{"id":160207,"date":"2022-11-17T04:50:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T09:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=160207"},"modified":"2022-11-17T05:40:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T10:40:57","slug":"pigskin-pickem-regional-championship-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/11\/17\/pigskin-pickem-regional-championship-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick\u2019Em – regional title games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

If you\u2019re going out to watch regional championship football games this weekend, bundle up – it\u2019s going to be frigid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the field continues to narrow, the matchups continue to get more intriguing. That\u2019s not to take anything away from games already played because there have been some good ones, including Van Wert\u2019s last two games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week was a rough one in terms of picks as I went just 6-4, too close to .500 for my liking. That took my playoff record to 36-6 (85.7 percent) and my overall record to 212-53 (80 percent). This week, five area games are featured and all are considered Games of the Week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VII Region 28<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Fort Loramie (11-2) vs. New Bremen (10-3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me say Fort Loramie is pretty good. The only losses this year have come to Versailles and Newark Catholic, two teams still alive in the playoffs. On top of that, Fort Loramie defeated Lima Central Catholic in the regular season finale. Despite all of that, a little voice keeps saying \u201cMAC schools only lose to other MAC schools.\u201d However, wise or not, I\u2019m going to ignore that little voice, at least for this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Fort Loramie<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VII Region 26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antwerp (13-0) vs. Lima Central Catholic (9-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 2-3 start, Lima Central Catholic has gone 7-1, with the only loss coming in the regular season finale, 35-34 to Fort Loramie. Meanwhile, Antwerp keeps setting school records with each victory. The Archers have had a couple of close calls and some injury problems, while the Thunderbirds are coming off an upset of No. 1 seed McComb. This could be a toss up game but I\u2019m leaning toward the team from Allen County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Lima Central Catholic <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VI Region 24<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Local (13-0) vs. Allen East (12-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a great season for the Mustangs. The only loss came in Week No. 3 to Elmwood, a team playing for a championship in Division V Region 18. They\u2019ve outscored three playoff opponents 131-7 but now they\u2019re facing a Marion Local team that has been completely dominate all season. It\u2019s a different level of football for the team from southern Mercer County. That\u2019s not a knock on Allen East at all. I\u2019m impressed by what they\u2019ve done this season. But the Flyers are the clear favorite here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The pick: Marion Local <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VI Region 22<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Columbia Station Columbia (13-0) vs. Columbus Grove (11-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one is a tough one. Columbia\u2019s win over Ashland Crestview was impressive and somewhat unexpected. The Raiders have had some close calls this season but here they are, 13-0. The Bulldogs have quietly put together an outstanding position and it all starts with defense. Yes, the offense has come along but the defense has been key all season. My initial thought was to go with Columbia but now I\u2019m feeling a Bulldog upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Division IV Region 14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert (12-1) vs. Glenville (13-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people weren\u2019t too thrilled when I picked West Holmes to defeat the Cougars last week. It\u2019s one of those times I was glad to be wrong. Now Van Wert gets the top team in Division IV in Glenville. I\u2019ve talked to some people who covered their last playoff game and a coach who played them earlier in the playoffs and they all said the same thing – this is like a college team. 11 players have Division I college scholarship offers, which is an amazing number for any school in any division. Can Van Wert win this game? I think so. Will they? I\u2019m not sure. At the risk of being quite unpopular, I\u2019m going with the top ranked team with the hope I\u2019m wrong again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Glenville<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor If you\u2019re going out to watch regional championship football games this weekend, bundle up – it\u2019s going to be frigid.  As the field continues to narrow, the matchups continue to get more intriguing. That\u2019s not to take anything away from games already played because there have been some good ones, including Van […]<\/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-160207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 09:16:10","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\/160207","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=160207"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160262,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160207\/revisions\/160262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}