France: Huge matchup in the South as Blue Stars and Grizzlys meet, Argonautes still in the hunt

| American Football | 05/06/2022

With only three games left in the regular season in the French Elite D1 Championship, the Marseille Blue Stars have the number one seed in the South Division fully locked up. The number two and three seeds, however, remain up for grabs, with four of the five teams still in the race. 

Aix Argonautes 3-1-3 @ Montpellier MFA Hurricanes 0-7

The opening game of week 8 in Conference B will be important for one team this weekend, the Argonautes. If the Grizzlys lose to Marseille, they will be just one game away from the second-place team.

With the Hurricanes failing to win games thus far, quarterback Michael Pina will be licking his chops in what should be an easy win. He currently sits at two in the passer rankings with 19 touchdowns and over 1,800 yards on the season. Montpellier sports one of the most generous defenses in the league, so he will surely feel he can take that number one spot as well as a victory.

Marseille Blue Stars 7-0 @ Catalans Grizzlys 5-2

Arguably the most interesting game from week 8 will be the Grizzlys taking on the league favorites, the Marseille Blue Stars.

The first time these two teams met back in March, the Blue Stars narrowly escaped with their perfect record intact as they downed Catalans 35-28. Grizzlys’ quarterback Jacob Purichia put on a show, shredding a great defense for 318 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite this heroic performance, the Grizzlys still came up short as Marseille was just too clutch in the dying moments of the game. The ability of the Blue Stars to avoid leaning on one single player or facet of the game allows for a level of schematic diversity lost on others within the league.

In the run up to the playoffs and a chance for the Grizzlys to secure their second-place spot, the team from Catalan will undoubtedly be entering this game ready to rock.

Daniel Mackenzie is a Press Association graduate who works in journalism and communications in the third sector. Daniel began playing football for the London Warriors and Team Great Britain and has since played across Europe.