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Week 6 Wrap Up

Details: Category: The Sentinel; Created: Tuesday, 28 September 2021 20:30; Published: Tuesday, 28 September 2021 20:30; Written by Patrick McGovern; Hits: 4942

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 5 Review

Details: Category: The Sentinel; Created: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:46; Published: Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:46; Written by Patrick McGovern; Hits: 5190

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…

Week 3 Review

Details: Category: The Sentinel; Created: Wednesday, 08 September 2021 01:06; Published: Wednesday, 08 September 2021 01:06; Written by Patrick McGovern; Hits: 1772

Ladies and gentlemen of the TSL, welcome to your Week 3 edition of the Sentinel. Taking a quick perusal of the standing page, it seems quite a few teams have already had double headers, pushing them to that half way point of the regular season if you can believe it. Itches and Ohs already have 5 games under their belt while Sticky Bandits, Eyes Downtown, Public Enemy, WoodPeckers and Victorious Secret only have one. My point being that basically anything can happen once all those teams actually play their games. We had a beautiful day this week, let’s take a look at what happened.

In D1, Tight Ends in Motion had a double header themselves and had the band back together. They made easy work of Slob Kabobs then won a close victory over Sticky Bandits in their opening day of the season. Bro was back in form and found Kyle Coniff and Derek Bongiovanni deep on several occasions. Sticky Bandits once again had the lead going into the half but Bongiovanni had the game winner with an impressive contested TD catch. Sticky Bandits did introduce their most free agency signings, Micah Hanford and Drew Colosimo. Hanford had a pick this game but I’m excited to see what he else he can do.

In D2, XTC and Scared Hitless went at it early. XTC struggled hard on defense as they have been all season. Johnny Football got an easy running touchdown straight down the middle of the field when no one decided to cover him. Dubey had his fair share of errors, including a muffed snap early in the game and a pick trying to force the ball into coverage. Scared Hitless came away with the win and finds themselves in 2^nd in the division. Not a bad start to season.

XTC had another game later on against TopShot. TS’s Sean Weisendal came up with a pick early. Amber Hayes had a wide open running touchdown. XTC did have a chance to win late but the pass to Kelly Sabo was popped up and picked up by Blasé Deluca. XTC finds themselves at the bottom of the division, grateful that all D2 teams make the playoffs.

Top Shot had a game earlier against Notorious BNB. BNB threw 2 early picks to Dave Baker. Amber Hayes had another big game for TopShot while Garrett Beesing complained the whole time about not getting fed as much as was promised in his contract. Dylan Jaloza and Co were down early after 2 picks the other way. Neither were Jaloza’s fault as they bounced off his receivers hands but they were able to battle back and TS came away with the win, 33-22.

Bullet Club fell to When Dove Cries, 28-36. I saw Tim Dove make an appearance for his namesake team. Topper pulled out the old school playbook this game with a lot of trick plays. He seemed to favor the pitch to Drew Colosimo that was working well. At the end of the game, Topper faked the pitch and found Kelly Liddle across field. Bullet Club had a chance to tie with a gender TD, Scotty Dro found Crystal Carlson in the end zone but the ball was dropped.

A&A snuck by Passed Our Prime in a game that no one wanted to play defense. POP was fresh off a come-from-behind win against Bullet Club. Matty Ice had been at the fields all day so naturally his facilities were not 100% intact. Regardless, he was able to find his receivers downfield and used his females well. James Celatto had a big game for POP. Matty and Hogan could be heard from fields over yelling at the refs for various grievances but ultimately came down to A&A scoring more gender TDs than POP did and A&A running out the clock.

In D3, The Angels got their first win of the season against Last Dance. Ricky Austin was once again not in attendance so Matt Newman took over at QB. LD looked and sounded like a train wreck from the beginning, with more drama than a Spanish soap opera. Any dropped ball, missed coverage or just plain mistake ended with sarcastic comments. Not cool guys. The Angels, on the other hand, looked to be having a great time. They finally managed to shut down some big plays on defense and continued their usual dominance offensively.

