Here we go again!

This week kicks off another high school football season and the heat will be on Brad Hurley — the 2023 winner of the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup. Hurley’s name has been engraved and immortalized on the beautiful trophy that stands proudly in the Lehighton Times News office.

“I love this time of the year,” he said. “Football season is back. Winning back the Cup is tough and rarely happens. You have to take it one week at a time, and getting out to a really hot start is the key like I did last year. I hope to replicate that this season.”

In review

Last year, Hurley won the Cup by a whopping six games over perennial front-runner Rod Heckman. He left us all choking in his dust as he crossed the finish line with a burst of speed. Pat Matsinko, our new Sports Editor, and I finished in a tie for third place. Pat has always been the bride’s maid but never the bride, having finished in third place for the past three years in a row. I am proud to say that I have climbed steadily from sixth place in 2019, to fourth place in each of the next three years until last season when I tied for third. Still, there is no party for the pack rats behind the winner. It’s all about hoisting the Cup this coming November.

As always, I like to place odds on who will win the trophy this year. Hurley goes off at 3-1 to retain his title. He should be at or near the top when the football playoffs begin. Rod Heckman is at 4-1. He’s been a two-time champion in the last five years, and has not finished below third within that time span.

Matsinko goes off at 6-1. Could this finally be his year? I asked this question last August. Perhaps the football gods will get him across the finish line in first place for the first time.

The rest of the pack begins with Yours Truly. I place myself as a 10-1 shot. TJ Engle and Mike Haines, usual pack pundits, are off at 15-1. Our retired boss, Emmett McCall, will certainly have time now to scout practices and check past records of all the teams. Yet, his track record does not imply he will be in the late autumn run to win it all. He’s at 20-1.

Sam Matta made a strong early run last year and even picked all 15 games correctly one week, but he faded at the end and finished in eighth place. Sorry Sam. You’re a 25-1 shot to win the Cup. Then there’s Jeff Moeller and Kyle Magda, once newbies, but now seasoned pickers. Can either one shock our prognosticating world? They’re both long 30-1 shots.

It’s a brand new season, and we are ready to rock-and-roll Hurley out of the King’s throne.

On to the games!

The first week can be the most difficult one for picking winners. With graduations and roster overhauls, relying on last season’s results can get any one of us off to a bad start right out of the gate. Add in the fact that some area teams have switched to new leagues, and that many of this week’s games include teams from far out of our area. Only one of the 15 games is a unanimous choice, and that is Northwestern to defeat Wilson.

Olympians take flight, Raiders predicted to win

With its 12-win season in the rear view mirror, Coach Chris Walkowiak is excited to see how his Palmerton Blue Bombers will perform post superstar, and Lehigh quarterback recruit, Matt Machalik. Thorpe has a cannon of firepower with quarterback Cole Lazorick ready to shoot missiles to Justin Yescavage, who just might be the best wideout in the area. The Bombers defense will be seriously tested. The majority pick is for the Olympians to defeat Palmerton at home.

This could be a big year for Coach Sam Bonner’s boys at Tamaqua. After losing their first four games last season with a very young team, the Raiders won five of their last seven. The consensus is that they’ll have a happy bus ride home after beating the Green Knights of Pen Argyl.

Unleash the beasts!

Let all the animals out! Bulldogs, Colts, Panthers, Tigers and Bears run onto their gridirons tonight in search of win No. 1. Northern Lehigh hosts the Indians from Lehighton. Both teams look to rebound from disappointing seasons a year ago. The overall choice is for the Dawgs to triumph over the Tribe.

After Northwestern, it’s a roll of the dice as to which teams win in Week 1. Marian welcomes Hanover. The Colts look to get out of the gate with a fast start following last year’s 7-5 record. Panther Valley is the selection to take down Salisbury like the Panthers did last season, and the majority pick is Governor Mifflin spoils the Pleasant Valley Bears trip out to Shillington — the home site for the Mustangs.

Out of Area Game of the Week

The backyard brawl between Mount Carmel and North Schuylkill is a great opening game on the schedule. Five miles separate the two football powerhouses who finished last season with identical 9-3 records. The staff is split with the pick, but Yours Truly likes Carmel’s Red Tornadoes to avenge their loss to the Spartans a year ago.

Getting late out of the gate

It’s a long season, but to fall a few games behind early in the Grid Picks race can lead to a rough road for climbing out of the pack to compete for the Cup. Looking at their picks for this week, last year’s back of the pack pickers — Jeff Moeller and Kyle Magda — can be front runners or dust chokers going into Week 2. Many of their bold selections go against the majority of which teams the staff believes will win.

Will defending champ Hurley sit in the king’s throne after Week 1? Odds are that Hot Rod Heckman will be in the top three next week. Who falls into the dreaded darkness of the Pundit Pit? It’s time to kick off an exciting new high school football season. The crystal balls have been polished and our prognosticators are prepared to make their runs for the coveted Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup!