Week 9 is finally upon us. Teams around the area are starting to have a better idea about their fate. Maybe someone gets caught looking ahead on Friday night. That’s why you play the game! Let’s look at the picks for this week.

Record this season: 83-24 overall, 13-1 in week 8

Otsego vs Fostoria - Otsego is down for the first time in a couple of seasons. Give me Fostoria getting above .500 for the first time since Micah Hyde was in school. 

North Baltimore vs Liberty-Benton - Liberty-Benton by a lot.

Van Buren vs Arlington - Arlington wins big heading into their big game against Leipsic.

Arcadia vs Cory-Rawson - Points won’t be an issue in this one. I’ll take Arcadia. 

Riverdale vs Vanlue - Riverdale. Big.

Pandora-Gilboa vs Crestline - Pandora-Gilboa. Big

Carey vs Buckeye Central - Carey. Big.

Wynford vs Mohawk - Wynford gets a win to give themselves a small chance at making the postseason in division five.

Seneca East vs Colonel Crawford - Seneca East keeps rolling. 

Lima Senior vs Findlay - Findlay was so, so close to taking down a really good St. John’s team. They will right some of their wrongs this week against Lima. 

Perkins vs Tiffin Columbian - Big win coming for TC heading into their game with Norwalk. 

Tiffin Calvert vs Hopewell-Loudon - Two teams that have struggled this season. Nice little rivalry game in Bascom. I’m going with Calvert in this one. 

Northwood vs Ottawa Hills - Northwood still may be on the outside looking in come postseason time despite being 8-0. Shows how much the TAAC has dwindled after losing both Gibsonburg and Danbury to the SBC. 

Quick aside: Gibsonburg may miss out on the postseason too. They stand at eight for the time being (Joeeitel) The Golden Bears are in a stacked region that has Coldwater, LCC, Anna, Liberty Center, Archbold, Minster and Allen East above them. Fairview is beneath them at 7-1 with their lone loss coming to division four Wauseon. Oh and Fairview beat Gibsonburg in the first round of the postseason a year ago. Fairview is really good.

Hardin Northern vs Ridgemont - Sure looks like Hardin Northern will make the playoffs if they win out in a region that includes Marion Local.

Leipsic vs McComb - I won’t pick this game since it’s the game I’m calling. It should be a fun one! Join Matt Cotman and I live on Mix 96.7 WBVI and online here 

Week eight really is when you see who will be true contenders and what teams fall by the wayside. Why waste time? Let’s get into this week’s picks!

Record this season: 70-23 overall, 11-3 in week 7

Fostoria vs Genoa - Really tough loss for Fostoria last week. They will rebound against a Genoa team that’s down for the first time in more than a decade.

Arcadia vs North Baltimore - I have a feeling we’ll see a lot of offense in this game. Last season they combined for 100 some total points. I don’t think we see quite that output tonight. North Baltimore will have a couple highlight plays, but they won’t have enough. Taking Arcadia in this game.

Pandora-Gilboa vs Arlington - Lots of fun games in the BVC this week. Arlington’s offense has been a lot more fluid once they gave Connor Foust more touches. I will take the Red Devils over the Rockets. 

Vanlue vs Cory-Rawson - Cory-Rawson hasn’t been able to stop much throughout the season. Including giving up 51 to Crestline last week. I’ll go with Vanlue. 

Crestline vs Riverdale - Riverdale bounces back after a tough couple of weeks losing to Arcadia on a late field goal and running into a really good Liberty-Benton squad. 

McComb vs Van Buren - McComb by a bunch.

Wynford vs Carey - Very interesting game in the NTAC. Both teams still fighting for the league crown. Going with Wynford over Carey in this one.

Buckeye Central vs Mohawk - Mohawk keeps Buckeye Central winless.

Seneca East vs Upper Sandusky - Seneca East rebounds after an overtime loss to Carey.

Findlay vs St. John’s - St. John’s has looked amazing this year. They took Central Catholic down to the wire. Taking the Titans over the Trojans.

Bellevue vs Tiffin Columbian - Big SBC game between a 5-2 team and a 6-1 squad. I think we’ll see another close game that the Tornadoes win.

Hopewell-Loudon vs Danbury - Chieftains big over winless Danbury.

Whetstone vs Northwood - Whetstone acts as the replacement game with Toledo Christain playing eight man football this season. They are a division two school from Columbus. They’re 3-4 but those wins are against teams that combine to have just two wins in total. A win here should really help the Rangers who are currently outside of the playoff picture despite behind 7-0.

Hardin Northern vs Elgin - I’ll bet it has been a while since Hardin Northern was above .500 for the season. That’ll change after this week.

