Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 2

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

So far, so good when it comes to the 2020 high school football season.

19 area games went off without a hitch last weekend and hopefully the same will be said about this weekend. Last week, a couple of upsets occurred, and both were considered on the mild side – Celina over Wapakoneta and Parkway over Delphos St. John’s.

I went 15-4 (79 percent) with my picks, and three of those misses involved Midwest Athletic Conference games. The other was Celina’s win over Wapakoneta. The goal this season is to correctly pick at least 80 percent of games, so I already have some ground to make up. Having said that, there are some tough ones to pick this week, including nine games that could be considered tossups. 

Here are this week’s picks involving teams from the Northwest Conference, Western Buckeye League, Green Meadows Conference and the Midwest Athletic Conference, plus Lima Sr. and Lima Central Catholic.

First Five

Ayersville (1-0) at Wayne Trace (0-1)

Confession time: I figured Fairview was the favorite over Wayne Trace, but I never imagined a 47-0 outcome. 

This game should be much closer and I think the home team, Wayne Trace, has a slight advantage in this one. It has a chance to be a good bounce-back game for the Raiders.

The pick: Wayne Trace

Parkway (0-1) at Fort Recovery (0-1)

This game is a tough one to pick, but as the week has gone along, I’ve learned more toward Fort Recovery. However, it won’t be a shock to see the Panthers shake off Saturday’s loss to Delphos St. John’s.

The pick: Fort Recovery

Wapakoneta (0-1) at St. Marys Memorial (1-0)

To be clear, these two teams don’t like each other. It’s a big WBL rivalry game and I only wish it could be played at the end of the regular season.

It’s hard to imagine Wapakoneta dropping to 0-2 but I can’t shake the feeling the Roughriders will win this one and improve to 2-0 on the season.

The pick: St. Marys Memorial

Crestview (0-1) at Paulding (1-0)

I have to admit, I’m a bit stumped by this one. I just can’t seem to make a pick and stick with it.

Paulding can move the ball, there’s no doubt about that. Crestview played well in the first half against Spencerville. Having said that, this could be a 42-35 or 21-14 game. 

I’ve finally settled on Crestview in this one, although it most likely won’t be an easy game. 

The pick: Crestview

Defiance (0-1) at Van Wert (1-0)

The Cougars need to shore up the offensive line a bit but outside of that, Van Wert looked impressive in a season opening win over Elida.

With all due respect to Defiance, I think the Cougars have the opportunity to roll in this one, before things become more difficult next week. 

The pick: Van Wert 

Best of the rest

NWC

Allen East (1-0) at Bluffton (0-1): Allen East

Ada (1-0) at Columbus Grove (1-0): Columbus Grove

Spencerville (1-0) at Delphos Jefferson (1-0): Spencerville

WBL

Bath (0-1) at Kenton (1-0): Kenton

Shawnee (0-1) at Celina (1-0): Celina

Elida (0-1) at Ottawa-Glandorf (1-0): Ottawa-Glandorf

GMC

Antwerp (0-1) at Fremont (IN) (1-1): Fremont

Tinora (0-0) at Edgerton (0-1): Tinora

Fairview (1-0) at Hicksville (1-0): Fairview

MAC

Anna (0-1) at St. Henry (0-1): St. Henry

Coldwater (1-0) at Minster (0-1): Coldwater

Marion Local (1-0) at New Bremen (1-0): Marion Local

Delphos St. John’s (1-0) at Versailles (1-0): Versailles

Others

Clay (0-1) at Lima Sr. (0-1): Clay

Lima Central Catholic (1-0) at Licking Valley (1-0): Licking Valley