Well if it wasn’t for damn Hardin Northern I would’ve had my first spotless week. This is where the going gets tough though. There’s no cake walk games in the playoffs. You got to give it 110%. You need to leave everything on the field. Is that enough clichés? Probably. Let’s get to my final picks piece of the season!
Last week: 12-1, Overall, 65-10
LEXINGTON vs TIFFIN COLUMBIAN - Tiffin Columbian’s two losses have come to teams that are each one or two seeds in their respective regions (Anthony Wayne and Clyde). While Lexington has just one win against a team above .500. I have to go with TC getting the win.
LOUDONVILLE vs SENECA EAST - Seneca East has just one loss that came to a really good Mohawk team. Loudonville is at .500 but they played games against division IV & V teams all season long for the most part. (8 of 10 games). I’m gonna go with the upset in this one. I’m going with Loudonville. Seneca East is without some of their top players. It may not have mattered going against a winless Buckeye Central team last week, but it will tonight. Give me the Redbirds over the Tigers.
FAIRVIEW vs GIBSONBURG - Like Seneca East, Gibsonburg’s one loss came against a good Mohawk team. The Golden Bears rebounded and beat their former head coaches new squad, Tiffin Calvert, the following week. Fairview is 7-3 with two of their losses coming to playoff teams in Bryan (7-3) and Edgerton (10-0). Their other loss came against Hicksville who just missed out on the postseason. I’m gonna go with the Golden Bears over the Apaches in this contest.
NORTHWOOD vs HILLSDALE - Not truly a 'local' team, but they're my team so I'm going to talk about them for a second. My Northwood Rangers come into the game at 9-1 with their one loss being to Lemoyne Road rival Lake. That shoot-out with Rossford doesn't look as good since they dropped way off when their quarterback when down with injury. The Rangers benifited by playing in now weaker TAAC with Gibsonburg going to the SBC. They hadn't won a league title since 2013. On the Hillsdale side, they're 8-2 with both losses being to playoff teams in Loudonville and Norwayne. I got to see Hillsdale last year against Liberty-Benton. They return a good chunk of guys from that team. As much as I don't like picking against my school they have just one playoff win in the past nine trips to the postseason. Begrudgingly taking the Falcons over the Rangers.
PANDORA-GILBOA vs TIFFIN CALVERT - Man, it really doesn’t feel like this should be a round one game. Both these teams are set up to make runs this year. They both lost last year to the same team (Norwalk St. Paul) Calvert in round two and Pandora-Gilboa in round three. Calvert was able to beat a now 9-1 Norwalk team back in week three before they stumbled against Gibsonburg the following week. PG is a perfect 10-0 with their biggest wins coming over Columbus Grove and McComb who are both playoff teams. I just can’t go against PG. Their defense has been so good against even explosive offenses. McComb has averaged around 45 points a game this year and the Rockets held them to just 14 back in week 7. I have the Rockets facing the winner of St. Paul and Edgerton.
LEIPSIC vs MOHAWK - The Vikings come into Sycamore this weekend at 9-1 with that lone loss being to McComb. Their best wins this year have been against Columbus Grove and they had a thriller last week to come back and beat Arlington. Mohawk is perfect on the season with big wins over Gibsonburg, Carey, Seneca East and Wynford. If Leipsic is fortunate enough to get Cole Rieman back then I give them a punchers chance, but if he doesn’t play or does play and isn’t very healthy I don’t see their offense being productive enough against Mohawk. The Warriors have only allowed 21 points over the last 5 weeks. Mohawk over Leipsic.
CAREY vs COLUMBUS GROVE - Game one of my weekend slate so no pick here. The Bulldogs bounced back nicely from a 2-8 record in 2017 to go 7-3 this year. While Carey is week 11 bound for the second straight season. Looks to be a good one out at Columbus Grove tonight.
MCCOMB vs PATRICK HENRY - Game two of my weekend slate so no pick here. But this has to be one of the most senior coaching matchups. Kris Alge from McComb is in his 21st season, and Patrick Henry’s Bill Inselmann is in his 26th. It looks to be a fun matchup!
Be sure to check out the games I’ll be covering this weekend on Friday night I will have Carey vs Columbus Grove, and Saturday night I will have McComb vs Patrick Henry! You can listen to both of those games on Mix 96.7 WBVI FM and online right here:
