{"id":211033,"date":"2026-10-07T20:21:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T01:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211033"},"modified":"2026-10-07T20:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T01:21:23","slug":"pigskin-pickem-week-no-8-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/07\/pigskin-pickem-week-no-8-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Where has the time gone? It\u2019s already Week No. 8 of a seemingly lightning fast football season. As we head down the home stretch, some teams are still fighting for a conference or league title or at least share of one. Others are fighting for higher playoff seeding or just a playoff spot period. A handful of games on this week\u2019s schedule, including Van Wert at Ottawa-Glandorf, could help secure a home playoff game in the opening round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the third straight week, I went 16-3 (84.2 percent), which takes my overall season record to 118-39 (75.1 percent), still notably short of my stated goal of at least 80 percent correct picks. 19 more games are on this week\u2019s Pigskin Pick\u2019Em slate, including one that will be played tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Parkway (2-5) at Fort Recovery (2-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parkway snapped a five game losing streak with a 23-7 win over Delphos St. John\u2019s. Two of Fort Recovery\u2019s losses have come by scores of 28-21, while another loss was by one, 29-28 to Anna, a team that upended previously undefeated Minster last Friday. The other losses have come to Coldwater and Marion Local. I do believe Parkway is improving and the Panthers are becoming more competitive, but I think Fort Recovery is the favorite in this one. I wouldn\u2019t be shocked if Parkway wins but I\u2019m going with the Indians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

St. Henry (4-3) at Minster (6-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this the game of the week in the MAC? It could be. These two state ranked teams appear to be pretty evenly matched. It is fair to note that all three of St. Henry\u2019s losses have come to teams with a combined record of 21-0 (Celina, Archbold, Marion Local). Minster has a couple of quality wins (Fort Loramie, Coldwater), but the Wildcats were upset by Anna 14-13 last week. I feel like I should pick Minster in this one but something is telling me St. Henry is the correct pick. It really should be a great game, probably on the low-scoring side. I\u2019ll go with the Redskins in a close one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Tinora (3-4) at Wayne Trace (5-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never mind Tinora\u2019s 3-4 record. Two of the losses came to Liberty Center (7-0) and Archbold (7-0). There was another loss to Ostego, a Division IV team, and to Fairview, 28-26. The Rams had Fairview on the ropes, but the Apaches pulled out the win on the game\u2019s final play. Having said that, Tinora hasn\u2019t beaten a team with a winning record. Wayne Trace is on a bit of a roll right now and a win would help the Raiders in terms of playoff seeding. Honestly, I think this game is a tossup and one could argue Tinora is actually a slight favorite. However, I\u2019m going with the Raiders at home in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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

Bluffton (6-1) at Crestview (2-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no way to sugarcoat this \u2013 Crestview has played a tough schedule with the likes of Paulding, Minster, Wayne Trace Fort Loramie etc \u2013 but with all due respect to those teams, this week might be the most challenging one yet. On top of that, the next two Fridays are loaded as well, with games against Columbus Grove and Lima Central Catholic. But the focus is this week\u2019s game against the Pirates. Simply put, I don\u2019t think the Knights have the firepower to keep up on the scoreboard in this one. To be fair, a lot of teams are in the same boat. I just don\u2019t see the Pirates losing this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Van Wert (4-3) at Ottawa-Glandorf (7-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How will Van Wert respond after last Friday\u2019s heartbreaking loss to St. Marys Memorial? Ottawa-Glandorf\u2019s defense has given up seven points or less four times this year \u2013 will the Titans be able to contain Van Wert\u2019s high powered offense? There are several storylines here and all are valid. I\u2019ll rule out one of them \u2013 O-G won\u2019t overlook Van Wert a week ahead of a matchup against currently undefeated Celina. Recent history indicates this will be a close game. This is where I\u2019m at \u2013 the Cougars are going to have to play mistake-free ball this week to win this and that\u2019s a tall order against a team that has made very few mistakes. Do I think Van Wert can bounce back and win this game? Yes, I do. However, I\u2019m predicting the Titans will remain undefeated going into next week\u2019s game against Celina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Ottawa-Glandorf<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marion Local at New Bremen: Marion Local<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Allen East at Spencerville: Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delphos Jefferson at Lima Central Catholic: Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Loramie at Columbus Grove: Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lima Sr. at Toledo Bowsher (Thursday): Lima Sr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

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

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports Where has the time gone? It\u2019s already Week No. 8 of a seemingly lightning fast football season. As we head down the home stretch, some teams are still fighting for a conference or league title or at least share of one. Others are fighting for higher playoff seeding or just a playoff […]<\/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-211033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-15 22:51:37","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\/211033","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=211033"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211039,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211033\/revisions\/211039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}