{"id":197230,"date":"2025-09-17T20:58:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T01:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=197230"},"modified":"2025-09-19T07:43:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T12:43:01","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-5-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/09\/17\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-5-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Just like that, the halfway point of high school football\u2019s regular season is here. It doesn\u2019t seem possible. The results so far have been interesting and the games have been entertaining. We\u2019ve seen some upsets here and there, a tremendous showing by Crestview\u2019s Braxton Leeth, a freshman quarterback (Xavier Gammon, Kenton) account for nearly 600 yards in a single game, a nationwide long winning streak that just keeps going and more. If nothing else, the second half of the season will feature league and title races that could go down to the wire, along with playoff races in a reduced field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week I went 15-4 (78.9 percent), the first time this season I\u2019ve been under 80 percent. A couple of upsets in the Western Buckeye League (Celina over Van Wert, Shawnee over Bath) didn\u2019t help my cause but hey, that\u2019s why they play the games. My overall season record is now 82-19 (81.1 percent). On to 19 Week No. 5 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Celina (1-3) at Shawnee (3-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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

On paper, this may not be considered a marquee matchup but it does feature two teams coming off upset wins. Let me clarify \u2013 some people may consider them mild upsets and that\u2019s fair but regardless, both teams won games as the underdog last Friday night. Celina looked very confident in the first half against Van Wert, then had to hold on late in the fourth quarter and overtime. Shawnee handed Bath its first loss of the season and did it in convincing style. Will there be a letdown by either team this week? It\u2019s hard to say, but I\u2019ve thought all along that Shawnee may be a bit better than first thought. It very well could be a low scoring game. I\u2019m going with the Indians in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Minster (3-1) at Coldwater (2-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, both of these teams seem to be down a bit this year, at least by their own standards. Perhaps that\u2019s the case but it doesn\u2019t matter either way, this should be a great MAC game. Here\u2019s where I\u2019m at right now \u2013 for whatever reason, I can\u2019t see Coldwater being 2-3 at the halfway point of the season. I can\u2019t tell you the last time that happened. However, I can see Minster getting the win. But since I have to pick a winner, I\u2019m sticking with the old adage, don\u2019t bet against the home team in the MAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Marion Local (4-0) at New Bremen (4-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A midseason matchup between the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked teams in Ohio, according to Associated Press voters. Not bad at all for a Week No. 5 game. The Cardinals downed Versailles on the final play of the game last Friday, while Marion Local rolled by Delphos St. John\u2019s. Can New Bremen snap Marion Local\u2019s 68-game winning streak? I think they can, but I don\u2019t think they will. Also, I\u2019m going against what I said with my previous pick and going with the road MAC team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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

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

I\u2019m just going to come out and say it \u2013 this feels like a trap game to me. I don\u2019t know why, it just does. Maybe it\u2019s because I suspect the Mustangs are a bit better than their 1-3 record indicates. Having said that, I still think Crestview is reasonably large favorite here and I don\u2019t believe Allen East will be able to keep up on the scoreboard and it should be fun to watch Braxton Leeth on turf. It still feels like a trap but I\u2019m sticking with the Knights here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Van Wert (2-2) at Defiance (2-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have an uneasy feeling about this one. Defiance wants to feature a power running game that\u2019s complimented by occasional passes. Van Wert had trouble stopping Celina\u2019s power rushing attack last Friday. It just seemed like the southern Bulldogs were on the field forever. Credit the Cougars though, as they fought hard and forced overtime. There was no quit in them. Defiance is coming off back-to-back games against Wapakoneta and St. Marys Memorial. There should be a law against that. The Roughriders returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, then used their well known running game to roll to a 41-0 game. This should be a much closer game and if Van Wert can clean up special teams mistakes, they should be able get out with 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fort Loramie at Lima Central Catholic: Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lima Sr. at Toledo Rogers: Lima Sr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

St. Marys Memorial at Wapakoneta: Wapakoneta<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports Just like that, the halfway point of high school football\u2019s regular season is here. It doesn\u2019t seem possible. The results so far have been interesting and the games have been entertaining. We\u2019ve seen some upsets here and there, a tremendous showing by Crestview\u2019s Braxton Leeth, a freshman quarterback (Xavier Gammon, Kenton) account […]<\/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-197230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 13:37:25","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\/197230","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=197230"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197328,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197230\/revisions\/197328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}