Week 8 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 12 October 2021 19:11

Published: Tuesday, 12 October 2021 19:11

Written by Patrick McGovern

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Ladies and gentlemen of the TSL, we have officially made it through the regular season. Looking back on the beginning, there have been some surprises along the way as well as players/teams doing exactly what they were supposed to do. It was a whirlwind session and you all did not disappoint making it exciting to observe. Here’s what I saw this week:

D1

Tight Ends in Motion took on Losing Streak in another game with key personnel not in attendance. There was a lot of airing out the ball and letting receivers make a play from both sides. John Caie from Losing Streak made some nice plays on defense but TEs kept doing what they do best and came away with the win. LS lost Ralph Finney during the game to an injury and picked up Alex Baker. Baby Baker showed his dad some moves but experience trumped youth this time. 

Sticky Bandits finished in 5th place following their loss to Slob Kabobs, who jumped up to the 4th seed. Bandit Nation was working with a skeleton crew, missing QB Mike Thomas, Brian Stevenson, and Andrew Kicak. They tried out Adrian Cannon under center and brought in Tony Sanchez to sub. Sanchez had a pick 6 on Seth Molisani on the first play of the game. SB followed with a big stop and proceeded to score, going up by 2 scores early. SK woke up after that though. SN needed a gender score at the end of the game but a Ben Stack pick sealed the deal. 

Sticky Bandits went on to play Public Enemy late in the day. With even more players missing, Cannon’s receiver options were limited to Jeff Krol, Andrew Kicak and Sal Gandolfo. Then Gandolfo got hurt and had to be taken to Urgent Care so Alex Baker came to save the day again. Public Enemy was reeling from their earlier loss to Eyes Downtown and showed no mercy to the poor, unfortunate SBs. Baker did score a deep TD late to prevent the shut out but a rookie QB and missing WRs1-4 is tough to overcome. Laura Streeter had a great game and had a constant positive attitude, which is tough to do when you're down big. 

As I said, Eyes Downtown pulled out the win over Public Enemy to prevent the undefeated season. I didn’t see a lot of  this game but I heard PE was up most of the game. They were missing Heather Cepuchowski which hurt them. Eyes Downtown capitalized and used their females effectively. Emily Belfield had an incredible sideline catch. Chris Cole went 0-3 on deep balls at the end of the game and a TD pass by Belfield tied it up. ED was able to get the conversion so PE had a chance for one last drive but an offsides call on Mike Boccio was followed by an overthrown ball and ED took the win. 

D2

Speaking of ruining an undefeated season, TopShot took away the perfect record for A&A with a 19-16 win. A&A was missing Matty Ice so Travis Cleavenger stepped in. While he seemed to have chemistry with wife, Val Bernal, he struggled to connect with his other receivers. TS took advantage of A&As mistakes and came away with the win. 

The Notorious BNB took a win over XTC, 44-32. BNB had Jeremy Olson to throw and I think I saw Ben Stack in the game but that can’t be right because he’s a D1 player and not on their roster...Anyway, XTC had Anthony Battaglia throwing in the absence of Brandt Dubey and it did not go well. Joey Batts was playing with an injured finger but defense is what killed them. They could not get a stop and BNB just kept coming.

D3

Cobblestone had a tough week against Grey Hair Don’t Care, who seem to be rolling at the end of the season. Daryl Carr could not connect with his receivers at all and GHDC were not fooled by Sam Lattucca throwing. GH is running on all cylinders now and they have talent top-to-bottom. This game was out of hand early and GH even had someone else try throwing a couple while Dave Eickhof ran some routes.  

Frodo Swaggins shut out Show Me Dem TDs in their last game of the season. Derek Pew played a much cleaner game than the last time I watched him. He found Tammy Buczek in the endzone twice. The SMDTDs QB continued to misread the field. He missed a lot of open receivers. The redhead girl made some really great catches but until they can get consistent attendance and a reliable QB, this team is better off dropping back down. 

Last Dance versus The Untouchaballs was one of my favorite games to watch of the day. Lots of back and forth action made this a close one throughout. The Untouchaballs were missing Melanie Linsmair but they had solid female receivers. They were the fortunate recipients of 2 lucky bounces, one of which coming late to make it an 8 point game. Unfortunately the guy who picked it got greedy and ran it in instead of pitching it or stepping out to take time off the clock. Matt Newman and LD got the ball back and marched down the field. A gender TD was needed so Rachel Parker threw a TD pass to Anthony Barnessi to tie it up. It all came down to the conversion when Justin Garbacz caught the game winner.

