Winter Season Starts January 5th!

Winter Season Starts January 5th!

Jon Evans

The winter season starts on January 5th, the first Saturday of the new year!

 

We're going to have one division of 8 teams competing this winter and it looks like it should be pretty balanced and that should make every game a tight contest, which makes for a great season!

 

The season will be 10 games long and the top 4 teams make the playoffs which will have all games played on March 16th.

 

Winter games have one hour exactly of field time reserved, so the the games are 22 minute running halves with 5 untimed plays at the end. Each team has one timeout per half, but please be aware that timeouts DO NOT stop the game clock and they simply set the playclock to 25 seconds and running. So, timeouts are really just to give a team a little extra time to avoid a delay of game or organize their defense once per half.

 

We're also changing our overtime system due to the time restraints of the dome. The home team will get to choose to begin overtime on offense or defense though teams will still flip order every round as before; however, the team going first in each round must go for a one point convert and the second team must attempt a two point convert on their attempt if the first team scores on their attempt. This guarantees an end to the game if a team scores on the first possession of a round.

 

Once the winter season is over, we'll be having pick up games in April in preparation for the start of the spring season in May.

 

We're once again going to be offering discounts for people bringing in new players this summer (including a lifetime of free football for one player!), so start recruiting early for that!

Word From The Mouth: Last Words!

Word From The Mouth: Last Words!

Kevin Kousaie

Here it is my final article of the year. It was a wonderful season with a lot of surprises. We got a new champion after 2 seasons of the Trollers winning it, it was about time someone knocked them off. This season we didn’t have any undefeated teams or winless teams, even though it looked like that might happen for a while.

 

Final: Outlaws vs Gros Coqs

 

This was the best finals in a very long time. The weather was pretty crappy but it wasn’t raining or snowing, we just had a lot of wind. I will say that there were a few plays affected by the weather that did affect the outcome of the game, along with a few bonehead plays that should never have happened. 

 

This was not the same Outlaws team that played all season long. They struggled to move the ball on offense and on defense weren’t really able to stop Dom from doing whatever he wanted when he wanted to. When was the last time Steve threw less than 100 yards in a game? You can’t do that and expect to win. They were only in the game because of Vince and the amazing job he did on defense with 9 tackles and a pick 6. Offensively no one stepped up. Smuda had 48 yards and no one else had over 20. To be a championship team everyone needs to step up their game and do more than what is expected of them. 

 

For Les Gros Coqs Bresse was the man getting 8 passes for 91 yards, though he wasn’t able to get to the end zone. On defense Tommy really stepped up his game and was the dominant rusher he was all of last season. The guy ended up with 4 sacks and was very lucky that 2 roughing the passer penalties didn’t cost his team points. The first half was back and forth with no one being able to do anything for most of it. I do want to know what Antoine was thinking when he picked Dom off in the end zone on fourth down when the ball was on the other side of half. This is why you need to be aware of the situation at all times it was a 25 yard swing in field position, someone should have been letting players know what down it was and to knock the ball down. I know everyone wants stats, but isn’t a title better than personal success or stats? 

 

The Outlaws were able to mount a drive with 3 minutes left to get on the board and break the 0-0 tie to make it 7-0 with 28 seconds remaining in the first half. I knew that Dom was going to try to get something going now, knowing that in the second half he was going to be throwing into the wind. On first down he hit Bresse for 37 yards on what had to be the biggest play of the half. How do you allow this on defense? You know they have very little time, so make them grind it out to score. No big plays should ever happen in that situation. Four plays later Dom hits Vince on a 1 yard score to make it 7-6 at half for the Outlaws. 28 seconds, 45 yards, and a score to end the half. What a fail by the defense, next time force them short and come up and make the tackles. 

 

The second half was pretty much like the first up until the mid-point then there was some offense. Dom does his best impression of Steve throwing a pick 6 (from the last time these two met in the finals), though he didn’t do it a second time. Recovering quickly, he was able to march his team down to get the score and even managed to get the 2 point convert to make it 14 all. At that point all of us on the sideline could feel that the game was going to go to the Gros Coqs, but there was still time for it to go either way. 