Super Freaks lost to Grey Hair-Don’t Care despite bringing in John Langley to throw. Ralph Finney was not in attendance at all. Langley kept them in it but GHDC looked like they were going easy on SFs after an early lead. Xavier Williams was making some great deep plays but ultimately SFs looked lost.

4^th and Dong beat up on Cobblestone, 52-30. All the females in this game played fantastic and each team used them in their own way. Sam Lattuca did not hesitate to throw for her team and Katie Keller was all hands on offense. Cobblestone could not get a stop on defense and struggled on offense. The tall guy on 4&D was unstoppable. If they only had Scott Keller, Sr throwing instead of Scotty Dro, this team would be my pick for D3 champion.

In D4, Today’s Feast fell to Vaspian 42-16. Vaspian’s new QB continued to look solid. TF, however, did what most new teams do and forgot to use their females. They got into way too many 4-2 and 5-2 counts (if anyone on the team reads this, 2 is too many). You have to utilize your females if you are going to be successful in this league. Especially when you play a gender team. Today’s Feast went on to play Cunning Stunts and the age old “we are quitting if we lose to girls” came out. We hope that’s not true because well, they lost. Not the first time we’ve heard it, not the first time the team has lost. CS played a great game. TF kept trying to go deep and missing their receivers or the defenders made a great play on the ball. TF went through 2 different QBs, neither of whom called any plays. Kelly Liddle had a pick after a ball bounced off a receivers hands. Joey Batts used his ladies efficiently as he does best and they came away with the win, 35-14.

Practice Squad and Puckett All Stars had a great back and forth game. PS picked up Katie Swanson who feasted all game. Number 4 on PS had a big pick followed closely by a Vince Taverna pick, who is proving himself as a solid receiver. PAS was down by two but B threw 2 bad passes to let them back into the game. PAS’s Andy had a pick off Joe Fergusons hands. Fortunately for B, he found Kenny Lantz in the end zone for the winning TD.

Zack Attack and Breast Friends faced each other again after both moving up from last season. BF looked much more like the team we got to know last year. They took what the defense gave them. Zack Attack couldn’t find a way to stop the ladies. They insisted on rushing a girl, giving Travis Cleavenger too much time to scrabble and let his ladies get open. Breast Friends came away with the win, 35-15.

In D5, Wasted Potential beat Lettuce Win, 42-20. Jay Jaskier had a great deep throw to the guy in the Bills shirt. LW’s QB threw 2 picks, one trying to go deep, one off a ladies hands. WP had the distinct advantage of having someone on the sideline giving them advice on defense. LW has the talent, they just need someone to put it all together for them and they could make a stand.

Wasted Potential took on Come From Behind immediately after. CFB was Paul Lovullo-less but the replacement appeared to be a younger and more agile version. Jaskier and Co continued their systematic play. Ricky Booth had a great game with solid catches. Craig Gerhard made an impressive break on the ball to pick off Jaskier and run it down to the 5 yard line only to pitch it back to a female and get picked off by WP again. WP went on to win 35-24.

TOX had a double header and dropped both. They had no answer defensively for either team and seemed to be struggling on defense as well. Dave Walter went in at QB eventually but it was not enough to overcome the deficit they were in. They fell to WoodPeckers and Spinelli’s Plumbing. SP got their first 2 wins since moving up a division and put to rest any doubts about where they belong. WP played their first game of the season with a different cast of characters than what we saw last year. I didn’t see much of this game but I did see Mark Buscaglia had a pick.

Not So Sticky and 716 played a close game with a ton of picks. Derek Pew favored the deep ball to his WR1, whose name I do not know. That was difference maker in the end. Alivia LaRue and Jenna Blachura played very well for NSS while Mike Thomas has 2 INTs in the game. 716 might have had the blunder of the day though at the end of the half when Rags threw a pick that was easily taken back for what should have been a TD. NSS defense didn’t even try to get back (probably because they were thinking about their halftime beers already). Somehow, after waiting for a female to catch up for the gender TD, the exchange was botched and the ball hit the ground. No points, end of half. Ya hate to see it.

