The Playoff match-ups are now set in Division 1 and in the 9-man league. The Semi-finalists have been decided in division 2, and it is officially the best part of football season! After some drama, that I think everyone is quite happy to put behind them, the Tantramar Titans have still managed to qualify for the playoffs. That’s a good thing, as the team that has shown to be the strongest is still involved in the division 1 playoffs. One thing that Tantramar has lost however is their home field advantage throughout the playoffs which could hurt in some form, but the fan base usually follows the Titans around. Another very intriguing thing is that the Titans finished 4th in the tie breaker, which means they have drawn the Moncton High Purple Knights. It means that finishing in 1st place actually worked against the Knights as they have to face the best team in the province. Moncton High is still a strong team and has the coaching and the athletic ability to beat the Titans. Something that could hurt the Knights though, is the rumour that team Canada running back Oliver Longpre could be back for the Titans, which makes them even better than they have been all season. Oliver has been sidelined with an injury and rumour has it that he should be in the lineup this weekend.
The other Division 1 matchup has the Riverview Royals facing off against the Fredericton High School Black Kats. These teams actually faced each other last week with the Royals getting a 27-0 victory. The result did come as a surprise to many as the Black Kats were coming off a 28-21 upset of the first place Moncton High Purple Knights in their previous game. I think we will see a more competitive game in this week’s match-up, but the Royals have been very good all season. They are also the team that has caused the Tantramar Titans the most issues, but also lost to Moncton High 17-7. We are going to have some entertaining games in this top division, it should be fun for players, coaches and the fans.
In the 9-man division, we also have the 1st round of the playoffs set to go with 2 games happening this weekend. We have the undefeated Sussex Sonics facing the 4th place Harbour View Vikings. The other semi-final has the 6-1 Rothesay Redhawks against the 3rd place James M. Hill Memorial Tommies of Miramichi. Rothesay and Sussex have been expected to face off for the 9-man championship, but when it comes to playoff football, you never know. Sussex really seems like the heavy favourite to win it all with how consistent they have been on both sides of the ball but to win it all, they will need to face a few teams that have been pretty good as well.
The playoffs in the 2nd division kicked off this weekend with the 4 Quarter Finals being played. The results were all as expected except a very lop sided Harrison Trimble Trojans victory over their Cross town rival the Bernice McNaughton Highlanders by a score of 38-0. Both of this weekend’s Semi-Final games should be good ones. The Ecole Sainte-Anne Castors will face the Harrison Trimble Trojans. The Trojans have started rolling as of late and are no strangers to deep playoff runs and upsets so this is one thing I am sure the Sainte-Anne coaching staff are well aware of. I expect two very prepared teams this weekend and a hard fought football game.
The other Semi-final match-up has the undefeated Olympiens de L’Odyssee facing the Saint Malachy’s Memorial Saints. The Saints are a team with a lot of talent and a good coaching staff behind them. The 2 teams met once in the regular season with the Olympiens winning that contest 34-0 in week 1. This game could also be much closer than most people think as the Saints are much better than they were in week 1 but the same thing can be said for the Olympiens. The Saints will need to find a way to keep L’Odyssee’s juggernaut offence that has been able to score a lot of points in most of their games this season.
It’s now time to see what the 3 experts think will happen…. “Experts”
Analyst Records
Pistol Pete: 60-17
Mister Freeze: 58-19
Coach Zen: 62-15
Division 1
Tantramar Titans @ Moncton High Purple Knights
Pistol Pete: “35-7 Titans”
Mister Freeze: “Titans 42-7”
Coach Zen: “49-17 Titans”
Fredericton High Black Kats @ Riverview Royals
Pistol Pete: “28-14 Royals”
Mister Freeze: “35-14 Royals”
Coach Zen: “35-7 Royals”
Division 2
Saint Malachy’s Memorial Saints @ Olympiens de L’Odyssee
Pistol Pete: “42-14 Olympiens”
Mister Freeze: “28-14 ODC”
Coach Zen: “49-10 Olympiens”
Harrison Trimble Trojans @ Ecole Sainte-Anne Castors
Pistol Pete: “28-14 Castors”
Mister Freeze: “28-21 Trojans”
Coach Zen: “35-21 Castors”
9-Man League
Harbour View Vikings @ Sussex Regional Sonics
Pistol Pete: “42-7 SONIC BOOM!”
Mister Freeze: “Sonics”
Coach Zen: “49-7 Sonics”
James M. Hill Memorial Tommies @ Rothesay Redhawks
Pistol Pete: “35-10 Hawks”
Mister Freeze: “Hawks”
Coach Zen: “35-10 Redhawks”
It’s playoff time, let’s get out there and enjoy some football!
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