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Week 6 has come and gone and what a season this is shaping up to be. If you check out the Standings page nearly as much as I do, you’ll have noticed that throughout this season the seemingly mighty have fallen from grace, those who were down early have rose up and everything in between. Two weeks remain in the regular season during which things can still be shaken up even more, but let’s take a look at what happened this week.

D1

Sticky Bandits had an impressive freshman season in D1 but their sophomore year is proving to be much more challenging. They took on Tight Ends in Motion and made a game out of it. Sal Gandolfo subbed for TE and put on a clinic, particularly on a number of 6 down stops. Stoner Dave had what has to be the Catch of the Day on a deep ball from Bro Kleckler that looked like it was overthrown. Stoner put it into 2^nd gear and somehow made the catch. Mike Thomas was able to move the ball down the field for SB but TEs red zone defense was impenetrable and they came away with the win.

Sticky Nation went on to play Public Enemy later in the day. The biggest play of this game unfortunately was a controversial pass interference call on a bomb to Drew Colosimo. The call gave Thomas the ball at the 1 which he was able to capitalize on. This gave SB the lead going into halftime. Chris Cole came out angry and punched in a TD to vent his anger. Still a 7 point game, SBs were in good position but an unfortunate slip in the end zone was ruled a safety. PE used their anger (they were all still miffed about the PI call) and SBs misfortune to score another and make it a 2 score game. Adrian Cannon had a nice deep Td catch to close the lead towards the end but PE came away with the win.

Eyes Downtown massacred Losing Streak. I didn’t see much of this game but ED took an early lead and never took their foot off the gas. A pick 8 by the rusher is never a good feeling for a QB and Jordan Lawson knows that now. The ED defense made a bunch of big plays resulting in turnovers and their females had a huge advantage over those of LS. Hopefully LS can regroup for their match up against PE next week.

D2

When Dove Cries went 1-1 on the day thanks to a forfeit by Passed Our Prime. Luckily they had another game scheduled against TopShot later in the day. When Dove Cries started out strong while TopShot took some time to get going but eventually things evened out and it was a close contest for the duration of the game. Matt Newman was in at QB for TopShot and anyone who has seen him play knows he is not shy to throw it up. When you have the athletes on the TS roster, this strategy generally does work. WDCs roster is equally as loaded with athletes, granted some are a “few” years older than those they are lined up against. Devin Linder is one of the best receivers and defenders in the league that you might not have heard of. He’s one of those “let the talent do the talking” types, which I respect. Between him and Drew Colosimo, Topper was able to air the ball out and one of those two pretty much always got there. Newman risked a Hail Mary to Sean Weisansal at the end of the half, who came down with it despite Linder and Aaron Balcerzak there on defense.

A&A and Bullet Club shouldn’t have been a great game to watch on paper. A&A has outscored Bullet Club by over 100 points and, let’s be real here, aside from WDC no team in D2 believes in defense. This game looked like it was close in the beginning but A&A used their height and speed to their full advantage and walked away with a victory. Jay Jaskier was a defensive nightmare at the goal line while Todd Halas saw a slip from his season average of 4 TDs a game. BC was missing some key personnel which could have impacted the outcome. Fortunately for us, these teams face off again next week.

XTC got back on track with a win over Notorious BNB. Joey Battaglia was back at QB and warmed up from a 9am game with Cunning Stunts. He finally looked like the Joey of old, using his elite play calling abilities to get things moving. Notorious BNB had an off game and things went from bad to worse when Garrett Beesing went up for a jump ball and came down wrong, resulting in a broken collar bone. You can bet Beesing was back at the bar after getting a sling though. If he wasn’t in my Top 5 last week for playing great, he would have been this week just for that.

Scared Hitless took on Passed Our Prime late in the day. SH was missing their QB so Travis Cleavenger subbed in. A pick to start the game had SH a little nervous about their sub choice especially when POP threw a gender TD to answer. SH had trouble on defense and Kyle Conniff had a stand-out performance for POP. Cleavenger utilized the SH females well and scored 2 gender TDs in the first half. POP tried their darnedest but could not catch up and SH came away with the win.

D3

Last Dance was one of those teams I was referring to earlier when I said the mighty have fallen. They started the season 2-0 and haven’t won since. Ricky Austin may have moved away but they have solid back up in Matt Newman. Anthony Barnessy had some big plays including a huge pick and a deep TD catch. Grey Hair Don’t Care has been middle of the pack all season but after this week finds themselves at the top of the division. Dave Eickhoff is seemingly loving his newest addition Mike Rawdin on a go route. It wasn’t a high scoring shoot out and both teams showed they can get stops when they need them on defense. GHDC came away with more of them though and, as a result, the win.

The Untouchaballs took on the other team that has had a huge fall from grace. 4^th & Dong were the top of the division for the last several weeks, going undefeated (if a tie doesn’t count as defeat) until Week 5. They’ve lost their last 3 games by a score or less but they now find themselves in 6^th place. Jeremy Burr has been finding his groove as a QB. He can air it out to his receivers but he really is utilizing his females well. Melanie Linsmair had some uncharacteristic drops but we’ve all had those days. This game came down to the end when 4&D was down by 7. Scotty Dro tried finding Sal Gandolfo on the sideline in the end zone but the throw was too high and Matt Helm was there to knock it away.

