{"id":135391,"date":"2020-09-23T20:45:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T01:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=135391"},"modified":"2020-09-23T20:46:04","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T01:46:04","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-5-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/09\/23\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-5-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 5 games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Out of 20 games on last week\u2019s area high school football schedule, three weren\u2019t played. Ada and Spencerville was canceled after the Bulldogs pulled the plug on the season because of low numbers, while Bluffton and Crestview was called off because of a positive COVID-19 case at Bluffton High School. Lima Sr. at Toledo St. John\u2019s was canceled because the Titan football team was in quarantine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the 17 remaining games, I went 14-3 (82 percent), with the wrong picks being Wapakoneta over Shawnee, Elida over Celina and Wayne Trace over Hicksville. Entering Week No. 5, my overall record is 57-19, or 75 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s hoping all scheduled games can be played this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First five<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert (4-0) at Ottawa-Glandorf (3-1)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this has the potential to be a close game, I\u2019m convinced that the Cougars simply have too many weapons for the Titans to handle. It may not be an easy game, but I really like Van Wert\u2019s chances of improving to 5-0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a big game because the Cougars are fighting for one of the top eight seeds in Region 14. The top eight get a first round playoff bye, and there are currently seven other undefeated teams in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Van Wert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

If nothing else, this should be a close one. Shawnee has won by scores of 14-6, 9-7 and 7-0, while St. Marys Memorial has won a game by seven and lost two others by seven and six points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I just can\u2019t see the Roughriders losing three straight, so I\u2019m going with them in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: St. Marys Memorial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It\u2019s been an up and down season for the Raiders, but this won\u2019t be an easy one for Wayne Trace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as I\u2019d like to see the Raiders win this GMC contest, I have to go with the Rams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Tinora<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parkway (0-4) at St. Henry (2-2)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Panthers have had some close calls this season but haven\u2019t been able to crack the win column to this point. St. Henry is coming in wins over a pair of 1-3 teams, Anna and Minster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could be a close game, but I\u2019m going with St. Henry at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: St. Henry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Columbus Grove (4-0) at Crestview (2-1)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d love to see Crestview win this game and advance to the finals of the Northwest Conference tournament, and I know it\u2019s not wise to count out Jared Owens and the Knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Columbus Grove presents matchup problems for most opponents and I think that will be the case on Friday night. I\u2019m not saying the Knights can\u2019t win, I just think it would be an upset if they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen East (3-1) at Spencerville (3-0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classic high school football here. The ground-pounding attack of Spencerville against the high-flying attack of Allen East, with the winner advancing to next week\u2019s NWC finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This should be a very entertaining game, and it may be considered a tossup, but I\u2019m giving a slight edge to Chris Sommers and the Bearcats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Spencerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best of the rest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NWC<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delphos Jefferson (0-4) at Bluffton (1-3): Bluffton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgerton (2-2) at Paulding (1-3): Edgerton (non-conference)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WBL<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bath (1-3) at Celina (2-2): Bath<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elida (2-2) at Defiance (0-4): Elida<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wapakoneta (0-4) at Kenton (3-1): Kenton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GMC<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairview (4-0) at Antwerp (0-4): Fairview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hicksville (2-2) at Ayersville (1-3): Hicksville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAC<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Bremen (2-2) at Anna (1-3): New Bremen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coldwater (4-0) at Delphos St. John\u2019s (1-3): Coldwater<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Recovery (2-2) at Versailles (3-1): Versailles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Local (4-0) at Minster (1-3): Marion Local<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Toledo St. Francis DeSales (2-2) at Lima Sr. (1-3): DeSales<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Saturday) Leipsic (2-2) at Lima Central Catholic (3-1): Lima CC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Out of 20 games on last week\u2019s area high school football schedule, three weren\u2019t played. Ada and Spencerville was canceled after the Bulldogs pulled the plug on the season because of low numbers, while Bluffton and Crestview was called off because of a positive COVID-19 case at Bluffton High School. Lima […]<\/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-135391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 04:41:00","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\/135391","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=135391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}