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- Written by Patrick McGovern
- Category: The Sentinel
- Published: 14 June 2021
- Created: 14 June 2021
- Hits: 5351
Well my friends, we have made it through the regular season. No rainouts, “anonymous” calls or even Covid this season which I think we all would say, is a win. On the contrary, we had beautiful weather, minimal drama and our relationship with the bar has never been better. Week 8 had the playoff vibe already in the air with many teams facing off against potential playoff opponents. We had our fair share of upsets this week so let’s take a look at how things ended.
Slytherin That End Zone has had one of their most disappointing seasons to date. They dropped a close one to Peachy Platoon, 32-34. Miscues, drops, missed passes and a couple calls not going their way ended their season in 7th place. Peachy was short so called in Joe K to take over the TE role while Dean Thompson did his usual scramble around for 5 minutes then launch it to any WR. Peachy is the current D2 favorite but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an upset out of SITE if they can get some heart and early momentum this week.
Frodo Swaggins put on a show against Top Shot this week, giving them their first loss and proving to the universe they are mortal. TS was missing Blasé DaLuca but they had Chris Nelson, Adrian Cannon and QB Dylan Jaloza so attendance could not be blamed for their loss. Frodo Swaggins played an all-around great game. Nick Buczek and Josh Schneider put on great performances while Derek Pew had a couple big catches to put up 48 points against a defense known for being stingy. Finishing in the Top 2, both these teams should have a fairly easy go of it in the first round of the playoffs so it’s highly likely we see a repeat of this game in the championship.
Possibly the upset of the day, Why So Serious put up 48 points as well to take the win over Public Enemy. It took until Week 8 but we finally got to see what WSS could do when they have everyone in attendance. Terrell Bolden was back at QB and he had most of their receiving core to throw to. Public Enemy was missing Paulie Johnson and Jake M but based on their dominance in seasons’ passed, that shouldn’t equate to a loss to a previously defeated team. But like I said last week, any given Saturday, any one can pull off a win or blow it. Chris Cole played a solid game and put up a respectable 43 points. These teams face off again next week when word around the water bucket is PE will be missing some key players. If WSS can pull off another win, I would love to see momentum carry them to the championship. That said, regardless of missing personnel, I can’t see the veterans of PE dropping 2 in a row to the same team.
Losing Streak took it to XTC, 62-14. I did hear this game ended early so it could have been much more painful than even that. Ralph Finney had an All-Star performance, I’ve even heard mentions of a possible D2 MVP candidate. Joe Robison had a big contested TD catch, pulling out all sorts of athleticism to prove he maybe should have been getting some more pub this season. Jordan Lawson has had his share of publicity this season, but Rylee Moser most certainly has not. I saw Lawson thread the needle to rocket a pass to her through 3 defenders that she stuck, no problem. Solid hands and great field awareness are things hard to teach and Rylee’s got them in spades. On the other side of things, XTC was missing Brandt Dubey. Instead of getting a QB off the sublist, they gave the reigns to Eric Flynn. It’s safe to say that little experiment did not work. Honestly there was little to even report on aside from the multiple pick 6/8s that XTC had no chance of coming back from. That loss dropped them down into 6th place meaning they take on the Swedish Speed Demons, Mountain Dew Me next week.
Grey Hair Don’t Care took on The Angels for the 3rd time this season due to some weird scheduling match ups apparently. Dave Eickhof and Co took another win, though looking at the standings, the point differential get smaller and smaller each time. Matty Ice was back under center for The Angels and brought back the spark we are so used to seeing from these ladies. Emily Curry was missing due to some poor planning for her bachelorette party but the Angels had a solid cast there along with their fearless leader. It seemed like the game was back and forth throughout with no one taking a major lead at any point. Both teams seemed to know each other well as they each played their style of play and did not let the opponent influence them. The Angels had a chance to secure the victory with minimal time on the clock and 6th down on the 10. Matty Ice found Val Bernal in the back of the endzone, but she dropped the pass. Eickhof found Jon Von deep and GHDC were able to come away with the win and moved up to 3rd place.
Speaking of Matty Ice, his 3rd game of the day was for A&A against Scared Hitless, who had nothing on the line but pride. SH were missing their QB and Brandon Farr; A&A were missing Delano and had no one else on the side line so I’m guessing some others were missing as well. A&A got off to an early lead then all hell broke loose. I saw 3 different QBs for SH, the last of which actually played a solid game. A&A could not get their defense organized and failed to score a point in the second half. They finished in 4th place but don’t look like they have any momentum whatsoever going into playoffs. SH on the other hand, probably could have used this win to push them towards an upset, unfortunately there are 10 teams in D2 so their season ends this week. I must commend them though on moving up, not having a great season but maintaining sportsmanship and poise throughout. Looking at their matches this year, all but 2 losses were within a score so they might not have been a success story right away but I would love to see what they can do next season with some upper-tier experience under their belt.
Buffalo Vice seemed to turn it up this week with a win over WoodPeckers and Freeballers. The Peckers actually had one of their better games of the season, showing a boatload of improvement since Week 2. Sharrone aka really tall guy that isn’t Dan Farinucci, no-showed so Joe Buscaglia played defense which didn’t help their cause but also wasn’t detrimental. Andy Clark was just on his game, looking more like the player we are used to seeing. Unfortunately for the WoodPeckers, their season came to an end. More devastating was Dan Farinucci was hurt while subbing later in the day. We wish this Rookie of the Year nominee a speedy recovery. The Freeballers game got heated from within according to the rumor mill. Word on the street is Sean Weisansal’s performance impressed his teammates enough to take the QB1 spot from George Lombardo. So far, it’s all speculation so if someone from Freeballers wants to weigh in, be sure to let the Godfather know the 411 before his article comes out.
The last game I will talk about for Week 8 is University Wealth Management versus Show Me Dem TDs. UWM got themselves their second win of the season, pulling ahead of their opponent in the rankings. Scott Keller Sr was back to throw for his squad so of course they were able to ride that high to a victory. SMDTDs had QB Tim Zielinski get called away on urgent business just before game time so they put Jackee Thompson in charge. She had a rough go at it for her first start at QB, resulting in several picks. All around, SMDTDs did not have the personnel to run with any team and UWM took the win, 29-6.
That’s all for the regular season. If you don’t think you, your team or someone on your team has been highlighted enough this year, well, do something amazing. I declined the opportunity for an email address because this is all about what I see. Sure, I don’t see everything but hey, the more cool shit you do, the more likely it is I’ll see some of it. That’s just basic probability there. I know playoffs are upon us now so everyone will turn it up. Can’t wait to see who’s been holding back and what everyone has left in the tank. I’ll leave you with my Top 5 Notables for Week 8:
1. Katie Swanson- Lenny’s Ladies suffered a loss to TMA but Swanson took over at QB to make the game stay fun for everyone
2. Heather Simano- did a great job filling the shoes of all the females missing for When Doves Cry, scoring 2 TDS against A&A
3. Jeremy Olson- probably wasn’t in the original game plan but he has played D often this season and was solid this passed week
4. Dave Eickhoff- I talked about his game versus the Angels which was an impressive performance but Dave has led his team back from a rocky start to the season to a 3rd place finish and ready to make a playoff run
5. Dave Walter- really the epitome of what this league is about, Dave is there every week with a smile and a drink for anyone who gets too close