Freeballers took on Cobblestone with QB subs all around. Scott Keller Sr wasn’t available so FBs went with Scott Keller Jr to throw. He found chemistry with Pat McDonell even with Maddie Norton giving him headaches at rush. Both teams traded picks and struggled on defense. The Carr boys played well on offense but CB couldn’t keep FBs out of the end zone. Rachel Grampp was another solid target for Keller, tacking on a couple more TDs to her stats.

D4

Breast Friends put on a clinic for Today’s Feast. TF continued to try to go deep instead of taking the 8-10 yard plays. This especially comes back to bite you against gender teams when they are putting up 8-10 points per drive. Maddie Norton had a huge game on defense. Offensively, Travis Cleavenger spread the ball around to his receivers well and TD had no answer defensively.

Buffalo Vice was without Seth Molisani at QB but Frank Pizza led them to victory yet again over GUCCI. Caitlyn Mason broke the ankles of some unsuspecting defenders. Kelly Kane and Co have talent and are putting up decent points on offense, but their defense is allowing an average of 37 points per game. BV has always been a defensive nightmare with the Gonzalez brothers being huge deep threats and Matt Brown having at least a foot on most defenders.  Pizza utilized all these weapons and they came away with the win.

With the departure of Titsburgh Feelers, Topper decided it was best to put together a rotating cast of characters to fill in so other teams didn’t have to take a forfeit. Enter the Mike Boccio-finally-gets-to-play-in-a-second-game Experience. Puckett All Stars were a little nervous when they saw what was basically Emily Curry’s Breakfast Club team take the field. Fortunately for them, Boccio’s Top Receiver status did not translate to the other side of the ball. Even Ron Webber had some drops which cannot be Ron’s fault and therefore the blame must lie on Boccio. PAS finally seemed to be meshing well. The guy with the black compression socks was everywhere on the field as was plain white tee guy. They sit at the bottoms of the playoff standings now but like I said earlier a lot can change in the next two weeks.

D5

Not So Sticky had to play an early game and therefore had to play both halves sober. Less than ideal for them and apparently their opponent as they shut out TOX, whose struggles continue. Kristen Daniels was in as a sub for NSS and had a great out and up for a TD to start the game off. Raghavan Nagarajan found Mike Thomas in the end zone from 5 yards where he made a one handed TD catch (did the Power Rankings miss someone?). Other than that, I didn’t see much to write home about.

TOX went on to play Lettuce Win and managed to put up 14 points but once again could not get a stop on defense. LW showed some life in their second win of the season and moved the ball much better than the last time I saw them. I would say the top 2 spots for this division are pretty much locked in but as we all know anything can happen.

Not So Sticky went on to play Spinelli’s Plumbing later in the day (once the bar was open and all was well with the world). The score wasn’t super one sided but SP had the lead pretty much the whole time. Nagarajan threw multiple picks and ended up taking himself out of the game to be replaced by Ricky Recckio. It basically came down to SP being the better team and proving it.

NSS had their 3^rd game of the day immediately following against Come From Behind. At this point, I’m guessing 85% of the team was drunk. CFB played well with Paul LoVullo playing a near perfect game. He marched his team down the field and found the end zone when they needed to. NSS could not get anything going against this vet savvy team and CFB came away with the win.

D6

Victorious Secret is getting back on track with 2 wins against Blitzkrieg. In one of those rare  funny-how-that-works-out moments, their make-up game from earlier in the season was rescheduled on the same day as their second match up so it was really just one really long game with an hour half time. Both games were close. Blitzkrieg utilized their females well. I don’t know their new Qbs name but he showed potential in both these games. Nicole Becker had a nice pick in one of the games for VS. With those wins, VS find themselves in the middle of the pack with another gender team show down next week.

Travis Henry’s Kids got the win over Lenny’s Ladies featuring Topper. LL had a skeleton crew to work with but those that were there played really well. Ashley Bower and Jess Cunningham both posted up in the end zone for a TD catch. John Langley kept his composure throughout the game and was able to find his receivers and take the advantages his team had. Number 9 was all over the field including in the end zone where he somehow beat Topper on a deep ball.

That’s all for this week. Only 2 weeks remain in the regular season. The ladder matches start this week so expect to see some playoff previews.  Six teams from D3 and D4 will not make playoffs so you better believe those teams are going to need all hands on deck and everyone to bring their A game.

Top 5 Notables:

1.      Maddie Norton (Cobblestone/Breast Friends)- had herself a day on defense for Breast Friends and is as solid a receiver as they come

2.      Joey Batts- (XTC/Cunning Stunts) went 2-0 on the day for both teams at QB and ended the shoot out against Itches and Ohs with a pick

3.      Jeremy Burr(Eyes Downtown, The Untouchaballs)- been playing really well for UTB and stepped up to ref at 9am when a last minute cancelation had the reffing committee scrambling.

4.      Stoner Dave (Tight Ends in Motion)- I can’t say someone had the catch of the day earlier and then not give them a nod in the Notables. Plays like that are what gave me the idea to write this article in the first place.

5.      Spinelli’s Plumbing- quietly sit at the top of their division with the highest Points For in the league. They also can usually be found at the bar before and/or after their games

Until next time, I’ll be watching…

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