to the Messengers of Happiness. I’m convinced the first time most of these guys met was Week 1. Of course, that didn’t stop them from going 2-0. Of note, the S12 season marks the return of WR Enrico Pierre, who won WR of the Year with the Machine back in W07.

Week 1 roster: Enrico Pierre, François Deslauriers, G.M. Kolethras, Jeff Brown, Kenton Lowe, Matt Kirouac, Nareg Yessayan, Nigel Thomas, Rochdi Benabdelfader.

9. Park Street Elite: Same team as the S11 version that made more noise off the field than on it. Anthony McComber (who many felt deserved to be named the S11 Two-Way Player of the Year) returns, as does QB Scott Kelly. For defensive depth, they’ve added S11 DD Playoff MVP Ben Joseph and rusher extraordinaire Ryan Aridi. Marvin Golding (who looks a lot like former standout Average Joe Martin Gregory) and Chris Smith played Week 1, but it’s unknown if they are full-time additions.

Week 1 roster: Alex Grace, Ben Joseph, Chris Smith, Jelani McLaren, Marvin Golding, Matthew Horobec, Patrick McLennan, Ryan Aridi, Scott Kelly.

Crossover games

We’ve received quite a few questions about the crossover games in Divisions A and B. I’ll do my best to explain how and why these were added this season.

The genesis of the idea comes from the situation in Division A. Nobody wanted to see two teams play each other 3 or 4 times in the regular season and then once more in the playoffs. So FPF decided to try something a bit…different. This season, for the first time, we will see interdivisional matchups between DA and DB. Basically, it breaks down to this:

1. Each DA team will play against the other 3 DA teams twice.

2. Each DA team will play 4 games against DB teams.

3. With the exception of the Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite, each DB team will play against the other 8 DB teams once.

4. With the exception of the Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite, each DB team will play 2 games against DA teams.

5. Because of the odd number of teams in DB, for the schedule to work, a compromise was made so that the two weakest teams (as per the pre-season rankings, the Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite) would have a slightly different schedule.

6. The Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite will play against the other 8 DB teams once.

7. The Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite will play against each other an additional time.

8. The Messengers of Happiness and the Park Street Elite will play 1 game against a DA team.

9. To avoid conflicts, the schedule was made so that no DA team can face a DB team with a player who is on both rosters.

10. If a midseason addition forces a situation where a player is on two teams that are scheduled to face each other, he must choose a side.

Hope that clears things up.

Sideline reporter

Now it’s time for a segment where I will blatantly rip off Alex Porras’s hard work on the FPF sidelines. As many of you know, Alex is going to be live-tweeting most of the DA/DB games this season. Because I know not everyone has twitter (or they do and are just too lazy to look it up), I will post a transcript of Porras’ tweets every week, along with some of my thoughts.

Messengers of Happiness 32, Maniax 20

– Maniax take the lead on a Rapha Beladjat 3 yd pass to Tony Khoury. 6-0 Maniax

– Messengers answer with a 1 yd TD pass from Rochdi Benandelkader to Nareg Yessayan. 6-6 tie

– After another INT by Nareg Yessayan (2), TD (4 yds) catch by Enrico Pierre. Messengers lead 13-6

– After the convert by Kenton Lowe making it 13-6, the Maniax score a 40 yd TD on a catch by Jean-Richard Verger. 13-12 Messengers lead

– Td catch by Yessayan (2). 19-12 Messengers. HALFTIME

– TD catch (2) + 2 point conv. by J-R Verger. 20-19 Maniax lead.

– TD (2) catch by Enrico Pierre, 25-20 Messengers.

– TD catch + convert by Kenton Lowe. Messengers lead 32-20

Thoughts:

I can’t be the only one happy to see Beladjat and Khoury’s names in the same sentence without the word suspension involved.
Enrico Pierre gets his first FPF TD reception since W07 (over 5 years!) and then scores again to put his team in the lead. He obviously hasn’t lost a step.
Nareg Yessayan had 2 TDs and 2 INTs by halftime; not bad for a guy who was ”just a jump-ball receiver”.

