{"id":209626,"date":"2026-09-02T20:27:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T01:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=209626"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T01:27:43","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-3-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/02\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-3-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Week No. 3 is here and it doesn\u2019t seem possible. If you\u2019re of a certain age, you remember the season kicking off on Labor Day weekend and if you go back further, it didn\u2019t start until after that. Now, because of the expanded playoffs and a late Labor Day holiday this year, 30 percent of the regular season will be in the books before Labor Day Monday. It\u2019s also the final Friday of non-conference play for teams in the Northwest Conference and the Green Meadows Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week was another abysmal week for me, as I went just 16-9 (64 percent), which took my season record to 38-19 (66.7 percent), far below my stated goal of at least 80 percent and easily my worst start in the 10-year history of Pigskin Pick\u2019Em. Here\u2019s hoping this week is better. 25 games are on this week’s Pigskin Pick’Em slate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Celina (2-0) at St. Marys Memorial (2-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Battle of Grand Lake. I feel like this should be a permenent Week No. 10 game but that\u2019s just me. As expected, the Roughriders are 2-0 but depending on who you ask, the Bulldogs are a somewhat surprising 2-0, with wins over St. Henry and Wapakoneta. As you know, Celina is operating without the services of quarterback Parker Wynk, who continues to recover from a serious neck injury suffered in Week No. 1. We wish Parker all the best as he continues along the road to recovery. Celina has beaten the defending Division VII state champion St. Henry Redskins and the defending WBL champion Wapakoneta Redskins. Can the Bulldogs beat the preseason favorite Roughriders? Yes it could happen but it would be a tall order. History says St. Marys Memorial wins it \u2013 the Roughriders lead the all time series 71-30-6 \u2013 and I say they win it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Ottawa-Glandorf is a surprise 2-0 team and much closer to home, so is Delphos Jefferson. The Wildcats have recorded wins over Evergreen and Parkway and have only given up 12 total points. Paulding has given up just six points all season and as expected. Does that mean this is going to be a defensive struggle? It could be but I don\u2019t think so. This game will be the biggest challenge of the young season for Jefferson and it will be a springboard into the next three games against Fort Loramie, Bluffton and Columbus Grove. The Wildcats are the underdog here and while everyone likes the underdog, I believe the Panthers will win the battle of the cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Indian Lake (2-0) at Allen East (2-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another matchup of 2-0 teams. Surprising? Again, it depends on who you ask. Indian Lake outscored Bath 54-43 in the season opener then shut down Fairbanks last week 40-7. After successful stints at Waynesfield-Goshen and Shawnee, Shane Wireman returned to his alma mater and has Allen East off to a 2-0 start. To me, this is one of the more intriguing games of the night. Do I think the Mustangs have a shot? Absolutely, but I can\u2019t help think this one goes to the Lakers, who are 4-0 against Allen East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The pick: Indian Lake<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

By far, the toughest one to pick. I suppose the easy way out is to say history is on the side of the Knights and leave it at that, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that simple here. Honestly, it\u2019s tough to get a true read on both teams. Crestview has played two very tough teams in Paulding and Minster, while Wayne Trace has played a strong New Bremen team, then faced a Spencerville team that is struggling but should improve as the season goes on. It won\u2019t be shocking if this game is a low scoring defensive struggle. I keep going back and forth on this one and I really can see either team winning it but it\u2019s time to make a pick, so here goes. It won\u2019t be easy, but I think this game will come down to an extra point and perhaps end up something like 14-13 or 13-12, and I think by the slimmest of margins (obviously), the Raiders get the win in Convoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Van Wert (2-0) at Bath (0-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2-0 vs. 0-2 \u2013 it should be an easy pick right? Wrong, it\u2019s not. Never mind Bath\u2019s 0-2 start. The Wildcats have faced quality opponents in Indian Lake and St. Marys Memorial, and they\u2019ve been able to rack up a lot of yards and points, despite dealing with a number of new faces on the offensive side of the ball. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how that unit does against Van Wert\u2019s defense, which has looked good and made a number of key stops in the first two games. The Cougar defense hasn\u2019t faced an offense like this yet this season. But, when we\u2019re talking about defense, that\u2019s been a big issue for Bath this season. The Wildcats gave up over 600 yards to Indian Lake and nearly 400 yards to St. Marys Memorial and they have a big challenge in front of them with Van Wert\u2019s offense. If Van Wert\u2019s offensive line continues to show improvement, it\u2019s quite possible the Cougars could have a field day. The last two games between these two teams have been close and Bath won them both \u2013 42-35 last year and 43-37 in 2024. I think the Cougars will turn the tables this time.<\/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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ayersville at Toledo Christian: Ayersville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

Fort Loramie at Lehman Catholic: Fort Loramie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lima Sr. at Benjamin Logan: Lima Sr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Patrick Henry at Columbus Grove: Columbus Grove<\/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 Week No. 3 is here and it doesn\u2019t seem possible. If you\u2019re of a certain age, you remember the season kicking off on Labor Day weekend and if you go back further, it didn\u2019t start until after that. Now, because of the expanded playoffs and a late Labor Day holiday this year, […]<\/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-209626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-15 04:51:03","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\/209626","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=209626"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209665,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209626\/revisions\/209665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}