In D6, Blitzkrieg shut out Lenny’s Ladies 22-0. LL held on in the first half despite missing several key players. Unfortunately, due to some big drops and bad Joe K passes, they could not generate any offense to find the end zone.

Blitzkrieg and TMA faced off once again. This was close game that was decided by one point. Both teams’ females played outstanding. Ryan Henry was back for TMA. It came down to the wire when TMA went up in the final seconds of the game. Blitzkrieg tried for the Hail Mary for the win but Rich Turner came up with the pick to end it.

That is all for this week. Allow me to leave you with your Top 5 Notable Players of Week 3:

1. Amber Hayes- all I kept hearing about was the sliding interception she made for TopShot and how no one could cover her on Breast Friends.

2. Matt Helm- the females on Untouchaballs tend to get all the pub but Helm made an incredible one handed TD catch that deserves recognition.

3. Matty Ice- not only did he stay all day in between his games to ref, he then went on to win his D2 game while moderately intoxicated.

4. Katie Salisbury-still recovering from surgery so out for the season, Katie came back to help out because she heard we were in dire need.

5. Everyone who donated to the Stand Down event. We got so many donations and Topper’s wedding date was overwhelmed at the turn out. We are going to continue collecting next week too for anyone who forgot this week. Thank you! This is just one of many reasons we have the best sports league in the area!

Week 4 Review

Details: Category: The Sentinel; Created: Tuesday, 14 September 2021 18:25; Published: Tuesday, 14 September 2021 18:25; Written by Patrick McGovern; Hits: 2526

Well ladies and gentlemen of the TSL, we have officially passed the halfway point of the regular season. Week 4 is in the books and the playoff favorites, hopefuls, and dreamers are becoming more and more apparent. Only 4 of our teams haven’t won a game while 7 teams remain undefeated. Let’s take a look at who is, in fact, in midseason form.

Public Enemy took the win over Losing Streak in a close, offensive battle. LS should be happy with their performance as there were a ton of big plays that proved they are where they should be. I do need to mention that PE was without most of their defensive powerhouse with the absence of Greg Oiska, Jake Maryniewski and Paulie Johnson. Chris Cole is a great QB, no one will argue that, but when you see him on defense, PE’s odds will go down. Nevertheless, their skeleton crew made enough stops to get the job done, mainly by continuing to score. Heather Cepuchowski played a big role in the win, gaining 10-15 yards to march her team down the field on several occasions.

Sticky Bandits lost to Slob Kabobs in a back and forth game. Adrian Cannon made his Sticky debut, balling out on defense and getting their first TD of the game. It looked like SB had control through the game but they weren’t able to maintain it. SKs displayed some crazy skill players; they may not be in the discussion for D1 champions but MVP nods may be heading their way. Andy Smigiera was a beast. I heard rumors about a possible NFL try-out so that’s cool, unless you have to play against him. Emily Gawlak, however, was the real star of the show. She was an absolute monster and could not be covered. Ben Stack had the game winning TD with a crazy, Stack-esque, back of the end zone at full speed catch.

I didn’t see the Tight Ends in Motion/Eyes Downtown game but it looked like it was a close one that TEs managed to take by 2 points. The Big 3 of D1 (PE, TEIM, ED) all sit in the top 3 of the division but with PE and ED only having 2 games under their belt a lot can happen in the second half of the season.

When Doves Cry pulled off a win against Notorious BNB bright and early this week. BNB put in Alex Buchalis’s brother, who they pulled out of retirement, for the first half. George played in years past but he looked pretty rusty out there, completing maybe a handful of passes. Topper, on the hand, thrives at 9 am and picked apart the BNB defense, putting up 51 points.

