Hustle Belt Fantasy League 2.0: Time to separate the men from the boys

Week 8 provided some fun matchups on the field, as Toledo had to score 35 unanswered points to steal the win vs. Massachusetts, Ball State lost a heartbreaker to Central Michigan on a dagger field goal, and Bowling Green absolutely demolished Kent State through the air.

The trend thus far in HB League 2.0 has been that regardless of results on the field, that the results for our brave Belters tend to be extremely skewed; that's bound to happen as a lot of the talent at the top trends to dominate regardless of team performance.

The Akron BYE week, combined with mitigating circumstances created some interesting moves. AJ Ouelette will no longer be seeing time at running back, as he takes over for Quinten Cope at OLB. Here are the week's transactions:

Reece's Huff:

CLAIM: LeVante Bellamy (WR-WMU)

DROP: Ernest Calhoun (WR-Kent State)

Zippy Squad:

CLAIM: Andrew Haldemann (K-WMU)

DROP: Josh McNeil (TE-Akron)

Cooper Rush Happy Hour:

CLAIM: Raekwon James (WR/RB- Kent State), Marquis Young (RB-Massachusetts), Corey Lacanaria (WR- Ball State), Miami (OH) D/ST

DROP: AJ Ouelette (RB-Ohio), Brendan Cope (WR-Ohio), Brian Eavey (K-CMU)

Without further ado, here are the scores and standings this week:

#4 Cooper Rush Happy Hour (James H. Jimenez) vs. #5 Kadeem Goul-bourne Supremacy (Justin Coffin)

CRHH			KGBS
Player	Pts	Position	Player	Pts
Cooper Rush	19	QB	Derrius Vick	9
Marquis Young	14	RB	Jamauri Bogan	20
Daz'mond Patterson	8	RB	Martez Walker	13
Alonzo Russell	15	WR	Corey Davis	11
Roger Lewis	22	WR	Kenny Golladay	13
Sam Browning	1	TE	Ben McCord	2
Raekwon James	0	FLEX	Ronnie Moore	27
Corey Lacanaria	13	FLEX	Ron Willoughby	2
Morgan Hagee	3	K	Kaleb Patterson	7
Ohio	-10	D/ST	Kent State	-8
TOTAL POINTS	85		TOTAL POINTS	96

This game is a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated. On offense, Justin and myself are separated by one point. However, the game was won on special teams and defense. Patterson scored more than Hagee, and the Ohio defense was worse than the Kent State defense, which created just enough space for Justin's team to squeeze through. Juston's effort was aided by a monster day from Ronnie Moore (7 rec., 151 yards, two touchdowns) and Jamauri Bogan (19 rushes, 84 yards, two touchdowns). CRHH had two good performances from new players, including WAIVER WIRE TRANSACTION OF THE WEEK Marquis Young (13 rushes, 80 yards, one touchdown) and Corey Lacanaria (10 rec., 72 yards, one touchdown). Kadeem Goul-bourne Supremacy moves even to 4-4, while Cooper Rush Happy Hour experiences a second consecutive loss to fall to 3-5.

#6 Firing Up My Chips (Nick "Frenchy" Fries) vs. #7 Double Fisting Pepsis (Russ Johnson)

FUMC			TERRY
Player	Pts	Position	Player	Pts
Drew Hare	27	QB	George Bollas	2
Damion Jones-Moore	6	RB	Trayion Durham	0
Donovan Wilson	1	RB	Travis Greene	6
Jesse Kroll	8	WR	Robbie Rhodes	0
Sam Martin	13	WR	Cody Thompson	23
Ryan Smith	3	TE	Matt Weiser	5
Jordan Johnson	28	FLEX	Argeros Turner	1
Marken Michel	0	FLEX	---	-3
Jameson Vest	15	K	Dylan Mulder	2
Bowling Green	28	D/ST	Western Michigan	22
TOTAL POINTS	129		TOTAL POINTS	58

I would let the score speak for itself, but I'm contractually obligated to give my #ANALYSIS. If this game happened in real life, it would be essentially unwatchable, what with bad quarterback play on one side (111 yards, two interceptions), and bad receivers on the other (22 points between four receivers). However, Jordan Johnson enjoyed an increase in playing time and ran all over the Ohio defense for 177 total yards and two touchdowns. Drew Hare also had a decent day for FUMC, going for 288 yards and four passing touchdowns. Meanwhile, Russ forgot to start a FLEX player and had to give up three points off an already low score. Cody Thompson (116 yards and two touchdowns) and Western Michigan (four sacks, two forced fumbles/recoveries, and 13 points allowed) were the only starters of note for Russ. Firing Up My Chips moved up to 4-4, while Double Fisting Pepsis slides to 2-6.