 

After the score Outlaws were forced into a quick 3 and out to give the ball and all the momentum to the Gros Coqs. 6:30 left in the game is a ton of time for both teams to get one more crack at scoring you’d think. The way Dom has called plays all season with the big plays and not using a lot of clock was what I was expecting to see, but going into the wind he changed his strategy and went short and worked the field and ate up the clock. He looked like Jon from his Iron Wolves team out there, though obviously without Jon’s speed. (Ed’s note: I may or may not have added that sentence) Dom gets his guys to score with 56 seconds left and now needs to rely on the defense for one last stop for the season, biggest series of the year. On first down Steve hits Smuda for 21 yards and you can see a glimmer of hope come back into the eyes of the Outlaws. First down after the big play by Smuda where they need another big chunk of yards, but Gros Coqs covered deep and forced Steve to check it down to Eric for 7. We now move to second down where Steve gets sacked by Tommy for a big 5 yard loss. On third down and the second to last play of the game Steve throws it up and Etienne picks it off to seal the game and give Gros Coqs the title. 

 

This was a very close game and one of the best in a very long time. It might not have been the offensive game we were expecting or wanted to see, but sometimes weather plays a factor and you have to play in some bad conditions once in a while. 

 

Congratulations to Les Gros Coqs for winning it all. Enjoy because next season everyone will bring their A game to knock you guys off and stop you from repeating. 

 

That is it for me for this season I’ll be back next season to tell you how it is and what I think. Enjoy the off season, heal up and get ready for next year. It was great doing these articles this season and I’m glad you guys enjoyed them.

Word From The Mouth: Crowning Champions Edition!

Word From The Mouth: Crowning Champions Edition!

Kevin Kousaie

We are finally here at last week of the season. Last Saturday the weather was the worst I have ever had to play flag in before. It was cold and wet and muddy, and I have no problems playing in these conditions if it were tackle, but how you supposed to grab a flag when you can’t feel your fingers? It is what it is, and both teams have to deal with it. Hope that next season we don’t have to play in these conditions (Ed's note: We'll be finishing two weeks earlier next fall!). This week the conditions should end up being about the same, though I hope not because I would like to see a good finals, where the better team wins and weather has nothing to do with the outcome. I think that if we have good weather it will be a good finals, the first one in a while.

 

Semifinals Recap

 

Outlaws vs Revolucion

 

We had to deal with the weather and in the first game it was almost an upset. Revolucion were up 21-12 at half time it could have been worse if Steve hadn’t mounted a scoring drive right before half. Everything Revolucion needed to go in their favor to win was working in the first half and they got stops and Steve and his small hands (Ed's note: Jesus...) had to deal with a cold and slick ball. Second half they couldn’t keep it up. 

Coming out in the second half the Outlaws scored quickly and then managed to get a stop and scored again to go up 26-21.  Revolucion on their next drive went down to score and make it 27-26 in their favour, but they left 5:30 in the game. That is plenty of time for almost any team to go down and score. Which is what the Outlaws did, and they were very smart about it. Leaving only 30 seconds on the clock so Ben had a chance to be the hero and help his team get to the finals. That didn’t happen though as the Outlaws defense held it down to go on to the finals.

 

Trollers vs Gros Coqs

So let me start by saying that if you thought the conditions were bad in the first game then you didn’t stick around for the second one. We knew going into the game if the Trollers wanted to win it was going to come down to stopping Dom from running, and making our tackles, that is easier said than done. I will say that the game ended up being close but it really wasn’t Gros Coqs first 2 scores were on missed tackles, or at least the first one was the second one Dom ran 45 yards for the score which he can do in the best conditions so I’ll chock that one up to 50-50 chance he scores. In the first half Trollers could not move the ball if their life depended on it. They final got some life when Kevin picked off the ball with under 3 minutes left in the first half. Ben made a great catch on the sideline in the end zone on what was the last play of the half. At half Trollers were down 12-6 and I thought that with us getting the ball back to start the second half it was going to be our game to lose, boy was I wrong.  We were never able to close the gap on them. We scored to make it 25-18 with 34 seconds left it should be all but over for us now, finally our defense showed up and did the unthinkable and held Les Gros Coqs to a 3 and out plus we save a timeout with a penalty. Trollers got the ball with 18 seconds and 1 timeout left, could they do it again like last season when they had 12 seconds left. Trollers had 2 incomplete passes in a row and on the last play we were trying to rush to get behind the line so we could get 2 plays but we rushed and had a bad snap that ended the game and their chance at a 3peat. Gros Coqs deserved to win that game I wish it was in better conditions but it wasn’t and we’ll have to wait to next season to get back to the title game.