Notorious BNB played again later in the day against Scared Hitless. SH continued their dominance in the division. BNB was missing Josh Schneider and Dave Baker tried to play in both this game and his TEIM game but that is stated as not allowed in the rule book so they lost him to D1. BNB scored early but then the wheels fell off. Kynan Vandenburgh was back for SH and had a nice TD to ring in his season. Brandon Farr returned a conversion and SH remains among the undefeated teams. Next week, they take on A&A so one less undefeated team will remain in D2.

XTC finally got a win against Bullet Club. I’m going to say it was criticism that lit the fire they needed to play to their potential. Having the majority of their roster there also helped. The female squad for XTC is probably one of the best in the division. It is rare to see a drop by any one of them. Scotty Dro looked miserable throughout the game but he did drop a dime to Anthony Deak on a deep route for a TD.

A&A held onto the TopSpot with a win over TopShot (see what I did there?). In a game with far too many male crop tops, both teams refused to stand down to the other and it was a battle for the full 50 minutes. Matty Ice and Dylan Jaloza played well rounded games, taking the yardage given, using the females and not hesitating to go deep when the situation called for it. Adrian Cannon and Mike Rawdin both had speed that no one on A&A could match but even without the newly added height, A&A found a way to come away with the win.

Grey Hair Don’t Care took a tough loss to The Untouchaballs. Despite Cory and Molly Santo back in action for GH, they couldn’t match the speed UTB brought. Jeremy Burr keeps gaining chemistry with his receivers and the timing routes are increasing as a result. This game was the Matt Helm/Melanie Linsmair show so hopefully they have a game plan for when teams figure out how to shut them down.

It’s safe to say Show Me Dem TDs is not in the right division. They got a win over Super Freaks who are the only team below them in the division but not having a consistent QB is going to hurt, especially in the upper divisions. Cobblestone continues to shock the world by sitting in second place with an impressive Points For number. Garrett Beesing gets credit where it’s due as he threw for Cobblestone this week. Andrew Alessi and Chris Carr made Beesing look even better with some great route running and catches. Maddie Norton had an impressive pick after batting down a pass as well.

The Angels got a commanding win over Frodo Swaggins. Matty Ice was in true midseason form and the ladies seem to finally have figured out their defense. Not going to lie, Garret Beesing had a rough day at the office. There were a couple misfires I’m sure he would want back. But it wasn’t completely on Beesing; his receivers had a couple easy catches bounce off their chest or out of their hands, taking the wind out of everyone sails.

Freeballers took on Super Freaks and came away with the win. Dylan Jaloza had another solid performance. He and Matt Kieta had a great connection throughout the game with Kieta making some highlight reel worthy catches. Ralph Finney was back at QB for SFs but got little help from his WRs. They also had two females get injured during the game. SF utilized their females but only for 3-4 yards at a time. FBs had the edge top to bottom here so SFs should walk away happy that it was only a 10 point game.

Freeballers went on to narrowly defeat Last Dance later in the day. Jordan Lawson subbed for LD as Ricky Austin seems to have left us. LD was shorthanded, leaving Lawson to play defense. LD had their chances to win but could not punch the ball in when it counted. Anthony Barnessi had 2 big drops that are uncharacteristic for him. They failed to score after getting the ball on the 2 yard line. Then Matt Kieta came up with a pick for FBs to end the game. Joe Zogaria was making plays whenever I looked.

Titsburgh Feelers got smoked by Buffalo Vice in the second-biggest discrepancy of the day. In their defense, TF is a new team and they are playing a team that could probably hold their own in a higher division. TF QB Ciemny seemed to favor the deep ball and trust his receivers. He had the arm for it but the situation did not usually call for it. WR Ciemny (brothers I’m guessing?) had a nice contested catch to get his team down field and I saw him make a couple defensive break ups as well. He also had a great back of end zone catch which made up for a big drop earlier in the game. Buffalo Vice had Frank Pizza throwing in the absence of Seth Molisani. He doesn’t have the arm this team is used to but he did what he could to get the ball down field. Amy Denning had a nice catch and run for a TD that TF was in no way prepared for.