#8 Reece's Huff (Mike Karpinski) vs. #3 Tupande Kileleni (Alex Alvarado)

Reece's			AVO
Player	Pts	Position	Player	Pts
Reginald Bell	0	QB	Phillip Ely	31
Jarvion Franklin	4	RB	Darius Jackson	22
James Gilbert	11	RB	Anthone Taylor	0
Tommylee Lewis	14	WR	Corey Jones	14
Jordan Williams	7	WR	Gehrig Dieter	3
Keith Heitzmann	8	TE	Derek Lee	0
Jordan Huff	18	FLEX	Darian Green	3
Antwan Dixon	5	FLEX	Papi White	0
Josiah Yazdani	5	K	Tyler Tate	11
Northern Illinois	4	D/ST	Central Michigan	3
TOTAL POINTS	76		TOTAL POINTS	87

This battle was won in the backfield, as Karp started a quarterback that didn't play in Reggie Bell (although he didn't have much of a choice, as Colin Reardon also failed to see the field) and Jarvion Franklin struggled to get going on the ground. On the other side, AVO had 53 points from Phillip Ely (355 yards, five touchdowns, Jackson (106 total yards, two touchdowns) from his starting quarterback and running back. Jordan Huff was the main contributor for Karp, with 128 yards and a touchdown, while Tyler Tate (6 XPA and one field goal) and Corey Jones (88 rec. yards, one touchdown) were secondary contributors for AVO. Tupande Kileleni (5-3) squeaks by Reece's Huff (2-6), who can't string together a second straight win.

#1 Corey Davis Based God (Brown and Gold) vs. #2 Zippy Squad (Matt Hammond)

CDBG			ZIPPY
Player	Pts	Position	Player	Pts
Matt Johnson	47	QB	Zach Terrell	23
Joel Bouagnon	24	RB	Fred Coppet	5
Kareem Hunt	9	RB	Terry Swanson	17
Ryan Burbrink	14	WR	Daniel Braverman	25
Sebastian Smith	7	WR	Tajae Sharpe	27
Rodney Mills	7	TE	Michael Roberts	7
Mark Chapman	10	FLEX	Jacob Martinez	0
Jamal Wilson	0	FLEX	Alex Zmolik	1
Christian Hagan	7	K	Andrew Haldemann	5
Toledo	-7	D/ST	Buffalo	35
TOTAL POINTS	118		TOTAL POINTS	145

Oh look, a fantastic barnburner of a game! No surprise though, as this is a 1-2 matchup, tween two teams that are simply stacked with talent. Matt Johnson went off on Kent State and had yet another 40+ point performance (475 yards, six total touchdowns) and Joel Bouagnon once again had himself a day with 186 yard and a touchdown against Eastern Michigan. Two other double digit performances were not enough for Fitz' crew though, as four players scored over 20 points and another scored into the double digits. Daniel Braverman (135 rec. yards, two touchdowns), Tajae Sharpe (159 yards, two touchdowns), and the Buffalo defense (four sacks, four interceptions, two returns, 17 points against) all performed when it mattered for Hammond, as the Buffalo defense was just enough for the victory over Fitz. Corey Davis Based God has their winning streak end, falling to 6-2, while Zippy Squad is also watching the throne at 6-2.

***

Here are next week's matchups, along with the current rankings of each team:

#1b Zippy Squad vs. #6 Cooper Rush Happy Hour

#7a Double Fisting Pepsis vs. #4b Kadeem Goul-bourne Supremacy

#3 Tupande Kileleni vs. #1a Corey Davis Based God

#7b Reece's Huff vs. #4a Firing Up My Chips