D4

Buffalo Vice and Breast Friends was a nail biter throughout. Both teams were missing players but those there came to play. BV’s Steve Lozo made some real nice defensive stops and was a great outlet for Seth Molisani to chunk it up the field. Katie Keller subbed for BF and had a great deep TD catch, taking advantage of broken coverage. BV struggled to communicate on D in the first half, but they were able to put it together in the second. Emma Patterson had a big catch late in the game that sealed the win for the ladies. 

Puckett All Stars beat up on Falconies to pull ahead of them in the standings. Mark Ward made some big plays and was definitely WR1 this game. Joe Miano and Co couldn't get their usual offense rolling and I saw a couple big drops. Jason Neth had some nice touches but Falconies are going to need to come up with some more stops to make it through the first round of playoffs.

Itches & Ohs versus Today’s Feast was about what you’d expect. TFs QB had a lot of misreads. On defense, they couldn’t stop the females of I&Os and this game was never actually close. Steve Moser was smiling so you know they had to be up big most of the game. TF did manage to put up 36 points though so props for that and we hope to see you next season. 

Practice Squad and The Titsburg Feelers Replacements game was a shit show. Scott Keller Jr was in at QB while Scotty Dro played WR. A series of misfortunate events on both sides ended with PS being up for most of the game. The Replacements kept it close but not that close. Ashton Fiegel had a great TD catch against Emily Curry. Kenny Lantz and Joe Ferguson ran great routes. Val Bernal had a pick on B. Scott Keller face planted in the mud then benched himself. It was a mess but everyone looked like they were having fun. 

D5

WoodPeckers and Come From Behind was not a very pretty game as each team made their share of mistakes. Paul LoVullo has had a solid season so far but he missed some throws in this one. Joe Buscaglia and LoVullo traded picks in the first half. Buscaglia took a sack on 5-1 which CFB answered with a TD. Jenn Stachura’s route running was just spot on. WPs have solid guys and females and continue to improve every season.

Not So Sticky beat 716 without Ricky Recckio, Mike Thomas or Kyle Messina. Despite missing players Rags, Paul Scinta, Jeff Krol and Karl Smith balled out. The females on both sides played very well. 716’s #42 was a monster of a receiver. He was there to bail out his team when they needed him but NSS hit their stride and came out with the win. 

D6

TMA and Travis Henry’s Kids played each other back to back in some weird scheduling/make-up snafu. Both games were one sided in TMA’s favor. Ryan Henry played very well using all his receivers. John Langley couldn’t get anything going on offense for his team and tried to force the ball. Rich Turner had a pick after he threw into double coverage. I only watched one of the 2 games but I heard the second went just about the same as the first. Both teams got themselves a first round bye in the playoffs though so this weeks games can easily be forgotten by THKs. 

Victorious Secret lost to Blitzkrieg when they also fell victim to the attendance issues plaguing the league this week. Offensively, Jordan Lawson was able to move the ball around but they struggled on defense. Blitzkrieg was able to capitalize on their height and speed advantage and VS had a lot of trouble defending it. Fortunately for VS, they draw another gender team in the first round so they have time to work things out with, hopefully, their full roster.

That is all for the regular season of Fall 2021. If you are on one of the unfortunate teams who did not grasp an elusive playoff spot (Show Me Dem TDs, Super Freaks, Practice Squad, GUCCI, Today’s Feast), be a good sport and come by to support/hang out next week anyway. If nothing else, you can maybe see the team that knocked you out get knocked out themselves and that’s always fun. I’ll leave you with my Top 5 Notables of Week 8:

1. Zach Jenkins (Not So Sticky)- is the clear “go to” guy for his team whenever they need to make a play on offense. 
2. Bullet Club- got their first win of the season, leaving Super Freaks as the only Defeated team
3. Travis Cleavenger- played QB for the aforementioned team in their first win and overcame a tight game against Buffalo Vice to secure a playoff spot for his ladies
4. Kelly Kane- as far as I know she’s the first full time female QB in our league. This week she subbed for The Angels and made it a true all-female team in a close loss to 4th and Dong
5. The TSL BOD- the group of people who keeps things going smoothly, especially this week when Topper abandoned us all

Until next time, I’ll be watching...

