{"id":184105,"date":"2024-09-25T21:06:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T02:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=184105"},"modified":"2024-09-25T21:06:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T02:06:30","slug":"2024-pigskin-pickem-week-no-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/09\/25\/2024-pigskin-pickem-week-no-6\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

I\u2019m finding this hard to process \u2013 by 10 p.m. Friday night (Saturday night for Delphos St. John\u2019s and Anna), 60 percent of the 2024 high school football season will be complete. We\u2019re at the point of the season where league and conference races are starting to take shape and we\u2019re getting an idea which teams will likely be in the playoffs. The next five weeks will determine playoff posititioning for most of those teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, I managed to go 16-3 (84 percent), which takes my overall season record to 90-27 (77 percent). All three of my losses last week came in the GMC. Back-to-back subpar weeks in weeks 2-3 are still haunting me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, there are six games of the week along with some other interesting matchups. Here are this week\u2019s picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Lima Central Catholic (4-1) at Bluffton (5-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bluffton is ranked No. 5 in Division VI and Lima Central Catholic is No. 10 in Division VII. The Pirates are averaging a staggering 52 points and 451 yards of offense per game, while allowing 4.8 points and just 135 total yards per game. Lima Central Catholic\u2019s numbers aren\u2019t as eye-popping but I can\u2019t help but this this will be a decent game, at least for a while. I see Bluffton pulling away for the win in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Marion Local (5-0) at Versailles (5-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top-ranked team in Division VII (and winner of 53 straight games) vs. the No. 4 team in Division V. Maybe I\u2019m overthinking it, but this game feels like it has upset alert written all over it. These two teams played to a one point game last year and this one could be close as well. Then again, Marion Local has simply dismantled each of its first five opponents. The closest game was 42-9 vs. St. Henry. Versailles has had a couple of close calls, including an 18-17 win over New Bremen and the Tigers are the home team here. It\u2019s usually a bad idea to pick against the home team in the MAC but I\u2019m doing it here. The Flyers soar to yet another victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Ottawa-Glandorf (2-3) at Bath (4-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a tough one. On paper, Bath is the favorite, yet every game with the Wildcats seems to go right down to the wire and most of their games have involved a lot of points. Just look back to last week\u2019s game vs. Elida, 62-56. Then there was the Week No. 2 game vs. Van Wert (43-37). Ottawa-Glandorf is a team that has improved and is probably better than 2-3. The Titans have played a fairly brutal schedule to this point. As for this game, it\u2019s probably a coin flip but since Bath is the home team and seemingly finds ways to win each week, I\u2019m going with the Wildcats. However, it won\u2019t be surprising to week O-G squeak out a win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Paulding (5-0) at Fairview (3-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another intriguing matchup. On one hand, Fairview\u2019s two losses have come by a combined eight points, including a 35-34 upset loss to Tinora last week. The Apaches have faced just one team with a winning record so far. Expect for the Wayne Trace game (24-14), the Panthers have won all of their games by at least 25 points. However, Paulding\u2019s opponents to this point have a combined record of 3-22. That\u2019s not a knock on anyone, it\u2019s just how the schedule has played out. I\u2019ve gone back and forth with this game but my initial thought was to go with the home team so that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. I think the Apaches win a close one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Crestview (2-3) at Delphos Jefferson (1-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Injuries have plagued Crestview to this point but it\u2019s possible the Knights will get a player or two back this Friday night. Not to look past this game, but the schedule is going to get much harder for Crestview. As for Jefferson, the Wildcats have played three straight 5-0 teams and are hungry for a win. Coach Allan Pohlman is seeing some positive things with his Wildcat team but it\u2019s going to take some time to build the program back up. I\u2019m going with the Knights in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

St. Marys Memorial (3-2) at Van Wert (1-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite last week\u2019s 35-14 loss to Wapakoneta, the Cougars did show some flashes, but big plays and turnovers again hurt Van Wert against one of the best teams in all of Division III. If the Cougars can find ways to reduce the number of mistakes they\u2019ll be fine. It won\u2019t be an easy game this week. Preparing for the Wing-T these days is like preparing for the wishbone. As head coach Keith Recker said, it\u2019s extremely difficult to replicate in practice. Could the Cougars win this one? Yes, I could see that but the Roughriders are the favorite here and I\u2019m going with the visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

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

Wayne Trace at Hicksville: Wayne Trace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Fort Recovery at New Bremen: New Bremen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minster at St. Henry: Minster<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Columbus Grove at Allen East: Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

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

TCL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lima Sr. at Toledo Woodward: Lima Sr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports I\u2019m finding this hard to process \u2013 by 10 p.m. Friday night (Saturday night for Delphos St. John\u2019s and Anna), 60 percent of the 2024 high school football season will be complete. We\u2019re at the point of the season where league and conference races are starting to take shape and we\u2019re getting […]<\/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-184105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 17:28:35","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\/184105","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=184105"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184131,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184105\/revisions\/184131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}