LFA 2020

Other Leagues and Sports
1

Another football league started its season this weekend, and it features several Canadians. If anyone sees a site that lists the stats from the games, I’d appreciate it. The info below is from translations of articles written about each game.

Saltillo Dinos 12 Puebla City Artilleros 10
Looks like U of Ottawa grad RB Bryce Viera had a decent game for Puebla. But his team lost to the Saltillo Dinos, whose Drew Davis (American NCAA grad) was named game MVP.

Saltillo Dinos Canadian draft picks:

  1. Ben Koczwara OL Waterloo
  2. Bryce Vieira RB Ottawa
  3. Jordan Ngantsi DB Bishop’s
  4. Jimmie Cunningham DL St. Francis Xavier
  5. David Steeves LB Trinity Bible College

Puebla City Artilleros Canadian draft picks:
9) Zacary Alexis DB Montreal
17) Elroy Douglas DB Missouri Western St.

Monterrey Fundidores 20 Toluca Osos 14
I found no mention of Canadians in the write up.

Monterrey Fundidores
2) Jacob Czaja OL St. Francis Xavier
10) Elijah Watson OL Carleton
22) Brad Mikoluff K/P Manitoba

Toluca Osos
7) Ian Marouf DL Guelph
15) Mandella Loggale DB Saint Mary’s

Mexico City Mexicas 5 Naucalpan Raptors 13
Lauturo Frecha (DB Waterloo) got an INT for the Mexicas.
The write up also mentions a Canadian kicker’s attempted FG being blocked (by an American NCAA grad), but doesn’t name the kicker.
It also seems (trusting google translate here) to mention Archelaus Jack of Saint Mary’s fumbling a kick return.

Mexico City Mexicas
6) Alex Morrison WR UBC
14) Lautaro Frecha DB Waterloo
20) Archelaus Jack WR Saint Mary’s
24) Dylan Schrot WR Manitoba

Naucalpan Raptors
4) Graham Kelly QB Mount Allison
12) Zeph Fraser WR Guelph
18) Brad Friesen LB UBC

Querétaro Pioneros 7 Mexico City Condors 29
I found no mention of Canadians in the write up.

Querétaro Pioneros
3) Jeremy Fagnan DB St. Francis Xavier
11) Drew Morris LB Acadia

Mexico City Condors
5) Nick Parisotto DB Guelph
13) Dallas Boath WR Calgary
19) Brendon Thera-Plamondon WR Calgary
23) Shaun Robinson DE/LB Mount Allison

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2

It’s a shame those Can boys have to go south to play. Too bad there isn’t room for some of them to play here at home. I know, let’s cut back the number of Amers allowed to play in our league.

I’m glad they have somewhere to play and I would watch a game if i could because there is a connection.

Thanks for the info, Dave.

3

I’m not certain of the criteria for selecting the 25 Canadians down there, but I think they were all players who were just outside the crop likely to be selected in the CFL draft.

In either case, I don’t think playing down there for February and March (maybe April too?) precludes them from playing up here in the summer and fall. Hopefully, it actually increases their chances of doing so.

And, I wouldn’t mind a ratio of say maximum 20 internationals with the stipulation that no more than half of those can be from any one country. That way, teams would have ten Americans. The other ten international spots would only be filled if those players are better than available nationals. But the CFLPA is largely made up of US players, so I doubt that’d ever pass.

4

Canadian players in the LFA were free agents and indicated before the LFADraft of Canadians that they were willing to play in Mexico. LFA allows 2 Canadians per active roster. Officially, the games and their on-demand replays are broadcast on Facebook. 3rd parites sometimes upload them on Youtube. The league website has team rosters and the players’ jersey numbers.

In the Mexicas vs Raptors game, there was a block field goal attempt. However as one can tell by who was were eligible for the game, there were no Kicker from Canada.

Saltillo Dinos 12 Puebla City Artilleros 10

Dinos
19 Bryce Vieira RB
54 Ben Koczwara OL

Artilleros
1 Zacary Alexis DB
3 Elroy Douglas DB

Monterrey Fundidores 20 Toluca Osos 14

Monterrey Fundidores
44 Brad Mikoluff K
65 Elijah Watson OL
68 Jacob Czaja OL

Toluca Osos
12 Mandella Loggale DB
53 Ian Marouf DL

Mexico City Mexicas 5 Naucalpan Raptors 13

Mexico City Mexicas
1 Archelaus Jack WR
85 Alex Morrison WR

Naucalpan Raptors
11 Brad Friesen LB
12 Graham Kelly QB

Querétaro Pioneros 7 Mexico City Condors 29

Querétaro Pioneros
webpage under construction

Mexico City Condors
25 Nick Parisotto DB
20 Maikon Zoe Zepeda Girardin?(only other player on roster that could be considered Canadian as he played for University of Montreal)

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5

Thanks for the post and links.

I found the blocked kick in the Mexicas-Raptors game, and I think the write up of the game just confused the nationality of the player who blocked it (he’s American, not Canadian).

However, the write up does mention that Canadian Lautaro Frecha got an INT that set up the first FG of the game. Unfortunately, the video starts after that score had already occurred.

Perhaps he has some claim to Mexican citizenship to allow him on the active roster in addition to the two Canadian receivers.

Edit: I found another youtube video of the game, and it starts from the beginning. Frecha did not get an INT but dropped what should’ve been one. In the ensuing plays, you can see the Canadian WRs get into the action. I marked the spot in this link, but the Frecha play starts around the 14:00 mark of the video.