Week 6 Wrap Up

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 28 September 2021 20:30

Published: Tuesday, 28 September 2021 20:30

Written by Patrick McGovern

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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…

Week 7 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 05 October 2021 16:32

Published: Tuesday, 05 October 2021 16:32

Written by Patrick McGovern

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Ladies and gentlemen of the TSL Universe, week 7 has come and gone, which means there is but 1 week remaining in the regular season. As some teams are looking ahead to playoffs, others are sweating out where they will finish, and if it’s enough to get one of those coveted spots. Let’s take a look and see if anyone is starting now to build that playoff momentum.

D1

Lots of drama over in D1 this week with a close contest between Public Enemy and Losing Streak to start our day. Ironically, LS was the one missing more players. Keyon Elias played a big role in this game, getting just as many looks as Chris Nelson and Ralph Finney. LS’s 2 female subs both played really well. Both teams traded picks throughout the game which kept it close and Greg Oiska had some big defensive breakups to keep his team ahead. PE only won by a score which could be the confidence boost LS needed to make a push in the coming weeks. 

Slob Kabobs no-showed against Sticky Bandits, which is dumb but moved SB up a spot in the standings. 

Eyes Downtown and Tight Ends in Motion had a high flying game with neither QB afraid to try out the deep ball. Eric Delecki seemed to be in better form than a couple weeks ago and TEIM’s defense fell apart on numerous occasions. Nick Angelo had a solid game on both sides of the ball for his team and the ED females played exceptionally well. 

ED went on to play Slob Kabobs, who did decide to show up for this game. Another close one that came down to the wire, these two teams match up well against each other with both having a nice combination of speed and height. I do have to give the female edge to ED and Bobby McConnell took full advantage. 

I didn’t see much of the TEIM versus LS game but I heard quite the commotion after the fact. I heard a bunch of different sides of the story but I’m only mentioning the game to say that we need to have more respect for our officials. You have probably all heard by now how much trouble we are having finding refs and shenanigans like this are part of the reason why. All refs are going to miss a call here and there at some point. Whether you are 100% sure it was a penalty or not, they can’t call it if they didn’t see it and if they missed it, that sucks but move on. No ones perfect. F bombing the refs is not only just rude, but if we don’t have refs we don’t have a league so get it together, we’re all adults here. TEIM hasn’t seemed to have their full squad all season and right now it looks like they are just trying to keep their heads above water. 

D2

TopShot took on Notorious BNB with 2 sub QBs. TopShot had Matt Newman filling in while BNB had Travis Cleavenger. Newman figured out the human cheat code- Sean Weisandel- and used him early and often. When they needed a play, it was the Weisandel Show. Defensively, his closing speed is phenomenal and I’m saying it now, I don’t know how D2 MVP goes to anyone else, especially if they win it all. Cleavenger tried to utilize the BNB females, but TS defense was locked on them. A lot of misreads and drops on the BNB side of the ball made what could have been a close game, a blow out. Drama ensued at the half when Steph Czaja caught the ball only to have Blase DeLuca wrestle it away in the closing seconds. BNB dropped a touchdown and wasn’t left with enough time for a second shot at it. 

The rematch between A&A and Bullet Club was more along the lines of what we expected last week. Jeff Easton subbed for BC but could not get anything going. A&A looked to be on cruise control but maybe that’s BC plan? Lull them into a false sense of security then pounce when it counts in 2 weeks? I like the long game you’re running, BC.

Scared Hitless had Dylan Day back at QB and they looked solid as ever against Passed Our Prime. SH had the female advantage but the ladies of POP have some solid hands themselves. Cat Peters made a late debut in the season but she is making up for lost time and Jamie Warren has been playing lights out since the Female Power Rankings came out. POP was, of course, missing personnel but they could be a very underrated 7th seed come playoff time. 

When Dove Cries need to talk to the Master Scheduler and put in a request to NEVER play at 3 again. They got smoked by XTC and I don’t think it was just because Topper and Aaron Balcerzak spent the majority of the morning/afternoon at the bar. They couldn’t get anything going on defense. XTC played flawlessly on both sides of the ball. Brandt Dubey and Mike Rogowski connected like they have been playing together for 25 years, Eric Flynn seemed like he was always open and the females were solid as per usual. 

