Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 2

As expected, Week No. 1 of the high school football season produced some good games and some that weren’t so close. That can be said about any week of any given season but there’s the great unknown in the first week, especially with new and different matchups or with teams that have new coaches and/or a number of new faces. 

My record last week was 23-7, or 76.7 percent, which actually isn’t too bad for the opening weekend of games. There is one note – for some reason, I failed to include the Defiance vs. Napoleon game with the rest of the picks but a check of my notes shows I had picked Napoleon to win, which didn’t happen. I’m including that as a loss in my final total.

With that, on to this week’s list of 27 games, which includes a full slate of Western Buckeye League games.

Games of the Week 

Paulding (0-1) at Columbus Grove (1-0)

Columbus Grove lot a lot of talent to graduation, but the Bulldogs were able to enjoy a 31-6 over Pandora-Gilboa last Friday night. 

Now, they’ll turn their attention to former NWC opponent Paulding. The Panthers are a talented but young team and I’m thinking Columbus Grove is the favorite, especially at home.

The pick: Columbus Grove

Wayne Trace (0-1) at Patrick Henry (1-0)

There were some bright spots for the Raiders during last week’s loss to Fort Recovery. Wayne Trace was able to hang with the Indians for a while, but Fort Recovery was able to pull away for the win.

Things won’t be much easier this week in Hamler. I do believe Wayne Trace will show improvement each week, but I’m going with the Patriots in Week No. 2.

The pick: Patrick Henry

Ottawa-Glandorf (0-1) at Wapakoneta (0-1)

It feels like this WBL game should be played later in the season.

Both teams are coming off tough matchups in Week No. 1 and two things are for certain in this one – it will be an absolute slugfest and neither team wants to start the season 0-2. 

I’m hesitant to pick against Wapakoneta at home and it’s safe to say this game could approach coin flip status, but I’m giving a slight edge to the Titans.

The pick: Ottawa-Glandorf 

Hicksville (0-1) at Crestview (1-0)

With a new head coach and new faces in the backfield, the Knights were one of the unknown teams (sort of), but posted an impressive 35-13 victory over Parkway.

Whenever Crestview and Hicksville play it usually turns into a barn burner and this one has the potential to be one of those types of games. 

While I think the Aces have some nice weapons, I like the Knights to win their home opener and improve to 2-0 on the season.

The pick: Crestview

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

The Cougars raced out to a 27-0 lead last week but after that, Bryan did enough to keep things interesting. Van Wert was never in any real danger of losing the game, but head coach Keith Recker said his team had things to work on this week, including tackling.

I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Celina won’t roll over for Van Wert but the Cougars simply have too many weapons for this young Bulldogs team to handle. 

If Van Wert gets on a roll early, it could be a short second half.

The pick: Van Wert 

Best of the Rest

WBL

Defiance at St. Marys Memorial: St. Marys

Kenton at Elida: Elida

Shawnee at Bath: Shawnee

Non-conference

Ada at Arlington: Arlington 

Allen East at Perry: Allen East

Ayersville at Delphos Jefferson: Ayersville

Fairview at Leipsic: Leipsic 

Pandora-Gilboa at Bluffton: Bluffton

Parkway at Spencerville: Spencerville 

Antwerp at Edon: Antwerp 

Edgerton at Hilltop: Edgerton 

Tinora at Wauseon: Wauseon 

Anna at Brookville: Anna 

Coldwater at Oak Hill: Coldwater

Lehman Catholic at New Bremen: New Bremen

Lima Central Catholic at Delphos St. John’s: Lima Central Catholic

Marion Local at McComb: Marion Local

Minster vs. Columbus Crusaders at Otterbein: Minster

St. Henry vs. Fort Frye at London: St. Henry

Urbana at Fort Recovery: Fort Recovery 

Versailles at Fort Loramie: Versailles 

Toledo Rogers at Lima Sr: Lima Sr.