 

Finals Preview

 

Outlaws vs Gros Coqs

 

This finals this is also the fourth meeting this season between these teams and Outlaws have won all 3 previous games so far. Can they make it a clean sweep or will Les Gros Coqs be the spoiler this season and knock off the number 1 team? Steve and Dom have met in the finals once before and it went in Dom's favour, not because of the QB play though as it was Steve's two pick 6s in 8 seconds that made them win. These aren’t the same teams though and both are way better than the last finals they were in and both QBs have become better passers.

 

QB - What can I say about these guys that I haven’t said already? Dom is going to run around and buy time so one of his guys can get open. Steve is going to get the ball out quickly, but will be stationary in the pocket. So here is how I would stop both of these guys if I had to defend them. Rush Dom quickly but stay under control and keep him in front of you and don’t let him force the line of scrimmage. If you do that then he will throw off his back foot and then you have a chance to pick a ball or two off. For Steve get at him fast and in his face, take the first read away and he will be fluster very early. So if the weather is like it was last weekend the advantage would go to Les Gros Coqs, but if we have nice weather the advantage has to go to the Outlaws, so it all comes down to weather.

 

WR - For the Outlaws everyone is scared of Smuda, and he is going to get his catches and yards no matter what you do so let him, but don’t let anyone else do anything. Look at what the rest of the team did in the season Remy (12TDs), Adam (9TDs) and Antoine (10 TDs) Smuda only had 6 TDs. Oh and let’s not forget Vince is back and healthy. No matter what you decided to do they have guys who can beat you all day long. Gros Coqs also have a ton of weapons that can all do damage. Not really sure who their go to guy is since they all missed games. Boris had the best stats for them but I still feel Bresse is the biggest threat on the team. The thing about the Gros Coqs is that every single one of them can make plays after the catch. Not sure who you should stop, but know that whoever you pick there will be someone else to step up. I have to give the advantage to Outlaws because I think that the size difference will come into play.

 

Defense - Outlaws had the best points against this season, but they were solid all over the board. They got 14 sacks, 27 picks, 34 passes batted away, and had 3 pick 6s. I’m not sure who will rush, but I would use Remi or Vince because if Dom takes off I don’t think that Mathieu has the speed to catch him. Les Gros Coqs Had 9 sacks as well with 6 coming from Thomas. They had Boris who was tied for the league lead with 10 picks leading their secondary that took 21 balls away. They also managed to bat 24 balls away, taking 3 of those 21 picks back to the house. The key to this game will be if Thomas can get after Steve fast and consistently. The advantage for the defense goes to Gros Coqs since I feel they are more athletic and a little quicker.

 

So here it is my final prediction of the season and it’s a difficult one since   both teams are evenly matched. This will come down to the play of the QB, and if we have nice weather Outlaws win by at least 9 points, but it we have conditions like last week then I have to give it to the Gros Coqs by 6. So once we get there and see the weather and the condition of the field  that will let you know who will win based off my predictions.

 

All-Stars

 

This is a new section I figured I’d throw out there. I will be picking 1 player per position and you can not play both sieds of the ball.