D3

Last Dance took it to Frodo Swaggins as they finally seem to be connecting at the right time. Matt Newman was in again and looks to be the one leading them to the promised land. Juquan Stevenson is definitely one of the most underrated receivers in the league, quietly making huge plays on defense and offense. Rachel Parker had a huge sack at a point that added insult to injury. Derek Pew took over for the injured Garrett Beesing. The jump in speed of defenders in D3 compared to D5 was overtly apparent. Pew had a couple nice completions and his receivers bailed him out on a couple others, but LD had the edge pretty much all over. 

Frodo Swaggins went on to play Cobblestone and fared much better. Nick Buzcek and Jake Creeley played outstanding defense. Darryl Carr tried to let his receivers go fight for it but it was either knocked away or picked. Blake Fisher had some nice catches for him though but it wasn’t enough.

Cobblestone and The Angels was a fun game to watch, with both teams utilizing the deep ball. If you asked me last year what The Angels achilles heel was, I would have said that was it, but lately they seem to have found a way to defend it despite the usual height disadvantage. Andrew Alessi and Chris Carr were Darryl’s outlets when he needed them and Sam Lattuca had some phenomenal throws to get CB gender TDs, even from just past midfield. The Angel’s Casey Lawler ran a great go route that no one on CB had the speed to match and the ladies came away with the win and moved into 2nd place in the division. 

D4

Cunning Stunts and Breast Friends had a barn burner of a game that looked all but over for BF after the first half. Travis Cleavenger took awhile to get going with several misreads and Joey Battaglia looked like he was running away with it. By the second half, BF were getting in more of a rhythm and CS could not make their conversions. A late safety by Hollie Speroni changed the momentum of the game in the final minutes and BF were able to mount a comeback. BF got the ball and drove down the field where Maddie Norton caught the game winner off a tipped ball by Cheryl Julicher.

The Cunning Stunts went on to play the Titsburgh Feelers Fill-ins. This week Joe K and Jeff Krol were in charge. Joey Batts was nearly flawless this game despite some drops from his ladies. The consummate gender QB though, he kept going right back to them and CS marched as a result. Emily Schilling had a couple nice deep TDs. The Fill-ins had Mike Boccio back in at QB. He had a couple misthrows that he would probably like redos on but overall played fairly decent. James T Hearn does what he does best and got open. He had a couple TDs but The Fill ins had no chance of matching the pace of the Stunts. 

Breast Friends took on 1st Place Vaspian for the second time and once again could not overcome what is quickly becoming their nemesis. BFs may have been in a lull after their big win earlier in the day as they weren’t playing with the same intensity as usual. Amber Hayes had a huge pick in the closing seconds of the first half that they were able to capitalize on with a Hail Mary to Kelly Sabo. Despite being down big at the half, Vaspian rallied back and only allowed 1 TD in the second. They used their height advantage to get them close and BF were not able to make the stops they needed in the red zone. 

Puckett All Stars is making their usual end-of-season push with a win over Today’s Feast. TJ Ferguson is connecting with his receivers and Joe Schwab made a bunch of great defensive plays. The guy on TF with the beard had a nice catch at the opponents 40 that he ran in for a TD. Now that these guys have almost a season under their belt, I’m interested in seeing how they adjust next year. They still don’t utilize their females enough and if it’s a trust issue, now is the time to get those reps in. PAS is looking to be in typical playoff form and I will be watching to see if their momentum  holds up. 

Itches and Ohs took a 33-34 loss to Zack Attack, causing even more shifts in the standings in this division. I&Os relies on their offense to get them wins, averaging almost 40 points a game. This week they struggled to find the endzone and ZA capitalized on their mismatches. Zack Elphick didn’t have his greatest game, and the game-winning 2 point conversion actually came after Jay Elphick’s wife threw him a gender TD to make it 33-32. 

D5

Wasted Potential made it a game against Spinellis Plumbing as everyone knew they could. Both sides came to play and this game gave me hope that PS won’t have another walk in the park come playoffs. The females on both sides came through big and it came down to WP needing a gender TD at the end. Peyton Spinelli made a huge pass break up on the would-have-been game winner and WP was not able to punch it in.

Spinellis then went on to play TOX who look like they may go defeated on the season. No one had any high expectations for this game and it played out as expected. Topper filled in at QB and actually made a game of it, putting up more than twice what they usually score in a game but not making stops on defense isn’t going to get you any wins. 