I also noticed on the Mexica roster page, it lists Jack as being BC Lions property and Morrison as a Bomber.

It also lists two other Canadians, Frecha as part of the “Warriors OUA” and RB Terrell Gourdine from Waterloo . . . guess they don’t understand Warriors and Waterloo are the same.

6

@Capital_Dave.
Small correction on the above.
Bryce Vieira plays for the Saltillo Dinos who did win the game against Puebla Artilleros.
101 APY with 4 touches!

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7

Thanks for the correction.

I might have to check in on Vieira’s game this weekend as his Dinos take on the Fundidores, who have a couple of Canadian O linemen and a Canadian kicker (which is a bit of a surprise to me . . . thought finding skilled Mexican kickers would be easy). Looks lie Viera had an 82-yard TD reception as part of those stats.

Another Canadian who had a strong game stats-wise was LB Drew Morris with 6 tackles including 1 sack for the Pioneros.

That game’s listed at 8:30 Friday night, central time I assume.

8

There’s a game live now:

9

Well I’m giving up at the half. This game is sloppier than an Argos-Redblacks preseason tilt.

I did get to see the two Canadian O-linemen and chubby kicker for the Fundidores, though.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I saw Vieira get a single touch for the Dinos.

Boy, those teams need work on long snaps. Every kick is an adventure.

10

Looks like a better game today with the Mexicas and Artilleros.

The Mexicas have receivers from UBC and St. Mary’s. Nicholas Jack has a pair of TDs in the first half . . . I think . . . my stupid WIFI keeps conking out. :crazy_face:

11

Former Mount Allison QB Graham Kelly looks pretty good for the Raptors, who are up 13-0 over the Pioneros at the half.

The Pioneros have a couple of Canadians on defense, Jeremy Fagnan from StFX and Drew Morris from Acadia.

12

Surprised Graham Kelly is even seeing the field as Bruno Marquez is considered the top QB in the LFA.

13

Interesting. Maybe Marquez is injured. I didn’t see the first quarter.

14

Funny, I started watching this league as a curiosity, and even though the quality of play is not particularly high, I’m now invested enough to look forward to the games. Having said that, I do plan to watch fewer games going forward than I did in the first two weeks (don’t want football burnout before the real season starts in June).

Here’s the one I’m looking forward to this Saturday: Dinos vs Raptors.

Both teams are 2-0.
The Dinos feature U of Ottawa grad Bryce Vieira at RB.
The Raptors have Mount Allison grad Graham Kelly at QB.

15

Bruno Marquez is back from injury and is starting at QB for the Raptors. Graham Kelly does not appear to be on the team any longer as there was a different person wearing #12.

16

I hadn’t noticed. Stream is frozen for me at the moment. In their first game, I recall Kelly being easily visible on the sidelines as he’s one of the taller players . I wonder what’s going on there.

In the early game, Nicholas Jack looked pretty good, though his team lost.

17

Graham Kelly was released after being the starter for Week #2 and throwing for 155 yards. He confirmed that on his social media page. I scanned the other teams and noticed that the Artilleros no longer list Zacary Alexis. Evidently, carrying 2 Canadians in the LFA is not mandatory.

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18

I thought he looked OK, and they won the game with him at QB.

I wondered, though, how difficult communication could be for him. A QB has to be able to communicate clearly and quickly to his teammates. Must be tough with a new playbook in a new language.

19

Do you know if any of the Mexican players who were on CFL rosters in 2019 are playing this season in LFA?

I checked a couple of names (Villalobos and Maltos from Ottawa) and couldn’t find them listed, but I’m not sure of any of the others.

On the one hand, I can understand them not wanting to risk injury, but on the other hand, it would benefit them to keep getting playing time.

20

In 2019 the LFA/CFL draft consisted of 3 rounds with 27 players being picked. The European Draft was just 1 round with 9 players. Teams in 2019 were allowed 1 Global Player on the Active Roster and 2 on the Practice Roster.

Being a Global draft choice in 2019 and attending training camp meant you had a 3 in 4 chance of staying with the team.

In 2020, there will be 2 Active Roster and up to 3 Practice Roster spots for a total of 45. So far, the league has invited 24 players to Toronto with 3 local combines left. Not sure how many rounds the Global Draft will be this year. I think at least 3.

The following are Global Players on CFL rosters today. If the player is currently in the LFA, that team will also be listed. As a result of its association with the CFL, the LFA did lose talent .

BC
Alvarez, Gerardo WR (LFA) - Dinos
Plu, Benjamin WR (E)
Richarte, Fernando WR (LFA) - Dinos

EDM
Alfonsin Romero, Genaro DB (LFA)
Rouyer, Maxime LB (E)
Viamontes Cotera, Diego Jair WR (LFA)

CAL
Robo, Asnnel RB (E)
Salgado, Andres WR (LFA)

SSK
Brassea, Rene OL (LFA)
Zimmermann, Max WR (E)

WPG
Hansen, Thiadric DE (E)

HAM
Gnahoua, Valentin DE (E)

TOR
None

OTT
Maltos, Jose K (LFA)
Villalobos, Guillermo WR (LFA)

MTL
Kuhlmann, Diego OL (LFA)
Tamayo, Juan DB (LFA) - Artilleros
Yenny, Enrique K (LFA) - Pioneros

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