{"id":145770,"date":"2021-09-09T03:58:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=145770"},"modified":"2021-09-09T03:58:53","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:58:53","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-4-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/09\/09\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-4-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 4 games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Week No. 4 of the high school football season means the Northwest Conference and Green Meadows Conference will join the Western Buckeye League and the Midwest Athletic Conference in playing conference games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of key games will take place in the NWC and the WBL, and they\u2019re included in our Games of the Week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My record took a bit of a hit last week as I went 17-6, or 69.2 percent, which is (or at least was) considered a D+ in school. Overall, my season record is 65-18, or 77.2 percent, short of the 80 percent goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Elida is coming off a 28-7 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf while Bath enjoyed a 30-point victory over Kenton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Bulldogs have any hope of getting at least a share of the WBL championship they\u2019ll have to win out, which won\u2019t be easy. On top of that, Elida will have to get the offense untracked. In two of the three games this season, the Bulldogs scored seven points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bath is an improved team and this has the potential to be an interesting game and while it\u2019s temping to take the Wildcats at home, I think the Bulldogs will put out a narrow win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

St. Marys Memorial (2-1) at Ottawa-Glandorf (1-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the WBL race, the Roughriders already have their collective backs to the wall with last week\u2019s league loss to rival Wapakoneta, while the Titans shook off a pair of season-opening losses and handily defeated Elida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both teams were in physically taxing games last week and it\u2019s fair to wonder which team is feeling more of those effects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a tough one to call, but I\u2019m going to give a slight edge to Ottawa-Glandorf. However, I won\u2019t be shocked if the Roughriders get the victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Ottawa-Glandorf <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hicksville (0-3) at Wayne Trace (0-3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Two teams hungry for a win will meet in the GMC opener. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both teams have shown flashes so far, but I believe this is the game that favors Wayne Trace. The Raiders may be winless but they\u2019ve hung tough in their first three games and I think it\u2019ll pay off with a victory on Friday, the first for new head coach Matt Holden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Wayne Trace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

If you like old school football, you\u2019ll want to see this one – Bluffton\u2019s option attack against Spencerville\u2019s power running attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the more intriguing games around the area and I\u2019ll admit I\u2019ve spent some extra time trying to figure out who\u2019s going to win it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spencerville\u2019s 1-2 record doesn\u2019t bother me at all because the Bearcats played a rugged non-conference schedule and Bluffton has had three impressive wins, including a 25-13 victory over Ayersville last Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both offenses are difficult to prepare for because very few teams run them these days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a bit of back and forth, I\u2019m giving a slight edge to the Bearcats at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Spencerville <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Here\u2019s another tough one to predict because it could be considered a toss up. It appears to be as evenly matched as they come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen East lost to a very good Division V Elmwood team on Friday while the Knights held off stubborn Wayne Trace for a seven point win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very tempted to pick the Knights here, but I\u2019m giving a slight edge to the Mustangs \u2013 call it home field advantage. Either way, I\u2019m guessing the winner takes it by seven points or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Can Van Wert get Wapakoneta\u2019s ground pounding offense off the field? Wapak would love nothing more to cap off a few time consuming drives with touchdowns while keeping Van Wert\u2019s offense off the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can Wapakoneta keep up with the Cougars, should they remain in the groove they\u2019ve been in since Game No. 1? If the Cougars jump out by a couple of touchdowns, look out. If Wapak holds on to the ball forever it’s a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now it\u2019s hard to imagine a team keeping pace with Van Wert and that\u2019s why I\u2019m picking the Cougars to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

Columbus Grove at Delphos Jefferson: Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leipsic at Ada: Leipsic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Shawnee at Defiance: Shawnee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenton at Celina: Kenton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Tinora at Antwerp: Tinora<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairview at Paulding: Fairview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgerton at Ayersville: Ayersville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAC<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Recovery at Anna: Anna<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Bremen at Coldwater: Coldwater<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parkway at Versailles: Versailles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Local at St. Henry: Marion Local<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minster at Delphos St. John\u2019s (Saturday): Minster<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Toledo St. John\u2019s at Lima Sr.: Toledo St. John\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huron at Lima Central Catholic: Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Week No. 4 of the high school football season means the Northwest Conference and Green Meadows Conference will join the Western Buckeye League and the Midwest Athletic Conference in playing conference games. A couple of key games will take place in the NWC and the WBL, and they\u2019re included in our […]<\/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-145770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 15:43:52","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\/145770","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=145770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}