Come From Behind dominated Not So Sticky for the second week in a row. NSS is sitting in 6th place with the 4th worst offense in the league. Rags threw a pick in the first half and could not get anything going. Their females had some drops and Ricky Recckio threw a pick in the second. CFB was playing perfect football and Paul LoVullo looked like he'd been playing for 20+ years....

D6

Travis Henry’s Kids versus Graves Bros was another fun game to watch. It was a back and forth shootout with John Langley and Steve Miller not hesitating to go deep and let their receivers make a play. It looked like momentum was swinging away from THK when a female pitched the ball behind the line of scrimmage on 5-1 which resulted in a turnover on downs deep in their zone. GB were only able to get a male TD but they did manage to get the 2 point conversion. Langley threw a pick on the first down of the next series but they regained their composure and were able to come away with the win. 

Travis Henry’s Kids went on to play Lenny’s Ladies featuring Topper later in the day. It was a close match up with all the ladies playing really well on both teams. THK took advantage of Topper on defense and that made the difference in this game.

Lenny’s Ladies took on Victorious Secret later in the day with Jeremy Olson at the helm. I’m guessing it was his first time throwing for a gender team and he did really well. They ran some really nice plays to draw the defenders up then Hogan went deep to Steph Czaja for a TD. Victorious Secret couldn’t keep up with LL and that was without Caitlin Mason breaking ankles. LL is a tough team to gauge as we never know who will be throwing with Joe K still on IR. As our next game will show, this division is anyone’s for the taking. 

TMA is in end-of-season form with a loss to last place Blitzkrieg. Maybe they are just trying to shut up the haters saying they should have moved up? I doubt it. It was “just one of those days” for TMA and it was “3rd times the charm” for Blitzkrieg. Johnny Dio was in at QB and the early season chemistry went a little stale as the weeks went on unused. I doubt anyone on TMA is panicking but it’s definitely an ego boost for Blitzkrieg this late in the season. 

That’s all for this week. We enter our last week of the regular season where a lot of divisions will have a playoff preview with seeding matches. Now is the time to make a name for yourself as these are the weeks the Awards Committee will remember the most when it comes time to vote for MVPs. I’ll leave you with my Top 5 Notables for Week 7.

1. Jay Jaskier- had 2 solid game throwing for Wasted Potential and a handful of picks thrown in for them and A&A.
2. Katie Swanson- could not be stopped in her Lenny’s Ladies game against Victorious Secret
3. Brandt Dubey- played lights out for XTC propelling his team up the standings
4. Emily Belfield- had an incredible corner of the end zone catch for Cunning Stunts and played a huge role in Eyes Downtown’s wins
5. Falconies- are quietly sitting in 4th place in their super competitive division but more importantly their bar presence after the games is impressive. 

Until next time, I’ll be watching….

Week 5 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:46

Published: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:46

Written by Patrick McGovern

Hits: 6595

Welcome to Week 5 Ladies and Gentlemen! The contenders and the pretenders are coming into the light as all teams except Victorious Secret have at least 4 games under their belt. Four teams remain undefeated while 3 are still looking for their first win. With the second half of the season under way, teams are really starting to buckle down to prepare to play offs. Let’s take a look at what happened this week.

In D1, Sticky Bandits got their first win of the season over Losing Streak early in the morning. After running up a big lead with a Drew Colisimo pick early on, the Bandits took their foot off the gas and LS capitalized. SB tried to regain their momentum with a Hail Mary to end the half but the ultimate backfire occurred when Chris Nelson came down with it and ran it back for 6. Jordan Lawson and Joe Robison connected late to take the lead with seconds left. SBs methodically drove down and punched it in to tie the game up. Brian Stevenson found pay dirt on the conversion and Sticky Nation came away with the win.

Losing Streak then went on to play Slob Kabobs who are moving up the rankings and showing they are anything but what their name states. Another back and forth game, these teams were pretty evenly matched in terms of male receivers; both had plenty of speed and height. SK’s girl in the white shirt had a great game with at least 1 TD and 1 conversion. The teams traded picks for a while but it basically came down to LS’s kryptonite, defense. They could not figure out how to adjust fast enough and Seth Molisani made them pay for it.

