{"id":107002,"date":"2018-09-13T04:04:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T09:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=107002"},"modified":"2018-09-12T20:49:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T01:49:01","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-4-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/09\/13\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-4-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Week No. 4 of the high school football season means all area teams except for Lima Central Catholic (independent) will play a league or conference opponent. WBL teams have been playing league games since Week No. 2, and MAC teams began conference play last week. They\u2019ll be joined by the NWC and GMC this week.<\/p>\n

Last week, I went 16-2 picking games, with my only misfires being Columbus Grove vs. Patrick Henry (I picked the Patriots) and Ayersville vs. Bluffton (the Pilots won). Guest selector Mitch Price was 11-7 with his picks.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ben Collins<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On to this week\u2019s picks with Ben Collins, a man of many hats. Collins is an eighth grade intervention specialist at Van Wert Middle School, Middle School athletic director and head wrestling coach at Van Wert High School. Out of 20 area games, we differ on three.<\/p>\n

Van Wert (1-2) at Ottawa-Glandorf (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Has anyone had a more difficult three game stretch than the Cougars? Van Wert\u2019s first three opponents have a combined 8-1 record, and the one loss was by Bryan, to Van Wert. The Cougars have also faced No. 5 Wapakoneta and No. 1 St. Marys, and now have to play No. 19 Ottawa-Glandorf.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m probably not going to make any friends with this pick, but I\u2019m going with the Titans, while hoping the Cougars prove me wrong and pull out the win, as they did last year at Eggerss Stadium.<\/p>\n

Collins is going with Van Wert here, and even gave a score. \u201cI am Cougar born and bred and until I am dead. Cougars 28 O-G 21 with the strength of the Adult Catpack behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truxell: Ottawa-Glandorf; Collins: Van Wert<\/p>\n

Bluffton (1-2) at Crestview (3-0)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No. 6 Crestview is the heavy favorite here, although Bluffton\u2019s flexbone offense does present some challenges. The Pirates have also done a nice job defensively this season, but they’ll have their hands full with Crestview’s offense.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Crestview; Collins: Crestview.<\/p>\n

Delphos Jefferson (1-2) at Ada (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be deceived by Ada\u2019s 1-2 start. The Bulldogs have played a pair of state ranked teams back-to-back \u2013 Arlington and Lima Central Catholic, two teams with a combined 6-0 record.<\/p>\n

Both of us are going with Ada, although Collins thinks it\u2019ll be a close one.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Ada; Collins: Ada<\/p>\n

Marion Local (3-0) at Delphos St. John\u2019s (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Blue Jays have had back-to-back games against state ranked Lima Central Catholic and St. Henry, and it only gets tougher with No. 2 Marion Local coming to town. Our pick is the Flyers.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Marion Local; Collins: Marion Local<\/p>\n

Tinora (0-3) at Wayne Trace (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Raiders will try to regroup after losses to state ranked McComb and Crestview. If Wayne Trace can cut down on mental mistakes, including penalties, they should be able to even the win-loss column and begin GMC play 1-0.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Wayne Trace; Collins: Wayne Trace<\/p>\n

Wapakoneta (3-0) at Kenton (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I have to admit, I\u2019m not completely sure about this one. Kenton somehow needs to slow Wapak\u2019s running game, while the Redskins need to brace themselves for Kenton\u2019s air attack. Both of us are going with Wapakoneta, but I won\u2019t be shocked if Kenton pulls off a mild upset.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Wapakoneta; Collins: Wapakoneta<\/p>\n

Minster (3-0) at Coldwater (3-0)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a matchup of the No. 1 team in Division VI (Coldwater) against the No. 1 team in Division VII (Minster), or just another Friday night in the MAC.<\/p>\n

Collins said Coldwater is the better black and orange team, and I tend to agree, especially since the game is at Coldwater.<\/p>\n

Truxell: Coldwater; Collins: Coldwater<\/p>\n

The rest of the games:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Buckeye League<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bath (0-3) at Celina (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Celina; Bath: Celina<\/p>\n

Elida (1-2) at Defiance (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Defiance; Collins: Elida<\/p>\n

St. Marys (3-0) at Shawnee (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: St. Marys; Collins: St. Marys<\/p>\n

Northwest Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paulding (0-3) at Columbus Grove (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Columbus Grove; Collins: Columbus Grove<\/p>\n

Allen East (1-2) at Spencerville (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Spencerville; Collins: Spencerville<\/p>\n

Green Meadows Conference<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Fairview (2-1) at Antwerp (3-0)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Fairview; Collins: Fairview<\/p>\n

Edgerton (3-0) at Holgate (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Edgerton; Collins: Edgerton<\/p>\n

Hicksville (1-2) at Ayersville (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Hicksville; Collins: Hicksville<\/p>\n

Midwest Athletic Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n

Versailles (1-2) at Parkway (0-3)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Versailles; Collins: Versailles<\/p>\n

St. Henry (3-0) at Anna (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: St. Henry; Collins: Anna<\/p>\n

New Bremen (2-1) at Fort Recovery (2-1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Fort Recovery; Collins: Fort Recovery<\/p>\n

Others<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toledo Central Catholic (3-0) at Lima Sr. (1-2)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Toledo CC; Collins: Toledo CC<\/p>\n

Toledo Waite (3-0) at Lima Central Catholic (Saturday)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Truxell: Lima CC; Collins: Lima CC<\/p>\n

If you would like to be a guest selector, simply email sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Week No. 4 of the high school football season means all area teams except for Lima Central Catholic (independent) will play a league or conference opponent. WBL teams have been playing league games since Week No. 2, and MAC teams began conference play last week. They\u2019ll be joined by the NWC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 07:06:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}