“Looks like I blew a tire last week.”

These are the words of “Hot Rod” Heckman. He lost his one game advantage over Bob “Mustang” Ford, who vowed that he would catch up to the leader - and he did.

Surging into a three-way share of the king’s throne is Justin “The Voice” Carlucci, who used a 12-2 week to pick up two games on Heckman and one on Ford.

“The rest of the staff can’t let me win,” said Carlucci. “I’ve covered a total of two high school games in the past calendar year. I’m a news reporter now ... Odds to win? It’s 2020, the impossible is nothing! We’ve seen it all.”

Yours Truly, with a respectable mark of 11-3, pulled a game closer, but I’m still four games off the pace. From the back of the pack, defending champion Andy Steinmetz rallied to leap frog over “Bad Brad” Hurley, who faltered at 8-6 for the week.

Both Hurley and “Bossman” Emmett McCall are safe from falling into the Pundit Pit, where permanent resident, Sam “The Sham” Matta is blinded by the darkness at 19 games out of first place.

Keys to the kingdom

The district playoffs begin tonight, and eight local teams are in action. Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, and Palmerton are unanimous staff picks to move on and play next week.

In a game between Lehighton and Northwestern, one local team will be eliminated, and the staff picks the Tigers to send the Indians into the offseason.

Pleasant Valley, having played only three regular season games, has a daunting task to upset undefeated Nazareth. Panther Valley, a District 11 qualifier for the first time in a decade, will also have its hands full with top-seeded Palisades.

Jim Thorpe, with another excellent season at 6-2, plays unbeaten Notre Dame Green Pond. The Red Swarm will have to tackle the Crusaders, who average an astounding 45 points per game.

Tamaqua plays North Schuylkill. The Raiders look to be the first team to take down the Spartans this year.

Palmerton is a unanimous choice to beat Pen Argyl in a game between a couple of two-win teams. Last week, freshman, Matt Machalik and sophomore Cole Serfass combined for 288 rushing yards in the Bombers’ upset over Northern Lehigh. The Bulldogs are the pick to rebound and knock off Schuylkill Haven.

One out-of-area matchup will determine if Heckman or Ford sits on the king’s throne going into Week 10. Heckman tabbed Whitehall to beat Southern Lehigh in an upset. Ford picked the favored Spartans.

Carlucci likes the underdog Zephyrs as well. He also selected Minersville over Catasauqua against his fellow first-placers, so he’s taken a bold risk to own the throne alone going into what could be the final week of the picks race.

Yours Truly hopes to inch up a game or two with a Whitehall win and a Blue Mountain upset of Bethlehem Catholic.

Matsinko goes wild

Pat “The Mat” Matsinko must be looking forward to his favorite wrestling season coming up. He’s picked no fewer than four upsets on the board. He’s seven games out of first place so one way or another, he’s going to move up or down in the standings.

Four wheelers and a dark horse

The Grid Picks Cup favorites are “Hot Rod” and “Mustang” Bob. Every year, they’re near the front and go down to the wire.

Ford has said he’s confident he’ll beat Heckman, but is wary of those around him. He may have been referring to Carlucci, who has surged from behind to tie the odds-on-favorites with a 24-5 record in the last two weeks. Carlucci has been competitive in recent years, but has always run of gas and faded down the stretch. Could this be the time he gallops ahead and takes home the Cup?

One thing seems certain: The winner of the Cup will either be a sports writer, a news writer, or a photographer. Shame on the seven of us veterans who cover high school football every week and lag behind in the standings. We love the games, but now, two nondepartmental staff members appear to know how to pick the winners and the losers of the games better than we do.

The trophy awaits a new set of hands to hold it for a year.

Office bragging rights will come to the victor.

The race looks every bit like the winner will take it by a nose.

Who wins the Cup? Right now, the race is too close to call.