Public Enemy took on Tight Ends in Motion in what could be a preview of this season’s final. This game was as tight as it gets with big names making big plays on both sides of the ball. Chris Cole is the quintessential veteran QB. He knows when to take what the defense is giving, when to go deep and trust his receivers, and when to go deep in their extensive playbook to throw in something no one’s ever seen before. On the opposite side of that, Bro isn’t exactly new, but his style of play perfectly contrasts Cole’s. Both teams played exceptional defense but Pete Nguyen must have been peeved by his Receiver Ranking because he was on fire for PE. A huge back-of-the-end zone threat, Pete knows how to find a hole and get lost. To top it off, he also had a big pick off Derek Bongiovanni’s hands after a deep ball from Bro.

Both PE and Eyes Downtown played each other in their second game of the day coming off wins (I missed Eyes Downtown game against Sticky). Public Enemy made short work of ED in what is usually a much tighter match up. Call it fatigue maybe, but Cole and Co. picked the ED defense apart. Eric Delecki had a rough game and PE went full Cobra Kai (google the slogan if you don’t know what that means).

In D2, Bullet Club ALMOST won their first game of the season against Notorious BNB. Scotty Dro found Todd Halas in the end zone for numerous TDs to give BC an early lead. They might have known the tides were turning though when Halas went out at the one after a deep catch on second down. They tried 5 times to get the gender TD but failed to do so and ended that drive with 0. Alex Buchilis was back full time and he led his team very well. Joy Thompson had a great game, helping her team march down the field and finishing drives in the end zone.

A&A remains undefeated after their win over Scared Hitless. It sounded like there was some hostility on both sides as this game went on but it was a close one. Margo Pagano and Val Bernal had big TDs for A&A while Cat Peters was back for SH. Jamie Warren had herself a day as the females of this game absolutely took over. Matty Ice and Dylan Day had phenomenal performances and both teams used their weapons well.

Scared Hitless went on to play TopShot (scheduling master did them no favors this week) immediately afterwards. I didn’t see much of it but I will definitely be tuning in when these two play each other again with both teams at 100%.

TopShot had a double header as well with Passed Our Prime up next. Despite the earlier game, TS came in guns blazing. Nikki Kendron missed their first game playing with The Angels but she feasted once she joined her squad. Dylan Jaloza has been the class of the division all session while Blasé DeLuca made some big plays on defense including a pick that his team really needed.

XTC was without Dubey again so Joey Battaglia went in at QB. When Doves Cry picked the XTC defense apart. With no male subs, XTC was gassed quick and Topper took full advantage. Batts struggled all day getting the ball to his receivers. Anthony Battaglia bailed him out a couple times but it wasn’t enough to even make it a close one.

In D3, Frodo Swaggins made sure everyone has not counted them out yet with a big win over Grey Hair Don’t Care. Garrett Beesing gets a little better each week at QB and his team has rallied around him. The females on FS had the edge on speed in this game and they used it well. Jake Creeley had the catch of the day on a deep ball despite perfect coverage.

The Angels made easy work of Super Freaks. John Langley started at QB then was replaced by Ralph Finney once Langley had to leave. Neither one could get into any sort of rhythm to break down The Angels’ defense. Offensively, Matty Ice spread the ball around and SFs could not keep up.

In the biggest upset of the day, Show Me Dem TDs had a huge statement win over 4^th and Dong. If their play this week was any indication of how good they could be, this team is poised to make a playoff push no one saw coming. 4&D had their woes, mainly 2 drops by the usually sure-handed Katie Keller. Nicole Keller played well though and Scott Keller absolutely mossed a defender. It wasn’t enough to pull out the victory but this game really showed me that D3 is open to literally any team, except Super Freaks. 

In D4, Seth Molisani was back for Buffalo Vice in their match up against Today’s Feast. This game was basically a story of 2 teams who both could be in a different division. BV hasn’t been scoring as much as we are used to seeing but they also have had a different QB each week. Caitlyn Mason has been getting a ton of pub lately, and for good reason. No one could match her agility and speed leading to several catch and runs for both yards and gender TDs. TF is struggling to figure this game out but they have the raw talent so I hope they will keep at it to show us what they can really do.