DA Finest 39, Mercenaries 36

– Jon Lyristis catches a Paul Lapierre pass for a TD. 6-0 Mercenaries

– Kishon Thompson answers by catching a short TD pass by Kevin Wyeth. 6-6 tie

– After an INT by Renaldo Jordan, TD catch (2) by Thompson. After a successful 2p conv. 14-6 Finest

– TD catch by Jacques Void, 14-12 Finest

– Nice TD catch by Don Shepherd. 20-12 Finest

– First play after HALFTIME. 40 yd bomb caught by Thompson (3) for a TD. 26-12 Finest lead.

– Void answers with a 25 yd TD grab (2). 26-18 Finest lead.

– TD catch by Benabdelkader. 32-18 Finest lead.

– TD catch by Carmine Pollice. 32-24 Finest

– Great INT by Shane Williams. He follows it up with a TD grab to make 32-30 Finest.

– Finest reply with a 40 yd bomb to Benabdelkader (2) + a 1p conv. They lead 39-30

– TD Void (3), Finest lead 39-36

– Finest win 39-36.

Thoughts:

Kishon Thompson had a huge game (4 rec., 69 yds, 3 TDs), which has to be an encouraging sign for the Finest. Possibly because roster changes allow him to see the field more often, Kishon has performed better on the offensive side of the ball in the last few Spring seasons. His best statistical season – by far – was in S11 (38 rec., 669 yds, 18 TDs).
After getting lost in the shuffle for a few seasons, Jacques Void seems to really have found his place amongst the Mercenaries/Empire core group of players.
Shane Williams is the most underrated signing of the offseason. The guy can do it all, and he does all the little things that you need to win a championship.
Carmine Pollice caught the first of what will be many TDs as a snapper this season. He has excelled at that position whenever he’s played there.

Snookers 26, Rainmakers 19

– TD Raffi Bastadjian on a pass by Tony Tabet, conv. by Sevag Kaloussian. 7-0 Snookers

– 40 yd TD catch from Ryan Kastner to @CASinotte . 7-6 Snookers lead over Rainmakers

– Rushing TD by QB Tony Tabet, 13-6 Snookers

– TD catch by Teddy Frenette. 13-12 Snookers lead

– Bastadjian answers with a 40 yd TD catch. 1p conv. by Kaloussian. 20-12 Snookers

– Long TD grab by Frenette (2) + 1p conv. catch by Victor Soltendieck. 20-19 Snookers

– Rushing TD by QB Tabet (2). 26-19 Snookers lead

– HALFTIME 26-19 Snookers lead.

– Still no TDs in the second half! It’s a defensive struggle. Still 26-19 Snookers

– 26-19 Snookers win

Thoughts:

Impressive win by the Snookers in their first game in the big leagues
Tony Tabet is an effective scrambler, but in no way should he get 2 rushing TDs in a game. The other teams in DA had better learn from this; you can’t play Tabet like you would other QBs, he’s a different breed altogether.
Teddy Frenette, added for his defensive prowess, is an excellent offensive threat as well, as his 2 TD grabs proved.
It’s surprising that the 2nd half produced no points, but I’ll chalk this up to Week 1 rustiness more than offensive weakness by either team. To quote Moe Khan, time will tell…

Big TDs 40, My Ditkas 27

– Ditkas open the game with a TD pass from Nathan Thompson to Don Shepherd, after conv. Ditkas lead 7-0

– After a turnover on downs, @Milli514 intercepts the ball and scores a TD. After conv., the game is tied 7-7

– TD catch by Ryan Browne, 13-6 Big TDs lead

– 13-7* Big TDs

– TD catch by Vince Nardone, 13-13 tie

– Rashawn Perry dislocates a finger… Big TDs will play with 5 players without him…

– After an INT by Nardone, 40 yd TD catch by Mike Ciampini + 1p conv. by Shepherd. 20-13 Ditkas lead.

