Week 1 is now in the books and the field will be trashed the rest of the year, especially the baseball field (ed’s note: luckily we’re not playing on it too much this year!).

One thing I did learn on Saturday is that 5:30 am really does exist once you’re old and no longer going club hopping on Friday night, if that is even a thing anymore.

This week we avoided the rain on Saturday, but not all week long leading up to the weekend. On Sunday I went to check out another field that looks nice, but there are going to be a few rules that we will need to follow. For starters we will need to pick up after ourselves, so no garbage is left behind. Then we have the 2 rules that are going to be the most difficult for come players to follow: no smoking of any kind and we can’t be screaming and being loud. There are still so many weeks to go, and we are still figuring out which fields to use which weeks. We are lucky enough to have access to Le Ber since most public parks don’t open for another 2 weeks. Even with the fields not being great, we only had a few minor injuries, a few stitches required, but that was it. No one blew out a knee or broke any bones, so all and all it was a good week.

 

Recap

 

Division 1

 

Busch Boys vs Outlaws (38-40)

This game looked like it could be over by half with Outlaws running away with it 34-14 except Simon was able to take the 2 plus minute he had left and slowly drive the length to score and make it 34-20 with Outlaws starting with the ball in the second half. Everyone always loves seeing the rusher get a pick 6 and Manu got one to start the second half. Outlaws got inside the redzone, and Steve avoided Manu and threw the ball and one of the short defenders hit the ball and it popped up in the air where Manu was able to track the location and once he had the ball, no way Steve was going to catch him. The rest of the second half both teams traded TDs and turnovers. With under 3 minutes left, Simon threw his fifth TD of the game and third to Manu to make it a 2-point game. On the 2-point convert attempt the defense tightened up and knocked the ball away. Now with little time left all Steve needed to do was gain a few first downs and it was over.

 

A-Team vs Master Chiefs (43-42) OT

This was a game everyone wanted to see, and no one should want to ref, and I can tell you it did not disappoint. With all this fire power on both sides of the ball, the player that was most surprising in this game was Mike with his 8 catches for 48 yards and 1 TD. Ya, most of his catches were simple, but he did make 2 really nice tough catches, one low and the other in traffic. A-Team had issues trying to stop both Ashton and Jeremy who combined for 18 catches, 189 yards, and 5 TDs. The one piece that Master Chiefs look like they are missing is a rusher. Dave did a wonderful job of spreading the ball and finding the open man. Andrew was his top target this week getting 5 catches for 87 yards and 2 TDs. I really would have thought that Dilan would have been more involved offensively, but only had 1 catch for 8 yards. On defense Hinsley got 3 sacks and you could tell that those sacks were coverage sacks as Vinny didn’t want to let it rip.  Master Chiefs were able to move down the field and on the last play Vinny connected with Ashton for his fourth TD of the game. Convert was no good, so we went to OT where A-Team won the toss and elected to play defense. Master Chiefs would get first crack in OT, and another shot at finally getting a convert. This attempt was no good and gave A-Team a chance to win it. With the game on the line Dave looked one way looked back the other to find Dilan for the win.

 

Division 2

 

Pocket Rockets vs KOLB (40-12)

This was not KOLB’s game. Jon was not his normal self, throwing 4 picks and 2 TDs both to Max on deep routes from the center position. On the Pocket Rockets side, Khalil killed it at rush with 4 sacks and constant pressure leading to 4 picks, 2 by Ali and 1 each for Leo and Alexis. Alexis killed it on offense scoring 3 TDs on 8 catches for 62 yards. I can’t wait to see this rematch in a few weeks because I expect to see a much closer game.

 

Division 3

 

TDs and Beers vs RawSauce (25-16)

Right from throw number 1 you could tell Ludovic was not himself. He had no arm strength and his accuracy was off. He was missing guys who were wide open and yet somehow this was still a close game. Ali should change his name to pick magnet as he had another 2 picks in this game, and I say that because he had 2 in his D2 game as well. There were no bright spots for RawSauce, you have a 45-yard TD from Thomas and Gabriel made a play or two on defense, but the game was controlled by TDs and Beers. Alexis Controlled the tempo of the game ran when he needed to and even allowed PO to throw a pass that was a TD. With 2 minutes left Alexis threw his third TD of the game, this time to Jamie from 4 yards out to give them an 8-point lead. On the convert Alexis went right back to Jamie to give them a 9-point lead. With under 1 minute Ali closed it off with his second pick of the game.