Breast Friends and GUCCI was a hyped up game that did not disappoint. BF scored on their first 2 drives. Kelly Kane opened their game with a deep corner route over all the BFs females heads. It was looking like a shootout. Kane led her team with big drives and had them up 16 points early in the second half. BFs took a page from the other gender teams and started looking for the female-female match ups and exploiting those. A couple picks late in the half sealed the deal and the win for BFs.

Practice Squad suffered a loss to Cunning Stunts who look also so to be in true midseason form. B had a poor showing but his WRs bailed him out on a couple plays. Unfortunately they couldn’t do it enough to come up with the win. Joey Batts had a flawless performance, just ask him. Jamy Stamel was back in action and Brandy Clark feasted.

Come From Behind demolished TOX, who just cannot seem to right the ship without their fearless leader, Topper. I mentioned that Buffalo Vice had the second biggest differential, this game was first. Paul LoVullo and co put up 50 points with a full roster in attendance. TOX had Aaron Balcerzak back in action who gave their QB a nice target. The first couple throws were very Topper-esque as they were over his and everyone else’s head. Eventually Dave Walter came in and changed the game plan from relying on the deep ball to taking the short stuff. They just did not have the manpower to keep up and CFB ended the game with a 50-6 win.

Not So Sticky beat Lettuce Win, who insisted on playing shorthanded. LW started the game with 5 players and was left with 4 after the first 10 minutes when one player was exhausted on the sideline. The game was well out of hand by half time but LW took the forfeit. NSS had Ricky Recckio and Jeff Krol play for LW to scrimmage in the second half.

The WoodPeckers pulled out a win over 716, giving them their first loss on the season. 716 had a 20 point lead but somehow managed to blow it. WP played with 3 guys, 3 girls leaving Joe Buscaglia to rush. Somehow they pulled it all together and put up 37 points. The females on WoodPeckers showed some serious skill and if their attendance can be counted on, this team could be a sleeper in the playoffs.

WoodPeckers went on to play Spinelli’s Plumbing. Buscaglia struggled in his second game of the day and threw a pick 8 to start the game. Katie Swanson broke on the ball and easily trotted it in for 8. They found themselves down 28 early in the first half. Spinelli’s have been riding high since a loss to start their season. They look more and more in sync each time I see them and D5 is going to be must watch television come playoff time. WPs females again showed a lot of talent which will help them in a big way later in the season.

TMA stays on top of the division with a win over Victorious Secret. The ladies of VS could not stop the big guns on TMA so Ryan Henry and Co ran away with it. There wasn’t much in the way of highlights in this game aside from a Ron Webber quadruple catch, while falling to get his team down to the 5. Lauren O’Brian was left wide open to finish that drive.

Topper got the nod for Lenny’s Ladies after another Joe K injury (or the same one, I don’t know). He must have still been riding high from his early morning success because he sliced and diced Graves Bros. No defense was apparently played either way. The game came down to the final minutes and Topper was able to get it done with a completion to Caitlyn Mason for the game winning conversion.

That’s all for this week. I would like to highlight some other teams who maybe don’t get as much pub but I will honestly say I watch some games for an entire half and nothing happens so if you want the press, you have to earn it. I will leave you with my Top 5 Notables for Week 4.

1. Caitlyn Mason- had one of the most impressive picks I’ve seen for Lenny’s Ladies, picking the ball at the 50 then deking around the entire team to the end zone.

2. Billy Gunn- Billy is back and all is right with the world again

3. Sarah Trifesto (WoodPeckers)- not necessarily one big play stood out but she had a solid day on both sides of the ball and is definitely one of the “May not be someone you have heard of but you should”.

4. Mike Rogowski (XTC)- despite being on the high end of average league age, Rogo plays 100% every time I’ve seen him play and can still get up to make a stop when he needs to

5. Matt Kieta (Freeballers)- he’s doing a great job keeping his cool on the field and reffing. Keep up the good work Matt.

Until next time, I’ll be watching….