Vaspian had a double header with Practice Squad and Breast Friends. Brian Orzechowski was back at QB for Vaspian and they ended up with 2 wins on the day. Tawan Crosby had some great catches for Vaspian in their game against PS. B’s struggles continue as his team is riddled with injuries. Their defense lets them down each week so let’s hope they can fix it in time to cling to that last playoff position. The Breast Friends game was closer. BF had the lead going into the half. Orzechowski was heavily reliant on the deep ball which is usually a smart play against gender teams but Travis Cleavenger can get under anything that’s not exactly on a line. Heather Cepuchowski had a great catch and run after a defender tried to go for the pick and missed. Misfortune got the better of BFs though after Cleavenger threw 2 picks on back to back possessions in the second half. Amber Hayes had a TD taken away after the ref deemed she stepped out during the play. Vaspian was able to punch in the game-winner with an incredible catch that the ladies had no chance to defend.

Itches & Ohs came away with a win over Puckett All Stars. Both teams traded picks in the first half. The Puckett-Quinn merger does not seem to be going well. Chemistry is not something this team looks to have despite talented players. I&Os used their female advantage as per their usual game plan. Laura Streeter and Riley Moser carried their team and always seemed to find a way to get open in the end zone.

In D5, Come From Behind got a win over 716 without Paul LoVullo in attendance. Ryan Richardson took over as their backup QB and continues to improve each time he gets the nod. Leslie Cook had a solid TD after which the sidelines informed me it was her birthday so Happy Birthday Leslie. 716 has had a roller coaster of a season so far. They started strong with a win over Spinellis Plumbing but their performance this week has me questioning just how real they are. Meriah Dishaw had some nice catch and run plays that could be utilized more often but it seemed to me this is yet another team getting beat by attendance.

Not So Sticky lost to WoodPeckers late in the day. Raghavan Nagarajan had a tough day in the office, throwing a couple picks that gave WPs a short field to work with. Joe Buscaglia capitalized on those while Mark Buscaglia helped him team out defensively with a pick. Paul Scinta had a nice catch and run for NSS that could have been a TD but he selflessly knelt it at the one. It came down to the end but NSS failed to convert on the last play and WP came away with the win.

In D6, Graves Bros got their 2^nd win of the season over Blitzkrieg. Defense has been the Achilles heel of GBs this season, averaging 41.5 points allowed per game as of last week. Fortunately for them, Blitzkrieg has struggled on offense, averaging 26 points per game. Steve Miller found his targets when he needed to and came away with the win.

Graves Bros went on to play TMA. Two GB receivers had to leave for work so that put them at a disadvantage right off the bat. Regardless, GBs took an early lead. TMA had to fight back with a no huddle offense that GBs had no answer for. TMA’s females played great, with Val Testa giving Miller no time to find his receivers. He found Cam Sroda on multiple occasions and TMA did not have an answer to cover him. Ryan Henry got his team to the line fast to answer back and his receivers found the holes while Ron Webber held court in the middle, giving Henry a solid outlet. TMA came away with the win, 32-31.

TMA went on to play Lenny’s Ladies featuring Topper next. It was another close one that went back and forth. Joe K was out again with an injury so Topper got the call. He found Jaime Warren on multiple instances and TMA saw just how good her route running can be. TMA stuck to their game plan and their females continued to play great. They had Molly McDermid subbing as well who is always a solid addition. The game could have gone either way but an unfortunate pop up off Steph Czaja’s hands led to a Brent McKenzie pick which put the game away.

That’s all for today. Coming up is our last week before we start getting into some ladder matches. The weather’s going to start cooling off which I’m hoping means everyone won’t be as drained to give 110% and hang out at the bar after! Although, I did hear about a gigantic flip cup game that broke out this week so that’s exciting. I’ll leave you with my Top 5 Notables for Week 5:

1.      Brent McKenize (TMA): in case you missed the write up above, I repeat, Brent had the game winning pick!

2.      Diana Bernal (TMA): I try to avoid 2 players from the same team but TMA has been killing it and Bernal had a lot to do with that. She brought in multiple TDS for her team this week

3.      Dylan Jaloza (TopShot): went 2-0 on the day, played great in both games AND steps up to ref

4.      Garrett Beesing (Frodo Swaggins/Notorious BNB): went 2-0 on the day, playing outstanding in both games

5.      Zack Attack: after a rough start to the season, they are decisively righting the ship with a huge win over Cunning Stunts AND they had the best (and latest) showing at the bar

Until next time, I’ll be watching…