Okay, let me start by saying it was nice to be back at Le Ber, at least for this week. Le Ber is great because we have the field lines and it makes it easier for everyone to judge the yardage and where you are on the field, but after being there this week the field isn’t that even with holes and bumps all over place. Yes, there was grass there at the beginning of the day, but as you played on it more you started to notice the big chunks of grass flying as players were making their cuts. Since we are trying to keep Le Ber in good shape for the playoffs the league has decided to move back to Arthur Therrien for at least the next two weeks.
I know everyone is thinking about how bad the parking is, but I have mentioned numerous times if you can’t find parking go and park behind the school by the baseball field.
Okay, so now I just want to point out a couple of little things. For a TD to be scored only one flag on a player’s hips needs to break the goal line (ed’s note: actually, any part of the players belt must contact the plane of the endzone, but basically correct) and the ball doesn’t have to be in the endzone.
Another thing that players and officials should know is that a push out is left up to the ref’s discretion if the player would have come down with the ball inbounds or not.
That is all I have for this week and now will get to my recaps from this past weekend.
Week 7 Recap
Division 1
Gros Coqs vs Outlaws (42-49)
This game was all about the offense and had next to no defense being played and looked like it was going to be decided by converts. By now teams should have figured it out that in order to beat Steve and any team he is throwing on you need to go for 2-point converts when you score because he is going to, and he gets them quite often using a halfback as a second passer. At half, the score was 28-27 Outlaws, the only stop was when Gros Coqs were got the ball after an Outlaws TD with 13 seconds left. The start of the second half had Outlaws beginning with the ball and if Steve could get a score and a 2-point convert it would give them a 2-score lead and an almost guaranteed victory. Instead, Steve wanted to keep it interesting and threw a pick to Alexandre to start the half. With the short field and the way they moved the ball in the first half, it was just a matter of time before they found the endzone. Except Marvin had other plans and on fourth down he was able to get a hand on the ball and knock it away from the receiver and force the turnover. That was the chance Gros Coqs needed to take control of the game. Rest of the game went back and forth with teams exchanging TDs. With a minute and a half-left Gros Coqs were down 7, they had all their timeouts and didn’t need to panic, at least not for time. They were able to move it all the way down to the 10-yard line of the Outlaws before running out of time. One thing that I would like to happen, but never will, is implementing what the NCAA does in the final 2 minutes of a half where time is stopped on first downs to allow the bags to get set up. This would have allowed Dom more time to think about what plays he wanted to call instead of running up with the bags to get an extra play or two.
Division 2
Tannantes vs Red Raiders (14-24)
This game was hard to watch as there were a bunch of things wrong with it. Let me start by saying Mike didn’t look good, but it wasn’t completely his fault. He had guys running wrong routes, not making the correct adjustments, and just flat-out dropping balls on him. Defensively Red Raiders also couldn’t catch a few picks that hit them in the hands as well. Tannantes just had a hard day all together. Vincent was off all game long either throwing it too far and out of his receiver’s reach or being inaccurate and not giving his receiver’s a chance at the ball. With 2:40 left in the game Red Raiders scored and looked to seal the game with a 2-point convert, but it was picked off by Simon and returned for 2-points, making it a one-point game. After a few incomplete passes and a penalty, it was down to the last play of the game and Tannantes went with a throw back to another player to allow more time for the receivers to get down field and Devin came up on the play and got the sack and a safety to end the game.
Spritz Gang vs Marvels (26-33)
For the roster Max has with Marvels they should be blowing teams out and not having many issues with teams that they should be better than. All of Mario’s teams are the same, they play tough defense and hope to be able to score points. This week JS looked good and his players caught everything that hit them in the hands. Spritz Gang scored with 5:35 left in the game to make it a 7-point game and all they needed was the defense to force a stop to give them a chance to get their first win of the season. Max drove the field and ate the clock and ended the game with the ball.
Division 3
Invictus G vs Idaho Udapimps (15-21)
This was a tale of two halves. In the first half Idaho was in complete control and had no issues moving the ball. Brady’s numbers look good, but he needed to do more than feeding the ball to Kyle and Jason. In the first half Brady was able to get Jason the ball who scored 3 times and made it look easy, especially with a 1-yard TD followed by a 2-yard TD. His first one he actually had to get by the defender and catch the ball in his stretched-out arms before running it into the endzone. In the second half Jason was gone and this made Brady go back to good old faithful Kyle the rest of the game. Invictus ended up making a few adjustments at half and were able to force a few punts to get themselves back into the game. For me the difference was Brady having a boat load more experience than Karl that made the difference in the end. Invictus is a very solid team that with a more experienced QB will light teams up.