Liberty-Benton vs Leipsic - I won’t pick this game since it’s the game I’m calling. It should be a fun one! Join Matt Cotman and I live on Mix 96.7 WBVI and online here

Week 6 was an interesting one. Things are finally starting to feel like fall. The weather is getting crisper. The leaves are changing. Heck I even went to a pumpkin patch for the first time in like five years. Let’s get into this week’s picks!

Record this season: 59-20 overall, 9-5 in week 6

Rossford vs Fostoria - Man, the NBC is weird this year. Genoa’s down for the first time in a while. Eastwood remains at the top but both Rossford and Fostoria are the next two teams to look out for. This seems to be a pretty even matchup. I think we’ll see another close game that the Redmen find a way to win.

Riverdale vs Liberty-Benton - Riverdale has been fun in spots this season and they’re coming off a tough loss to Arcadia. That doesn’t mean this week will be better for them. Going with LB.

Cory-Rawson vs Crestline - It won’t be nearly as bad as it was last week against McComb, but I still have Cory-Rawson falling to Crestline. 

Arlington vs Arcadia - Arlington. Big.

McComb vs North Baltimore - McComb keeps rolling.

Vanlue vs Pandora-Gilboa - Pandora-Gilboa. Massive.

Mohawk vs Bucyrus - I’m not sure what to make of this game. Neither team has been very impressive so far this season. I’ll take Bucyrus but I don’t feel great about it. 

Carey vs Seneca East - Give me the Tigers rolling to 7-0.

Tiffin Calvert vs Danbury - Calvert. Huge.

Fremont St. Joe’s vs Hopewell-Loudon - A pair of 2-4 teams that have struggled so far this season. I’ll go with Hopewell-Loudon on a whim.

Clyde vs Tiffin Columbian - Both teams started the season 5-1. Clyde’s loss came to start the season while Columbian’s was this past week. Last year TC lost because of a late field goal. I think they remember that well and find a way to get the win.

Findlay vs Clay - Findlay is banged up, but so are a lot of teams at this point in the season. I think they get a better flow on offense and take down the Eagles.

Northwood vs Montpelier - One team hasn’t scored a point in their last two games. One team has scored at least 50 points each of the last four weeks. I will go with the team that has scored at least 50 for the last four weeks. (Yes, it’s Northwood. I just wanted to be somewhat creative)

Hardin Northern vs Lehman Catholic  - Another seemingly close matchup for Hardin Northern. Considering Hardin Northern easily beat Riverside and Lehman Catholic needed OT to do so. I will go with the Polar Bears

Van Buren vs Leipsic - I won’t pick this game since it’s the game I’m calling. Join Matt Cotman and I live on Mix 96.7 WBVI and online here 

Well I did say what I was going to do coming into week 5. I got better with the picks. In fact, since I only predict the Hardin Northern score weekly for a couple people out there that went there. In my personal record book I had a perfect week 5. Regardless, let’s get into week 6.

Record this season: 50-15 overall, 12-1 in week 5

Fostoria vs Elmwood - Two teams that have struggled a lot over the last handful of seasons. Elmwood started strong at 2-0 before losing to Northwood, Genoa and Rossford. The loss to Rossford is the most questionable of the three. I’ll take the Redmen.

Arcadia vs Riverdale - Riverdale has looked really good the last couple of weeks and I don’t think that changes this week. Going with the Falcons. 

Vanlue vs Arlington - Arlington. Huge.

Cory-Rawson vs McComb - McComb. Huge.

Van Buren vs North Baltimore - Van Buren has dealt with a bunch of injuries and because of that they’ve had a bit of a losing skid. I think North Baltimore will be able to score a little bit, but I think Van Buren wins this one. 

Leipsic vs Crestline - Leipsic. By a lot.

Carey vs Upper Sandusky - Two teams that have struggled this year. Big rivalry matchup. I’m taking the Rams in this one.

Mohawk vs Colonel Crawford - Cleary not the Mohawk team from a season ago. Going with the Eagles.

St. Francis vs Findlay - Closer than it looks on paper, but Findlay is banged up and playing with their back up QB. I'll take the Knights.

Tiffin Columbian vs Sandusky - Has to be the best game in the area tonight. I will give the slight edge to Columbian. I have a feeling we might see this matchup in November as well.

Tiffin Calvert vs Margaretta - Calvert isn’t the same team they were in 2018, but I think they find a way to beat Margaretta.

Pymatuning Valley vs Hopewell-Loudon - Hopewell-Loudon was lucky to get this game after Sandusky St. Mary had to drop to playing 8 man football this season. It will be a much needed victory for the Chieftains. 

Hilltop vs Northwood - It sure looks like the Rangers are going to go 10-0 once again. 

Hardin Northern vs Riverside - Close matchup in this one. I’ll give a slight edge to Hardin Northern in this game.

Liberty-Benton vs Pandora-Gilboa - I won’t pick this game since it’s the game I’m calling. Join Matt Cotman and I live on Mix 96.7 WBVI and online here