Week 2 Review

Details: Category: The Sentinel; Created: Monday, 30 August 2021 18:43; Published: Monday, 30 August 2021 18:43; Written by Patrick McGovern; Hits: 2151

Ladies and gentlemen of the TSL, another week of football has come and gone. This week, the kinks we saw on Opening Day were flushed out and things were smooth sailing from my perspective. Sure, it felt like we were playing on the surface of the sun, but that’s football. Come late October, we will be bellyaching that it’s too cold I’m sure. But despite the likely sunburn and possible heat stroke many of us are still suffering from, the week was a glorious. More so for some than others, so let’s get into it.

In D1 there was only one game played as Slob Kabobs forfeited their rematch against Public Enemy. Losing Streak came away with their first D1 win against reigning champions Tight Ends in Motion. I wrote that sentence strictly to give them the satisfaction of reading it but now I must report that TE was definitely not at full strength. Most notably, Bro Klecker was MIA (he had a good excuse as he was getting married). They had their ladies and a solid male receiving core but Garrett Beesing subbed in at QB and just threw too many balls to the wrong team. So, while I would say the result may have been a little different had TE had their full squad, LS proved they can run in D1. I did hear Ralph Finney was injured during the game though so hopefully that’s not serious as it takes more than just a Chris Nelson to compete at the top level.

In D2, When Dove Cries took on A&A. Most notable in this game was WDC missing all their females. Steph Czaja and Emily Schilling subbed in, giving Topper solid targets but the Clarkes’ ability to adjust to Topper waiter-esque throwing style is tough to make up for. The deep ball plagued A&A’s defense as usual. Matty Ice was able to use his females effectively to march down the field. Their newly added height is going to be tough to defend for many teams this season.

A&A went on to beat XTC later in the day. XTC was missing Dubey so Joey Batts stepped in at QB. This was a back and forth battle with as much side talk as you’d expect from these two teams. Kelly Mazur had a great game for XTC while Glenn Bird came through big for A&A when it counted.

Notorious BNB got their first win over Passed Our Prime in a controversial ending. After a tight, high scoring shoot out, Kyle Conniff had hands on the would-be game winner but Alex Baker played some solid defense and Conniff was not able to hold on. It was ruled “no catch” and BNB walked away with the 42-39 win.

In D3, Grey Hair Don’t Care continued to assert their dominance over The Angels in another close match up. A surprisingly low-scoring game, The Angels looked like they found a rhythm on defense but Matty Ice and Co could not punch it in when it counted. Dave and Beata Eickhoff utilized their chemistry perfectly to score the gender TDs when they needed it. Jackie Ufland Pienkow also had a solid game for GHDC. These two teams could not have a game without drama so Rawdog provided that with a fast count that any Angel would be happy to tell you all about.

Last Dance finds themselves at the top of the division and the early D3 favorites after their dominant win over Cobblestone. Matt Newman took the rock for LD and put on an absolute clinic. He looked like he added some arm strength in the off season and showed perfect touch and placement. Possible QB controversy already??? Cobblestone has solid athletes but could not keep up with the agility and speed LD brings to the table.

Darryl Carr and Co redeemed themselves later in the day, beating Untouchaballs 30-6. An early injury resulted in George Lombardo subbing in to give Untouchaballs a full squad. The aforementioned athletes of CB lived up to their usual level of performance while Darryl put the team and his back and carried them into the sunset.

Lastly in D3, it was brought to my attention that I misspoke (mistyped) in my previous article. Scotty Dro did not abandon Bullet Club as their primary QB for Frodo Swaggins. Rather, he joined the Kellers on 4^th and Dong, keeping BC as his secondary team. 4^th and Dong was able to snag their first win this week, beating Super Freaks, 38-30. Now everyone relax.

In D4, Buffalo Vice and Zack Attack battled in out on defense. BV did not have Seth Molisano in at QB so had to go with their back up. Dan “Deep Ball” Gonzalez did what he does best. Caitlyn Mason shook the ZA defense out of their socks on multiple occasions. ZA was renowned for their defense last year, but Zack Elphick and his team need to find a way to put more points on the board if they are going to survive this division.

