Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 1

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Pigskin Pick’Em is back for the most unique Ohio high school football season in memory. All teams will start the year with league or conference games before entering the playoffs in Week No. 7. Teams who opt out of the playoffs or lose in the postseason may return to regular season games, with a limit of 10 contests.

The 2020 season kicks off Friday night with some intriguing matchups in the Northwest Conference, Western Buckeye League, Green Meadows Conference and the Midwest Athletic Conference. 

Picks for those games are listed below. Last year, I managed to go 169-48 (77.8 percent) during the regular season. The goal this season is to correctly pick winners at least 80 percent of the time. 

The First Five

Crestview at Spencerville

It’s a tough NWC opener for the Knights as they begin the season against the ground-pounding Spencerville Bearcats. 

It’ll be up to the Crestview defense to not allow Spencerville to go on lengthy time consuming drives, and when the Knights have the ball, they’ll have to make the most of their opportunities. 

I’d like to pick Crestview here, but I think the Bearcats will present too many challenges in the season opener.

The pick: Spencerville

Paulding at Delphos Jefferson

Delphos Jefferson is looking to improve after going 1-9 last season, but the Wildcats will have their hands full with Paulding. The Panthers have improved from year-to-year under head coach Tyler Arend and if they stay healthy, they could have a very interesting season in the NWC.

The pick: Paulding

Wayne Trace at Fairview

One thing is for sure in this game – the ball will be in the air a lot and this GMC game will probably take a while, compared to other games around the area. 

It’s hard to pick against Fairview at home, so I’m going with the Apaches.

The pick: Fairview

Parkway at Delphos St. John’s (Saturday)

The Panthers improved greatly last season and were six points away from being 6-4. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays uncharacteristically lost nine straight last year and are looking to snap that streak on Saturday. 

Picking the road team in the MAC can be tricky, but that’s what I’m doing here.

The pick: Parkway

Elida at Van Wert

The Cougars are eyeing three straight winning seasons and they’ll try to get off on the right foot against a team that went 0-10 last year and has a new head coach in 2020. 

I do expect Elida to be improved this season, but I believe the Cougars will have too many weapons for the Bulldogs to handle.

The pick: Van Wert

Best of the rest

NWC

Ada at Allen East: Allen East

Columbus Grove at Bluffton: Columbus Grove

WBL

St. Marys Memorial at Bath: St. Marys

Wapakoneta at Celina: Wapakoneta

Ottawa-Glandorf at Defiance: Ottawa-Glandorf

Kenton at Shawnee: Kenton

GMC (note: Tinora has a bye week)

Antwerp at Ayersville: Ayersville

Hicksville at Edgerton: Hicksville

MAC

Versailles at Anna: Anna

St. Henry at Coldwater: Coldwater

Marion Local at Fort Recovery: Marion Local 

Minster at New Bremen: Minster

Others

Lima Sr. at Toledo Central Catholic (TRAC): Toledo Central Catholic

Lima Central Catholic at Van Buren: Lima Central Catholic