 

Iron Wolves vs Tigers (0-25) Forfeit

First forfeit of the year and its because of a stupid play. Iron Wolves are going to struggle most of the year as they still have some learning to go through and figuring out their defense. Iron Wolves offense looked good, and I did learn a few things from them and how you want to attack Tigers. The starting QB for Tigers, Hector, struggled throwing 3 picks in the game, but when they switched over to Nestor is when they started to roll. Nestor was making players miss all over the place as he ran for 106 yards on 6 carries and scoring 1 TD as well as throwing for 119 yards and 3 TDs. Tigers are fast and very illusive, so you need to converge on them and not allow them space with the ball. Kris Hope killed it scoring 4 TDs on the same route. Carlos was the only player chasing guys down for Iron Wolves and if not for his hustle the score might have been a bit different, and Tigers might not have needed the forfeit to secure the win.

 

Division 4

 

Mustard Tigers vs Action Squad (33-20)

One would have expected Action Squad to lose convincingly to a team as good as Mustard Tigers, but instead we got an interesting match to watch. In the first half Brian was brilliant, only missing two passes total. Action Squad managed to hold on, but they were unlucky with two interceptions, one where Justin fell down while running his route and another where the ball bounced off of Sandrine. It was still 19-13 with less than a minute left in the first half, but that was enough time for the Mustard Tigers to score a touchdown before halftime. In the second half, the Action Squad defense stepped up getting the stop twice, but the offense couldn't get the job done, only scoring one touchdown. Add the fact that Mustard Tigers had possession for almost 18 of the 22 minutes of the half and you have a splendid example of how you win a football game by using your experience.

 

Phoenix vs Sour Peeps (6-24)

I’m just going to say this right off the bat, I sucked watermelon popsicles all game long. I missed short throws, deep throws, and when I went to the middle, Lambert and the rest of the defense was all over it. The only point Phoenix scored was on the last play of the half that got extended by 1 play because of roughing the passer. Kenny scored from 15 yards out off other player’s hands. Jocelyne didn’t play great because he kept trying to go deep against Vince who picked him off 3 times. When avoiding Vince, Jocelyne was able to use the short field to his advantage and scored 3 TDs. Oliver had a great game racking up 4 sacks and only giving up minimal yards on runs.

 

Division 5

 

I didn’t have any games in D5 this week but hope to get to it in the next few weeks.

 

Women

 

Just like D5 I didn’t have any in the Women’s division this week, but will in the next few weeks.

 

Studs & Duds

 

Yes, its that time of the week again where I pick my top players from each division, along with one player who disappointed. So that we are all clear on who is eligible for each nomination. In order to be The Stud of the week you can only win for the highest division you play in unless you play a different position. As for Dud of the week, just because you play in a higher division doesn’t mean you can’t get Dud for a lower division. Now for my winners and losers for week 1.

 

Stud

 

Division 1

- Manuel Allard-Roy Scored 3 TDs, had 2 sacks and a pick 6.

 

Division 2

-  Khalil Agrébi 4 sacks and was the reason their defense was so good in this game.

 

Division 3

- Nestor Chávez II 119 yards passing and 3 TDs, 106 yards running and 1 TD along with 1 tackle on defense.

 

Division 4

- Nikhil Sharma 1 catch 1 TD 25 yards on offense and made 4 tackles and 3 picks on defense.

 

Division 5

- Marcel Jovani 3 TDs and 3 Picks.

 

Women

- Élisabeth Pelland 4 picks on defense plus 2 catches for 19 yards 1 TD and 1 1-point convert.

 

Duds

 

Division 1

- Benjamin Faubert 1 catch 14 yards significant difference playing D1 than D5.

 

Division 2

- Jonathan Plourde threw 4 picks.

 

Division 3

- Kris Hope for throwing that pass late in the game resulting in the game being a forfeit when it was supposed to get thrown back to Jon.

 

Division 4

- Jon for letting his Hawks team keep scoring when the game was well in hand and then voting his QB POW. (ed’s note: I was barely involved in this game, am not the captain of the team, and did not pick the Player of the Week. Though reading this, Kevin may think I’ve had my QB taken as a prisoner of war. I’m never really sure with Kevin)

 

Division 5

- Captain for Soonies for both being in a roster violation and breaking cap, in my opinion.

 

Women

- Marie-Philippe Cardinal. 4 picks thrown, but other than those picks MP didn’t play poorly.

 

There you have your Studs & Duds for week 1. I know you all might figure your name should be up here, but I get to pick, so this is who I have as my picks. Its only week 1, so you still have plenty of time if you expect to see your name up here, you’ll just have to pick up your game.