Zack Attack was able to get a win in the books later against Puckett All Stars. Another low-scoring game, both these teams are riding on the adage “defense wins championships”. Bold strategy, but let’s see if it pays off for them.

On the other side of the spectrum, Itches and Ohs put up 87 points over the course of their double header this week while allowing 73 points on defense. I did not see much of either game as the heat stroke started to sink in by the time they played. Looking at the standings though, I&Os sits at the top of the division with 4 games already under their belt. In the +/- column though, they stand almost dead even so maybe Zack Elphick and Steven Moser can give each other some tips to round out each other’s game.

Iches & Ohs, Practice Squad and Breast Friends all had double headers against each other which is just a fun scheduling thing I noticed. Breast Friends did not fair well as they were the only team to lose both. Kelly Sabo had an incredible catch in the back of the endzone to go up on I&Os in the final minutes of their game. BF were not able to maintain their lead and I&Os came away with the win, 36-35. Travis Cleavenger looked gassed, from what I could see from the bar (again, these were late games and I don’t do above 85 degrees). Afterwards, I heard BF were short handed and had to play iron man. Regardless, Emily Wyse is not a name I hear often but she was making a name for herself among the dominant females on Practice Squad with some solid catch and runs this week.

In D5, most teams have only played 1 game besides 716. They beat TOX this week who debuted a new QB in place of Topper. New guy can certainly sling it but it looked like TOX ran out of gas late in the game. James Celatto is questionably overqualified to be playing in D5 but I guess we will have to see how the rest of the division shapes up once everyone plays a couple games.

Wasted Potential took on Not So Sticky in a very close match up. NSS had the lead but WP was able to tie it up in the final minute. “Rags” Nagarajan was leading NSS throughout the game and on the last drive he found Ricky Recckio in the endzone for the game winner. NSS’s females had a solid game on both sides of the ball.

Come From Behind is back and all is good in the world. For those new to the league, CFB is a vet-savvy team made up of some players who have been playing longer than some have been alive (I won’t say who). TSL legend Paul LoVullo is back and his connection with Jen Stachura hasn’t missed a beat. Lettuce Win is a “new” team but there were some familiar faces that have definitely played before under other identities. Both these teams seemed evenly matched both offense and defensively. Neither was afraid to go deep and defenders were not against going up to make a play. Both QBs utilized their females well and marched down the field systematically. Lettuce Win seemed to have just a little more gas in the tank though and came away with the win, 28-16.

Lastly in D6, TMA beat Blitzkrieg and took over the #1 spot in the division. Rob Rummings and Nick Smith were back which greatly added to TMA’s overall ratings. Val Testa came up big with a sack on 5-0, giving her team great field position. Johnny Dio was back in action slinging for TMA. Blitzkrieg has speed abounds and used it well against TMA. Blitzkrieg continued to play with a new QB while their starter remains on IR. I don’t know his name yet but he was not afraid to send his receivers on a go route and toss it up to him. His no look passes successfully drew away the defenders, allowing his receivers to walk it in. In the closing minutes of the game, Johnny Dio found Rummings to put TMA on top. Blitzkrieg tried to go hurry up but Nick Smith got an interception to put it away.

That’s all for this week! Hopefully by next week things will cool off a little so we can’t all use that as an excuse for our fitness level. I will leave you with my Top 5 notables of Week 2.

1. Cobblestone- everyone questioned why they moved up but they currently sit at 2^nd in the division. Never doubt Darryl!

2. Jenna Blachura- had 5 sacks for Not So Sticky, putting the team on her back to come up with the win

3. Jordan Lawson- got his first D1 win so he deserves some special credit.

4. Tammy Buzcek- saved Joey Batts from throwing a would-have-been pick by fighting off the defender then sacrificing her head to make an incredible catch for Cunning Stunts

5. Peter Walbrandt (Travis Henry’s Kids)- early candidate for the Chris Nelson Best Player Playing in a Division Too Low for Them award

Until next time, I’ll be watching…

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