– Perry is back…

– TD catch by Paul Lapierre. 20-19 Ditkas. HALFTIME

– TD catch by Dave Cesari (from @Milli514 like all the previous ones), 2p conv. from Ryan Browne to Rashawn Perry. 27-20 Big TDs

– TD catch by James Floreani + 1p conv. by M. Ciampini. 27-27 tie

– TD catch D. Cesari. 33-27 Big TDs lead

– TD catch by Chris Cesari. After conv. 40-27 Big TDs

– 40-27 Final. Big TDs win!

Thoughts:

The Big TDs may have only had 6 players, but those 6 players were good enough to beat a strong opponent in My Ditkas.
That being said, the BTDs need to address their depth problems ASAP. If Rashawn Perry had been more hurt (or more unable to play through pain), they would have had to play the rest of the game with only 5 players. No matter how athletic you are, that’s a recipe for disaster.
While the offseason acquisitions of Nardone and Floreani paid immediate dividends for My Ditkas, their usual big name guys were strangely silent.

Darkside 26, Triple Sixers 13

– After a 666ers turnover on downs, TD pass from Gino Di Fazio to Laurent Foucault, conv. by Shawn Haney. 7-0 Darkside

– INT Jacques Void, Darkside have the ball again.

– TD catch Jon Lyristis, conv. Foucault. 14-0 Darkside

– TD pass from Karim Chaoual to Pascal Tshilambo, 14-6 Darkside

– INT Nick Arsenault-Hum, 666ers have the ball.

– HALFTIME: 14-6 Darkside

– TD catch Theo Ojeaha, 20-6 Darkside

– After a turnover on downs by 666ers, TD catch by Rick Cummins. Convert intercepted and brought back for 1 by Mathieu Thuot. 26-7 Darkside

– TD catch Thuot, 26-13 Darkside

– Darkside 26 – 666ers 13 FINAL

Thoughts:

Ça serait facile à blamer l’impuissance de l’attaque des Triple Sixers sur la perte de Patrick Jerome et l’absence de Kevin Challenger, 2 des cibles préférés à Karim Chaoual. Sans avoir vu le match, je ne ferai pas de commentaires sur cette opinion (partagée par plusieurs observateurs), mais disons que c’est normal que l’attaque des TS ait besoin de quelques semaines pour s’ajuster à la perte de leur joueur étoile.
On the other hand, some credit also has to go to the Darkside defence, which has several players who know how to handle themselves on that side of the ball. The TS offence has talent accross the board, and the DS defence was able to force 3 turnovers (2 on downs and 1 INT). They might be the key to DS’ ability to compete this season.

Messengers of Happiness 32, Park Street Elite 31

– Full field TD pass from Scott Kelly to Chris Smith, 6-0 PSE

– INT Enrico Pierre, MoH have the ball

– Pick 6 @Pat_McLennan (!!) + Jelani McLaren conv. 13-0 PSE

– TD Nareg Yessayan, after conv. 13-7 PSE

– TD Chris Smith (2), 19-7 PSE

– TD catch Pierre, 19-13 PSE

– TD catch McLaren, 25-13 PSE

– PSE 25 – MoH 13 HALFTIME

– TD Pierre (2), 25-19 PSE

– INT Yessayan, MoH get the ball back.

– TD catch Matt Kirouac, 25-25 tie.