 

Offense

 

QB- Steve (Outlaws)

WR1- Smuda (Outlaws) 

SB1- JC (Revolucion)

Center- Lesniak (Trollers)

SB2- Josh (Trollers)

WR2- Svetna (Deep Threats)

 

Defense

 

Rusher- Eric (Revolucion)

Corner1-Max (Trollers)

Middle- Remy (Outlaws)

Corner2- Bresse (Gros Coqs)

Saftey1- Borris (Gros Coqs)

Saftey2- Ben (Trollers) 

 

These are my picks of who should make the all-star team if we had one, but there were a few hard choices to make and I could have gone a different way on a few choices.

 

Last game is coming up and it’s the only one that counts all season, doesn’t matter if you won 9 games of 4 all that matters is this one. So go out play hard have fun and if you get hurt you have a few month to heal up and get ready for the spring season. 

 

Good luck to both teams. See you Saturday. 

Word From The Mouth: It's Getting Cold Edition!

Word From The Mouth: It's Getting Cold Edition!

Kevin Kousaie

Here we are at the playoffs. Normally we play the quarters one weekend and the semis and the finals the following weekend but with only 4 teams in the playoffs no one wants a week off. We played 10 long weeks just to get here and most of us figured it would come down to these 4 teams: Outlaws, Trollers, Gros Coqs and Revolucion. To tell you the truth I thought it would have gone Gros Coqs, Outlaws, Trollers and Revolucion. I mean the Coqs were coming off a 10-0 season, Outlaws added Smuda, Trollers have the same roster and Revolucion made a switch at QB. That’s how I saw it playing out. I will say that it wasn’t a great season for any team and really no one needed to play extremely hard to make the playoffs. We knew going in that 4 wins and you were in and teams took weeks off knowing this. I’m glad playoffs are 2 weeks instead of 1 this way you have a chance to game plan and don’t need to worry about getting hurt in the first game or using too much energy knowing you still had to play a second game, we should just play the finals on Sunday since I think we might still have some nice weather.

 

Week 10 Recap

 

I’m going to make this section short and sweet since I want to talk about the playoff matchups. This past weekend we had Deep Threats winning, or should I say destroying, Les Gros Coqs 41-13. I will point out Dom and half the team weren’t there and they played most of the game with 5 players. Francis was the go to guy for the Threats getting 7 balls for 109 yards, but was left open since they were playing 5 defenders and he has a habit of dropping or bobbling balls, which he did once. I will say it was entertaining to watch Etienne play QB talking to the rusher while avoiding the sack. Boris put up another strong defensive performance grabbing 2 picks, one on a diving catch coming from the other side of the field. 

 

The Outlaws won 31-22 over Les Gros Coqs as well. I didn’t get to see that game but it seems to be that Steve has figured out how to beat them, it use to be Steve losing to them and playing poorly (2 pick 6’s in 8 seconds to Dom in the finals a few years back). Times have changed, but we can and never will forget that. 

 

Finally, La Revolucion lost 39-31 to the Trollers. I spoke to my team after the game and they did mention that it was a pick fest in that game, 8 picks between the two QBs. All and all none of these games had any playoff positioning involved so teams could have been taking it easy or trying new things like my team decided to do. That’s it for my recap and now it’s time for the playoff matchups.

 

Playoff Matchups 

 

#1 Outlaws (9-1) vs #4 Revolucion (3-7)

 

This will be the 3rd meeting between these two teams and both games have gone to the Outlaws, the first one by 6 and the second by 31. We have all seen this before that the team that won both meetings in the regular season feels that they can and will walk all over the other team, but they come in unprepared and get spanked early and are unable to recover. I’m not saying that will happen here but I am saying that it’s difficult to beat the same team 3 times in one season.

 

QB - These two guys are complete opposites when it comes to throwing the ball. Steve likes to rely on going short and having his guys make plays for him. Ben prefers to throw it the length of the field and will do that on every play if you let him. Steve has great accuracy because he goes short, but if you take that first read away and get in his face fast that is where he will make mistakes. Ben’s biggest strength is also his biggest weakness: throwing the ball deep as much as he does. It allows the defense to hang back and attack the ball. I have to give the advantage to the Outlaws since I think they will turn the ball over less.

