Hello and welcome back. This past weekend we opened up the spring 2019 season. It was nice to see everyone back, having fun and enjoying the weather, except for 1 game which had some rain. This week I had the pleasure of participating in some way with three Division 1 games and let me say that if the season is like this all year we will have to wait until week 10 to see what playoff matchups are going to be. To start the season we had inter-conference play and the west dominated.

 

Game Recaps

 

Trollers vs Gros Coqs

All I’m saying about this game is that Gros Coqs showed up with 3 or 4 players and the rest subs. Trollers walked away with the win by 15 but to me that meant nothing. Trollers will need to get better in order to make the playoffs and Gros Coqs will be a way better team once their full roster is there.

 

Henchman Formerly Team Evans vs Revolucion

This game was a lot closer than I expected it to be. From the teams rosters and with the assumption that Raph was going to be throwing I felt that Henchmen were going to walk all over Revolucion. Boy was I surprised. Raph had a great game throwing and keeping his team close all game. Great job Raph. See I don’t just talk trash about you I also let you know when you play well. There were a few plays that some were game changing in this one. On Revolucions second drive it was extended due to a penalty that took away a pick and allowed them to score a few plays later. You can’t be yelling at QB while you are rushing and the ball is still in his hands, if you want to yell “ball” once it is thrown go for it, I know I do when I rush. On Henchmen’s last 2 drives Jon did what Jon does and choked with a chance to take the lead throwing 2 picks and 1 of them was in the red zone on third down. This was a game that could have been different if it hadn’t been week 1. Henchmen will get better the more they play together and Revolucion should get better as the weeks go by. I hope Raph’s arm hold up all season cause he looked like the Raph from a few years ago and not the one from Division 2 last fall. Good game both teams.

 

Outlaws vs KOLB 

I had very little expectations for this game going in. I figured that Outlaws were going to walk all over them like they did last time they played in the finals a few seasons ago. That was until the start of the game and the weather rolled in with the rain. Knowing Steve and how he has played in the rain before I totally flipped figuring KOLB had a good chance to win and might get some sort of revenge for that humiliating finals loss. Outlaws did not look like they have before. They weren’t running crisp routes, they were dropping balls, and balls were getting over and under thrown. I was kind of embarrassed for these guys the way they looked. Im not taking away from KOLB dominating the first half of the game as everything went right for them that could in the first half. Second half rolls around and the clouds disappeared, stopping the rain, and everything flipped in the game. Outlaws were able to play the way they have in the past and crawl their way back in from a 20-6 deficit. What ended up as a huge play was a safety by Remi where all he had to do was touch Jonathan since his flag fell while dropping back. Got to check those flags regularly so they are in tight. I can’t remember if it was on Outlaws second to last or their last score if KOLB hit it up in the air and allowed Outlaws to come down with it to tie up the game. I wonder how Smuda feels now that he got called for illegal touching on what would have tied the game with a little over a minute left. Yes they scored on fourth down and what was the last play of the game to tie it but that would have given time to KOLB to try and score. This one went to overtime, who saw that coming? KOLB scored on their first attempt putting pressure on Outlaws who answered with ease. Outlaws scored on their second possession and now out of something Jon has done in the past went for two and a chance to win the game. KOLB went with a throwback pass then QB ran a swing pass where he caught the ball but slipped and ended up short. That was the game 28-27 in what ended up as the best game that I saw from division 1. 

 

GOTW (Game of the Week)

Trollers vs Revolucion 

I want to start by saying I hate covering my own team, but these two teams have had a few good battles in the past and it looks like this could end up be a great game. Revolucion has improved dramatically from last season and should get better with time. The other game I was going to go with was Gros Coqs vs KOLB, but not sure who is going to show up so I went with this game. 

QB- Here we have Max and Raph going head to head. I think the truth of the matter comes down to how Raph plays if he plays like last week then he can compete with anyone in the division. I’m just not sure he can keep that up all season. I still think that Max need to improve on his reads a little more, but he did a great job of spreading the ball around last week. I have to give the advantage to Trollers that is until I see more than 1 game from Raph. 

WR- I personally think that Justin might be the best receiver on the field when these two teams meet this week. Except it isn’t about which team has the best receiver, it’s about which team has the best group of guys and after Justin, Gabe, and you can throw Fred in there as well, there isn’t anyone that will scare you. They will catch the ball, but not make plays afterward. For the Trollers you have Ben, JC, Andre when he comes and Josh who can all hurt you, and I also forgot about Dave who is underrated and often over looked. (ed’s note: Mike?) I just can’t see many teams being able to slow them down and because of that I have to give the advantage to the Trollers.

Defense- This was the easiest of the 3 categories to give the advantage to. After the way the Trollers played against an undermanned Gros Coqs team. They did manage to get 4 picks, but no sacks and still gave up 37 points. That isn’t going to cut it. The Trollers normally have a good defense, but it doesn’t look like it this season. For Revolucion They pulled off 2 picks with at least 1 more that was clearly dropped along with 2 sacks. Getting pressure will be the key this week and I think Revolucion has a clear advantage in that area. Eric has started the season off strong and should only get stronger as the season goes by. The advantage goes to Revolucion.

Overall I think that Trollers will be able to win this one, but it should be a close game. I did forget to mention that this will be the first time JC is playing his former team and they might want to show him and the rest of the league not to think of them as a gimme game. 

 

Predictions

The first few weeks are always the hardest to predict since I don’t know all the teams that well yet. As the season goes on I get a better feel for who is who and what teams are capable of. Last week I went 2 for 3. Not suck a bad start to the season. This week here are the matchups remember bold is winners.

Outlaws vs Bitter Boys

4Simbas vs Henchmen

KOLB vs Gros Coqs

Revolucion vs Trollers NA

 

Power Ranking

Last week I ranked teams 1-8. I have decided to cut it to the top 3 from here on out. Last week was based off rosters and this week it is based off performance. 

#1) Trollers 

#2) Revolucion

#3) Outlaws 

I know I’m going to hear about this all day on Saturday but guess what if you don’t win you shouldn’t be in the top 3. Yes KOLB could have made it in with the tight loss but they got edged out by the team that beat them in OT. Henchmen choked it away and Bitter Boys played a team that I have no info on. So play hard next week and win and this list will be changing again.

 

Final Thoughts

I hope everyone enjoyed week 1. It looks like the completion level has jumped way up from last fall and this should make for a very fun and intense season. Everyone who is bringing bottles and garbage to the field with them needs to take it with them when they leave. Last week a big bag of garbage was left behind and it’s not cool. We get the field time from the ACES which is for kids and they shouldn’t have to pick up after us grownups. I don’t want to repeat this every week and after week 3 I will be talking to the commissioner about fining every team that played on that field or better yet have wins turned into losses. Get your acts together and stop leaving your garbage all over. Play safe have fun and see you all Saturday.