– TD catch Alex Grace, 31-25 PSE

– TD grab Kenton Lowe, conv. Yessayan. 32-31 MoH lead

– MoH 32 – PSE 31 FINAL

Thoughts:

Nareg Yessayan has been incredible so far. Some of that is his obvious ability (specifically on offence), but a lot of it probably has to do with the defensive gameplans of Rochdi Benaddelkader. He knows how to put players into positions that they can succeed in, and I’m sure Nareg won’t be the last to benefit from his tutelage.
Kenton Lowe scored the insurance TD in his team’s first game, and the game-winner in the second one. With the game on the line, he’s been the go-to guy for a QB he hasn’t had much experience with in the past. That tells you something.
The Park Street Elite had a bit of a reputation as a big-play machine last spring, and not much seems to have changed. What a start for them (40 yd TD bomb and a pick six to take a 13 point lead). If they can maintain that pace, they’ll run teams ragged.
Overall, a promising game for a team the FPF pundits ranked dead last.
Who needs Chris Smith? (Just kidding, the Park Street Elite do; he’s an amazing athlete).

Gladiateurs 26, Blazers 24

– INT Dilan Daoust, Blazers take the ball away from Gladiateurs

– TD Pass from Leon Holder to Derek Daoust, 6-0 Blazers

– TD pass from Frank Lebeau to Matt Bishara, conv. by Alex Lever, 7-6 Gladiateurs

– TD catch Sean Kennedy, 12-7 Blazers

– Full field TD catch Charles Baillargeon, 13-12 Gladiateurs

– Turnover on downs followed by a TD catch by Baillargeon (2), conv. by Lever. 20-12 Gladiateurs

– TD catch by Danny Gentile, 20-18 Gladiateurs

– Gladiateurs 20 – Blazers 18 HALFTIME

– INT Frank Lebeau, Gladiateurs have the ball

– TD catch Derek Daoust (2), 24-20 Blazers

– TD catch Lever, 26-24 Gladiateurs

– INT Danny Gentile, Blazers have the ball

– 26-24 Marauders WIN

Thoughts:

Frank Lebeau s’est fait intercepté à 3 reprises, soit 2 de moins que son total pour la saison W12. Un départ étonnant pour le quart-arrière par excellence de la Division 2.
Les Gladiateurs ayant gagné par une marge de 2 points, la différence s’est avéré à être les convertis. Lebeau a retrouvé Lever 2 fois pour des convertis de 1 point, et ce fut la différence entre une victoire et un match nul. Sans avoir de statistiques pour m’appuyer (puisque FPF ne les tient pas pour les convertis), je pense que Lever est un des meilleurs joueurs dans ce domaine. Gageons que les prochains équipes qui affronteront les Gladiateurs garderont un oeil sur ce dernier dans la zone rouge.
A better start for the Blazers than W12, when they lost to the Triple Sixers by 34 points, but a loss is a loss nonetheless.
The Blazers wasted some golden opportunities in this game, as 3 INTs should translate into more points than what they managed. In a very competitive DB, it will be important for them to take advantage of every chance they get. They can’t afford to wait 4 weeks for their offence to get in sync.
I could have removed Alex Porras’s last tweet that incorrectly identified the Marauders as the winners of a game between the Blazers and the Gladiateurs, but I’m kind of a prick like that.

And that’s it for this week.

In next week’s installment of the WEP:

– Spotlight on the first interdivisional matchups in FPF history

– An in-depth look at the factors that led to Division A only having 4 teams

– The debut of a recurring segment called “Catching up with…”, in which I’ll take a detailed look at 2 teams each week, hopefully going past the usual lazy analysis we’ve all become too accustomed to hearing.

– Sideline reporter for Week 2.

Special thanks to:

Robert Campana, for all the info on the teams.
Alex Porras, for letting me use your hard work for my gain.
DA and DB players, for giving me a chance before saying you preferred Don (I’m assuming you will; if not, tough, you’re stuck with me).
Rochdi Benabdelkader, for having a name that’s so much fun to mistype.
aaaaaand last but not least, the Daron Basmadjian Fan Club, for your impeccable taste in team names.

Think I’m wrong? Think I suck? Think I’m great? Think anything? Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know how you feel. Whether it be interesting topics for the column, game facts I may have missed in my coverage or just some good old-fashioned hate mail, I welcome any and all comments.

Good luck in Week 2…