France: All 6 teams in action in Conference A as season starts winding down
The French D1 Elite Championship is heading into the home stretch with three rounds remaining in the regular season.
Conference A in the North features matchups involving all six teams with plenty on the line.
Saturday, May 7
Amiens Spartiates (3-4) @ Thonon-les-bains Black Panthers (6-1)
The 6-1 Black Panthers will take on the 3-4 Spartiates at home in what should be an advantageous matchup for Thonon. After securing a road victory against Molosses last week, the Black Panthers will return home to face an Amiens team that lost at home to the Cougars by 28 points. In week four, the Black Panthers traveled to Amiens and walked away with a 42-21 victory. Running back Nicolas Khandar was the star of the day for Thonon, carrying the ball 17 times for 204 and three touchdowns. Thonon’s ground and pound offense was ultimately too much for the Spartiates to handle, as they dominated the line of scrimmage and controlled the time of possession. If the Spartiates want to have a chance in this one, they will have to be much more stout up front.
Sunday, May 8
La Courneuve Flash (7-0) @ Saint-ouen l’aumône Cougars (4-3)
The third place Cougars (4-3) will have a chance to pull a shocking upset when they host the first-place Flash (7-0). The Flash are coming off the season’s biggest blowout as they dismantled the Vikings 86-0, but now face a much greater challenge in the Cougars, who also had a great showing last week, scoring a 42-14 victory in Amiens against the Spartiates. Cougars quarterback Brody Hahn had a great day last week, going 19/26 for 276 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His team will need another brilliant performance from him if they want to compete with La Courneuve. These teams’ last matchup came in week 4, where the Flash defeated the Cougars 44-20 at home. Flash quarterback Conor Miller had a very efficient day, completing 12 of 19 passes, yet racking up 286 yards (over 23 yards per completion) and five touchdowns. Receiver Ryan Smith had 6 catches for 144 yards and 3 scores, and Stephane Fortes added 3 catches for 83 yards and 2 scores. Needless to say, the Cougars will need to find a way to slow down the Flash passing attack in order to stay in the game and maybe pull off the upset.
Asnieres-sur-seine Molosses (1-6) @ Villeneuve d’ascq Vikings (0-7)
After last round’s utter disaster at the hands of the Flash, an 86-0 defeat, the Vikings will have a chance to get back on their feet as they host Molosses. Still winless at 0-7, this matchup is easily the Vikings’ best chance to grab a victory before the season is over, as Molosses is second-to-last in the conference at 1-6, with their only victory coming against the Vikings. These teams faced off in week four, resulting in a 26-9 victory for Molosses. Quarterback Camille Thouray had a solid day in his team’s only win this season, completing 13 of 21 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns while not turning the ball over, while the Molosses defense came up with key stops as they held the Vikings to under 10 points. In what might be the Vikings’ last chance of winning a game this season, expect them to try out a lot of new things on offense, involving new players in their scheme and busting out some trick plays
