[tps_title]FFFA Elite Week 4[/tps_title]
Saturday night, France’s Elite American Football league will kick off Week 4. Among the games, the two-time defending champion Black Panthers will host the Argonautes, who’ve made a strong start to the season.
In the Northern Conference, the Templiers must play mistake free football to have a chance to beat the Flash La Courneuve if they hope to win a ticket to the playoffs.
It’s time to preview.
Thonon-les-Bains Black Panthers (2-1) v. Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (2-0)
The game of the weekend is the match between the two-time defending French champions, the Black Panthers (4th), versus the Argonautes (1st), who are newly promoted this season and yet leading the Elite league. The Argos are off to a strong and thundering start, and a favorite to make the playoffs. For their part, the Black Panthers, who were revamped in the off season, have not impressed. In fact they are shaky. Beaten by in Nice by the Dauphins in Week 2, they then had trouble finally disposing of the 7th place Templiers. The Black Panthers’ victory was only sealed in the last few seconds (see video highlights of the match).
Larry Legault‘s players will have to do a better job if they hope to contain the Argonautes, who are led by an excellent Jimmie Russell. The American player may be the best QB in the Elite with 6 TD passes and 2 TD runs in just the two games played. He’s also the most accurate QB in France’s top league with a 58% completion rate. It is no wonder that with such statistics, the Argonautes have the most prolific offense in the league scoring 88 points in two games.
Although Thonon-les-Bains quarterback Billy Greene is a “dual-threat” player with 104 yards gained on the ground, and 5 TDs, he has been far less comfortable in the air with only 3 passing TDs and a 40% completion rate. The Argonautes can expect an almost exclusively run oriented offense where Milton Knox Jr. (261 yards, 2 TD) will be monitored closely by Argo’s American defensive star Jesse Kirstatter, the Elite’s leading tackler.
[tps_title]FFFA Elite Week 4[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Flash de la Courneuve (2-1) v. Elancourt Templiers (0-1-2)[/tps_header]
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Tomorrow night, the Flash de la Courneuve (3rd) host the Templiers of Elancourt (7th) in a battle of Ile-de-France. Compared to last year’s duel, this season’s meeting seems more unbalanced due to the ‘Elancourtois’ difficult season start.
Although the offensive squad of coach Emmanuel Charret showed some beautiful things two weeks ago, the defense completely crumbled against the Black Panthers, conceding 39 points (see summary video of the game). The Templiers defense has conceded 974 yards since the start of the season, the worst in the Elite. On offense, although QB Zack Shaw has a duo of effective receivers in Rody Surpin (268 yards, 1 TD) and Jonathan Eckmans (171 yards, 1 TD), it has been strongly handicapped by an offensive line that has give up 10 sacks in the first three weeks.
That said, we know that the defense of La Courneuve is one of the most aggressive on opposing quarterbacks, and will give Zack Shaw‘s passing attack a hard time. With a stat line of 11 sacks, 9 assists and 2 interceptions, the defense the Flash black and yellow is indeed formidable. They have the second best scoring defense in the Elite, conceding only 35 points.
On offense, QB Paul Durand has had a great start to the season (8 TD, 3 INT and an average of 228 yards / game). He is aided by WR Mickael Doukouré, (290 yards, 5 TD) who is undeniably the best receiver Elite. In the backfield, the Flash is also very well served by Marcus Shaw, author of 239 yards and 4 TD. This may be a difficult encounter for the Templiers, whose chances at the playoffs may already be in play in this game.
[tps_title]FFFA Elite Week 4[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Nîmes Centurions (0-2) v. Nice Dauphins (1-2)[/tps_header]
With 27 and 16 points scored respectively, the Centurions (8th) and Dauphins (6th) are the least effective offenses in the Elite. It must be said though that the schedule has not helped as the teams have faced the best defenses in the league (the Argonautes, Flash, Cougars, Black Panthers).
The outcome of Saturday night’s match is still wide open with Nîmes hoping to get their first win of the season and Nice looking to bounce back from a defeat suffered against the Flash de la Courneuve. Yannick Fattorini, coach of the Dauphins, on some positives in their Week 3 defeat:
Images: Oniryk Productions
One thing is certain, the Dauphins will have to do better than their average of 2.7 yards per play if they hope to penetrate their opponent’s end zone.
Starting his Elite season in Week 2 of the championship, Sullivan Silverio, whose talent is recognized by his peers, has struggling to find his receivers completing only 1 TD, with a 36% completion rate and 1 INT. Blake Robles, the Centurions American quarterback, has not exactly had a perfect start to the season, throwing for just 91 yards per game with 3 TD, 1 INT.
This match is the perfect opportunity for the two quarterbacks to inspire their clubs and to move into higher gear.
[tps_title]FFFA Elite Week 4[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Asnieres-sur-Seine Molosses (1-2) v. St. Ouen Cougars (2-1-0)[/tps_header]
How can you to turn your weaknesses into your strengths?
This is a question for Xavier Mas, head coach of the Cougars. While the coach felt that his defensive squad would not be up to last year’s standards, the Cougars defense has stepped up. With 4 interceptions returned for TDs (5 total), the Cougars have the best scoring defense in the Elite. Defensive efficiency has produced hyper aggressive players as evidenced by the number of tackles (140) and sacks (13) and pass breakups (14), the best stats of the league. Add to this 1,180 yards total offense and you get a team you do not want to cross. The Flash and Centurions have paid the price, and tomorrow night it is the Molosses (5th) who must be prepared.
The Molosses are emerging from a 41-23 loss to the league leading Argonautes of Aix-en-Provence. If the score suggests that Argos have easily dominated their opponents, this is not entirely accurate. It was only in the fourth quarter that Jerome Dondey’s Molosses cracked, conceding 20 points and the game.
The Molosses QB Evan Gehlert suffered a concussion late in the game against the Argos but after various medical examinations he was declared fit and well and will don the helmet to try to restart the Molosses machine, which has only averaged 16 points per game. On defense, the Molosses started strong with four interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) but overall has given up 82 points, the worst in the Elite league.
Source: Voxstadium.fr