He gets to sit on the king’s throne for at least another week.

Despite only having the third best Week Five record at 10-5, Mike Haines remains in first place by two games in the race for the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup.

Sam Matta hangs on in second place, while Yours Truly has slipped to three games behind Haines.

And here they come!

The big news of the week is the resurgence of two early-season favorites to win it all in November. Falling back into the pack after leading in Week One, Pat Matsinko has jumped into a second-place tie with Matta following a Week Five best mark of 13-2.

Another odds on favorite to win it all, Rod Heckman, stayed in contention after it looked like he was about to fall out of the race. He’s five games behind, and his Week Six picks may very well tell if the past champion will be in it to win it, or become yesterday’s news.

How he does it …

Heckman revealed his strategies for picking winners which has worked so well for him in past years. “I check out common opponents, as well as who those have opponents played. My son, who works for BRC13 (TV) covering football games, also weighs in on my picks. He’ll see the list and put a dot on which teams he likes and then I’ll go through them and make my selections. If we have any differences, which we always do, we’ll talk it out and then I’ll make a final decision,” he said. “…falling behind early altered a few of my picks. You can’t go crazy or you’ll dig a deeper hole.”

To his dismay, Heckman lost one game after his pick was winning late in the fourth quarter, and another on the very last play of the game.

Contenders and pretenders…

Going into tonight’s games, there are seven pickers who are in contention. Last year’s title winner, Brad Hurley, is four games back and could be making his move toward the front this week. Emmett McCall has quietly held his ground in the race. He’s also at four back, and could move closer to the lead with a big Week Six.

It’s not yet October, but Jeff Moeller, TJ Engle, and Kyle Magda have fallen so far off the pace, they will likely keep choking on the dust unless they can pull off a few perfect 15-0 weeks.

Raiders, Tigers

prep for showdown?

Our two local unbeaten teams are on a collision course when Northwestern plays Tamaqua on Oct. 18. The Tigers are favorites to defeat a good North Schuylkill team for their sixth-straight win tonight, while the Blue and White are a unanimous pick to take down the Bangor Slaters to continue their unblemished record. Both teams are winning convincingly, and it’s not wrong to think they might encounter each other with undefeated seasons on the line.

Bombers picked…

Palmerton is the consensus pick to get its first win of the season tonight against Wilson, another team searching for a victory. The staff doesn’t check the win column for Marian, Jim Thorpe, Panther Valley, Pleasant Valley, Northern Lehigh or Lehighton, and yet we’d all be happy if any or all the area teams win.

If you subtract Tamaqua and Northwestern’s 10 wins, all the rest of our local teams have a combined record of 10-25 so far this year, and that includes Northern Lehigh at 4-1 and Marian at 3-2.

Out of Area

Game of the Week

Let’s go with Schuylkill Haven at Williams Valley. The 4-1 Hurricanes have averaged an incredible 66 points in their last four straight wins. Trailing Minersville last week, 45-44 at the half, Haven outscored the Miners, 30-7 following the intermission for a 72-52, basketball score victory. The ‘Canes rolled up 538 yards in a balanced running attack, and they will ground-and-pound all game long. Undefeated Williams Valley can light up the scoreboard with a more balanced attack. Last week, the Vikings’ QB, threw for 224 yards and three TDs, while running back Brady Shomper ran for 122 yards and two scores. This game has the potential to burn out the light bulbs on the scoreboard when the total points are added together.

The key three…

With unanimous picks on the board for seven games, and another two with a 9-1 majority vote, there are three swing games that factor heavily into Week Six’s shift in the standings. The Haven-Williams Valley contest is a split decision. Haines, Matta, Matsinko and Heckman like the Vikings, but Hurley, McCall and Yours Truly have tabbed the ‘Canes to win. Another split decision game is Downingtown West vs West Chester-Rustin, two unfamiliar, but very good teams. Matsinko, McCall, and I look for WCR to help us gain a game against Haines, Matta, Hurley and Heckman.

The Southern Columbia at Danville battle favors the home team by a slight margin. Haines will need SC to win; otherwise, he stands to lose ground on the chasers as he tries to sit in the king’s throne for three weeks in row.

But the race is far from over. Will long shots Haines and Matta stay in the lead, or will the favorites pass them by? Week Seven will have the answer!