 

WR - For the Outlaws everyone is scared of Smuda, he is going to get his catches and yards no matter what you do. I’d be more worried about the other guys like Remy (12TDs), Adam (9TDs), and Antoine (10 TDs) Smuda only had 6 TDs. It’s up to you guy to figure out how to stop them. Revolucion have 4 of the top 8 guys in the division, I will say with the way their offense is you kind of expect those type of numbers. From their number 1 guy to number 4 they are separated by only 41 yards. I don’t know who you would want to watch in this game, you have Ted, Gabe, JC, and David. Who would have thought that last seasons best receiver would only be number 3 on his team this season? I’m going to give the advantage to Revolucion since their overall numbers are better.

 

Defense - Outlaws had the best points against this season, but they were solid all over the board. They got 14 sacks, 27 picks, 34 passes batted away, and had 3 pick 6s. Revolucion had the best rusher in the division, but that’s about all the good from their defense this season. They did manage to get 16 picks and batted 37 balls away, it’s just too bad they couldn’t get a few of those batted balls into picks. The advantage goes to Outlaws.

 

My winner for the game is the Outlaws by 2 scores.

 

#2 Trollers (7-3) vs #3 Gros Coqs (4-6)

 

This is another matchup between these two teams in the playoffs again. I’m sure this is the third or fourth time in the history of these two teams. I do know that these games are always exciting and come down to 1 or 2 plays, I’m sure this one will be the same. This is the 4th meeting this season between these 2 teams but really only the second one since the first two they didn’t have their full roster. Right now it sits 2-1 Trollers. 

 

QB - You have Max who has played up and down this season. I know that we were trying new things so that might have had something to do with it. Max and Dom both are able to buy as much time as they want by scrambling around as long as they keep their heads up they will find someone open since the defense will try to come up and stop the run. Both guys over the years have become way better at playing QB than when they started, Max used to throw the deep ball almost every play and Dom used to run almost every second play. This one is a tough choice to go with if we have good weather I’d give the advantage to the Trollers, but if we play in rain and snow I have to give the advantage to Les Gros Coqs. Max is a better passer but in sh*tty conditions if Dom chooses to run then they have a huge advantage.

 

WR - When I look at the roster for the Gros Coqs a few guys stick out. They have Boris who was solid all year, Thomas who is always ready to play and then the two Alexandres. I would have thought coming into this year that Bresse would have had a bigger impact on the offense, but it didn’t seem to happen this season. He is the one guy that scares me the most on their roster. The Trollers seem to have a more balanced attack this season. It has no longer been the Ben and Josh show. Max has been able to incorporate Andre and Kevin into the offense. It seemed as if Lesniak was the odd man out this season, but he’s always good for a few catches a game, just watch your legs if he’s near you because there is a 90% chance he is falling. When plays need to happen Ben is the guy, but now with everyone being involved there are a lot fewer big plays needed. I have to give the advantage to the Trollers in this one based on stats, though it would have help the Gros Coqs chances if they showed up to all games.

 

Defense - This game pits the number 2 and 3 defenses against each other in what will come down to which team makes fewer mistakes. For the season the Trollers had the number 2 rusher in Andre who got 9 sacks. They also managed to get 30 picks led by Ben who was tied for the league lead, they also batted 47 balls away and ran back two pick 6s. Les Gros Coqs Had 9 sacks as well with 6 coming from Thomas. They had Boris who was tied for the league lead with 10 picks leading their secondary that took 21 balls away. They also managed to bat 24 balls away, and they took 3 of those 21 picks back to the house. As the numbers would tell you the Trollers had a better defense all season and that is why I’m giving them the advantage.

 

I won’t pick a winner in this game because it is my own team and if I pick my team it might seem cocky and if I pick against my team it shows fear. So I’ll go with it will be a tight game and the team that has less mistakes will win the game. (Ed’s note: Still sounds like fear!)

 

That’s it for my playoff article. You can probably see that I left out a few sections like Studs & Duds along with my predictions. I felt that this is the playoffs and I should go a different way. Next week I have a few new ideas to go with so stay tuned for next week. Good luck to everyone playing this weekend go out have fun leave it all on the field as it could be you last game of the season. 

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