{"id":183241,"date":"2024-09-04T21:02:23","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T02:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=183241"},"modified":"2024-09-04T21:02:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T02:02:47","slug":"2024-pigskin-pickem-week-no-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/09\/04\/2024-pigskin-pickem-week-no-3\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

It\u2019s difficult to believe but after Friday night, 30 percent of the new high school football season will be complete. It\u2019s also the final weekend of non-conference games for teams in the NWC and GMC. MAC teams will begin conference play Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My record took quite a hit last week. A really embarrassing beating actually. I went just 16-12 (57 percent), which drops my overall season record to 42-17 (71 percent). Obviously I have quite a bit of work do to get back to my goal of picking at least 80 percent of area games correctly. With that in mind, here are this week\u2019s picks. Hopefully it’s a better week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Games of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bath (1-1) at Shawnee (2-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two teams quickly on the rebound. Bath rallied to stun Van Wert in last week\u2019s Western Buckeye League opener while Shawnee did the same to Elida. I expect this to be a close and competitive game with a fourth quarter touchdown being the deciding factor. I won\u2019t be shocked at all if the Wildcats win it but I\u2019m giving a slight advantage to the home team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Shawnee<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delphos Jefferson (1-1) at Paulding (2-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delphos Jefferson found out it\u2019s hard to play a MAC school on the road and while Parkway has struggled, the Panthers still found a way to win. Meanwhile, Paulding\u2019s turnaround continues under head coach Jim Menzie. I fully expect the Panthers to be a GMC title contender and I think they\u2019ll do well in their final non-conference test of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Paulding<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Henry (2-0) at Columbus Grove (2-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could be considered the premiere game of the week in the area. Both teams have posted impressive wins so far. The Patriots have outscored their first two opponents 95-8, while Columbus Grove has dispatched Pandora-Gilboa and Liberty-Benton with apparent ease. Then there\u2019s the fact that the Bulldogs just don\u2019t lose at Clymer Stadium, which is why I\u2019m going with them at home. This is a Columbus Grove team that should be highly ranked when the first poll of the season comes out next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

I expect this to be a very entertaining game. Both teams are coming off losses but in different fashion. The Knights struggled against a very physical McComb team and the Raiders dropped a one point heartbreaker to Spencerville. If Wayne Trace can become a bit more consistent offensively, they\u2019ll present challenges to the opposition. The Knights will be without running back Braxton Leeth but I still give them the nod in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Crestview<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Van Wert (1-1) at Celina (1-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full disclosure \u2013 I\u2019ve struggled with this one all week and I\u2019ve gone back and forth, but now it\u2019s time to make a decision. Celina is struggling offensively and despite last week\u2019s game against St. Marys Memorial, this is a really good defense. Two years ago, the Bulldogs held Van Wert off the scoreboard in the first half, something no one else managed to do all season. Last year, Celina held the Cougars to two touchdowns and beat Van Wert 17-14. Yes, the Cougars have moved the ball up and down the field this season, but Van Wert hasn\u2019t seen a defense like this one. After changing my mind for the umpteenth time, I’m going with the Cougars to eke out a win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

Delphos St. John\u2019s at Versailles: Versailles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minster at Anna: Anna<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

Ottawa-Glandorf at Wapakoneta: Wapakoneta<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Marys Memorial at Defiance: St. Marys Memorial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Carey at Lima Central Catholic: Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Fort Loramie at Covington: Covington<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hicksville at Edon: Edon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Indian Lake at Allen East: Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Harding at Lima Sr.: Lima Sr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Spencerville at Riverside: Riverside<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tinora at Archbold: Archbold<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports It\u2019s difficult to believe but after Friday night, 30 percent of the new high school football season will be complete. It\u2019s also the final weekend of non-conference games for teams in the NWC and GMC. MAC teams will begin conference play Friday night. My record took quite a hit last week. A […]<\/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-183241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 18:40:37","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\/183241","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=183241"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183265,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183241\/revisions\/183265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}