Division 4
Phoenix vs Revenants (26-12)
This was a matchup that according to Marvin I wanted no part of last season. This was all in his head, and he had to think that way since we all know he would have gotten an ass whooping then. We waited a season for this one to happen and with a few lucky bounces it was closer than it should have been. Marvin won the coin flip and elected for us to start with the ball, wrong move right off the bat. I was able to put together a long-time consuming drive that was capped off by me running it in from 13 yards out, where was the run defense I guess they couldn’t see me with that 12 second 40 time. When Marvin got the ball, he was only able to get 4 yards before turning it over on downs. We were put into a first and goal and it looked like this one was going to be over quickly, but instead of playing smart I tried a few different things with none of them working and us giving the ball right back on downs. Then Marvin had his nicest throw of the game a 37-yard TD to David and now we had a game. I turned the ball over on a pick that was off the receiver’s hands and could have been caught. Marvin did nothing with the ball again before losing it on downs. This is where I settled down and started to find the weak spots and took advantage of them. The drive was ended with another rushing TD this time it was 9 yards. With time running down Marvin threw his first pick of the game to Rob leaving 1 play before half. With the score 13-6 at half and Revenants starting with the ball it was close and on the first play of the second half Khalil forced Marvin to the sideline and Marvin threw it and it was picked off by Rob once again except this time Rob made 2 or 3 players miss as he ran it in for a TD. We go back and forth for a few possessions before Marvin hits Diane for a 16-yard score right after Rob told him that she was open. Phoenix scored a few plays later and that was it for the game. Better luck next time Marvin.
Division 5
TD Hunters vs Fighting Armadillos (25-38)
With 7 players coming from the Pocket Rockets who are currently first in D4, the choice of the winner was obvious to make, but nobody expected that match to be so close especially with the absence of Michael Halevy. Fighting Armadillos won by two touchdowns, but you had to be there to realize they had to work hard to earn the win. Having trouble stopping Goldrick when he runs, Pierre-Olivier (most passing touchdowns in D4) and Philip (3rd in receiving yards in D4) had to join forces to defeat the TD Hunters. However, it should be noted that TD Hunters had their chances, because without that drop pass in the endzone, it could have been 25-7 with 7 minutes left in the half. But the game is about what you accomplish on the field and Fighting Armadillos have accomplished more. It all started with 41 yards from Goldrick on two carries for the touchdown. After stopping the opposing attack, the TD Hunters scored a touchdown in addition to adding a pick 6 on the next play. It was 19-0. This is where the P-O/Philip show began. Add in the fact that the Fighting Armadillos defense did a good job of limiting passing options and everything was in place for a superb comeback. At that point, Goldrick should have play it simple and wasted more time, but he instead threw an interception with 10 seconds left to give the Fighting Armadillos a lead before the half. In the second half, both teams wanted the win, but on one side the TD Hunters seemed to panic and couldn't cross half the field anymore. On the other side, the Fighting Armadillos who knows each other’s very well continued to take risks that paid off. With that said, we can't ask a free agent’s team like TD Hunters to be perfect, so congrats on your performance.
There you have it, this week’s recaps. Hope you enjoyed and if you want more stay tuned for Terry and Wille on MFL total Access on Wednesday.
Player of the Week
Last week we had a first, are we going to get another one this week? I can spoil it all for you now as we did have another first and it might shock you as to what that first is, so keep scrolling down and you will see.
Division 1
Offense- Gabriel Archambault was 26 of 34 for 279 yards, 6 TDs, 2 1point converts and 1 2point convert.
Defense- Dilan Daoust made 2 tackles and had 2 picks.
Division 2
Offense- Will Power went 22 of 27 for 277 yards, 7 TDs and 2 2point converts.
Defense- Kevin Marcil-Cardinal made 2 tackles, had 2 picks and ran 1 back for a TD.
Division 3
Offense- Jason Edwards caught 5 passes for 55 yards and 3 TDs.
Defense- NA. After looking over all the stats I couldn’t find a single player that really stood out on defense that earned this week’s award. 1 pick or a single sack just won’t cut it, I need to see more than that.
Division 4
Offense- Benoit Maynard or as Willie calls him Baby Maynard hauled in 9 passes for 116 yards and 1 TD.
Defense- Sydney-Taylor Jordan made 6 tackles, had 1 sack and picked off 1 pass.
Division 5
Offense- Sebastien Lucas Alzate only caught 5 passes for 136 yards and 3 TDs.
Defense- Zack Goldig made 1 tackle and added 4 more picks to his league leading total of 17 on the year. Zack also returned one of them for a TD, oh he also had a pick 2 as well.
What I have come to realize is in the higher divisions different players are winning each week and, yes, we have had a few players win multiple times, but in the lower divisions it just seems like I keep getting the same few names to pick from and I want to mix it up and get a bigger selection of players into the pool, but those players keep balling out and I cant penalize them for being studs.
Congratulations to all of this week’s winners and for those who haven’t made my list, you still have 4 more weeks to make it, so ball out and next week and it might be your turn to make my list.
