Well now, Mr. Heckman.

Following a season’s worst 9 -6 record, “Hot” Rod Heckman cooled off enough to allow Brad Hurley to move just two games back of the odds-on favorite in the race for the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup. Three back of the leader is Pat Matsinko. Sam “The Man” Matta found some gas in his tank, and with a week’s best 11-4 mark climbed back into contention. He’s also three behind Heckman.

Unless the first four pickers all have suffer major losses the next few weeks, Yours Truly is officially counting himself out of contention. At five games back, my goal is to be no worse than fifth - which would be my best finish since entering the race who knows how many years ago.

The rest of the pack - Mike Haines, Chuck Hixson, Emmett McCall, TJ Engle Kyle Magda - seem to be pretty much playing out the string with no legitimate hopes of threatening the leaders.

There was some good news for the bottom feeders a week ago, however, as Magda tied for the best Week 10 record with Matta. Unfortunately for him, he’s so far down in the Pundit Pit, he’ll need full blown stadium lights lighting the way to have any chance at an escape route.

The Norths have it

This week, the picks appear somewhat easy - at least on paper. The 15 games we are deciding on are all playoff games, and with higher seeds hosting lower seeds, most of the picks seem obvious.

Let’s start with all the Norths - Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, North Schuylkill, and Northampton are all picked to advance to the next round of the District 11 playoffs. Of all the “North” favorites, I’m feeling that Northwestern is the most vulnerable, with Jim Thorpe having a chance to pull an upset of the Tigers. During the regular season, the Olympians took Palmerton, Notre Dame, and Northern Lehigh to the final minutes or seconds, and were winning those games before they were defeated.

That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh Snyder’s 8-2 Tigers made a run to the D11 finals with their beasts in the backfield - quarterback Cade Christopher and tailback Dalton Clymer - leading the way. The pair have combined to rush for nearly 2,000 yards this season.

Raiders, Bombers in rematch

Palmerton, led by All-Everything quarterback Matt Machalik, is the favorite against Tamaqua, but this could be one of those first round upsets by Sam Bonner’s Raiders. Two weeks ago, they were locked in a 20-20 second-half tie before the Bombers scored 16 unanswered points to win, 36-20. The Raiders are a tough team to figure out. They can put points on the board, but the problem has been keeping good opponents out of the end zone.

I think the Bombers prevail here, but it’s never easy to beat the same team twice so if the Raiders should win, it wouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Bears host Zephyrs

Perhaps the most improved football program in the area is Pleasant Valley. Coach Blaec Saeger has his Bears at 7-3 this season, earning them a home District 11 Class 5A semifinal game against the Whitehall Zephyrs. With only four teams in the 5A bracket, the winner advances right to the championship game against either Pocono Mountain West or Southern Lehigh. The Zephyrs are only 5-5, but they play a very difficult schedule - facing the likes of Parkland, Emmaus, Freedom, Nazareth and Northampton. Despite dropping their last two regular season games by large margins, they are a unanimous pick to beat the Bears - mostly based upon strength of schedule.

Slaters visit Vikings

Another game where strength of schedule comes into consideration is Bangor versus Allentown Central Catholic - my choice for the Out of Area Game of the Week. The 7-3 Slaters can certainly defend their better record against the 5-5 Vikings, but here again, the consensus pick is ACC wins this one due to their playing better opponents. It would come as no shock to me, however, if Bangor comes out on top in this 4A matchup. The Slaters can run the ball as well as anyone with quarterback, Eric Striba, who has rushed for 1,027 yards on the season, and running backs, Noah Hillis and Ashton Kluska, who have combined for over 1,100 yards.

Keeping it close

Nine of the 15 games this week are unanimous picks, and will make no difference in the standings.

The goal for the three pickers who are chasing Heckman this week is to stay within striking range until the next week or two when teams move into the title games and the picks become more challenging. Hurley and Matsinko can gain no ground on Heckman, as their picks for Week 11 are identical. Matta, however, usually makes a bold pick or two and this week is no different. He’s counting on the Raiders to upset Palmerton, and Catasauqua to defeat Palisades - if that should happen, he would move to within a game of the lead.

Heckman is still the favorite to win it all, but he can’t afford another 9-6 record. Hurley, Matsinko and “Surprising Sam” Matta - a back-of-the -back picker in recent years - can all still catch Heckman, but time is running out. Next week is the final guaranteed week of Grid Picks - although there could be a 13th week added if there are local teams still alive in the postseason. As a long shot going into the season, Matta spins his upset wheel again this week, hoping the arrow points to the Raiders and the Rough Riders.

The Cup is being prepared for the victory lap around the Times News office. With only one or two weeks to go, it appears that either Heckman, Hurley, Matta, or Matsinko will be hoisting the gold!