What a week it was.

Mike Haines was knocked off the king’s throne. Sam Matta reclaimed a share of first place with Yours Truly, and since I have been writing these columns for the past several years, this is the first time that I have ever been in the lead.

The lucky seven …

The race for the Bob Ford Memorial Cup now features seven contenders. A resurgence by defending champion Brad Hurley — who was 14-1 last week — has him one game behind the leaders. Pat Matsinko, looking like he might be fading away, finished strong and is tied with Hurley. Haines and Emmett McCall sit just two games back, and a big week from Rod Heckman has him four games behind and poised to make his move to the front.

How he does it …

It’s my turn to share my strategy for picking winners. I like to focus on how a team has played in the last three or four games. I check their points scored and points allowed, which tells me how their offenses and defenses have been performing. With these statistics, I try to determine which of the two teams is trending up or trending down. Of course, there are always a few toss-up games. These are pivotal picks for shifts in the standings. Luck is involved to a greater degree if I can guess right at who wins an evenly-matched game.

Unlucky Week Seven?

A reason for our solid Week 6 of picks was that many teams with good records played teams that are struggling. Week 7 is loaded with toss-up contests, and some of those are games with our area teams. The most intriguing matchup is undefeated Tamaqua at 5-1 Southern Lehigh. Sam Bonner has his Raiders clicking on all cylinders. The Spartans have been rolling on a four-game win streak. This should be a real barn burner. The staff favors Southern Lehigh to give Tamaqua its first loss.

Jim Thorpe has been trying to get back on track since its opening-season win. We think that can happen when it hosts Catasauqua tonight. Blue Mountain is picked to beat Lehighton, Marian to fall before the high-scoring Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes, and Panther Valley to lose to Williams Valley.

Northwestern has obliterated six straight opponents. The Tigers are averaging 47 points per game, and have allowed an average of just one TD each week. Expect Pottsville to hang tough for a while, but Josh Snyder’s bunch are primed to win the school’s 17th consecutive regular-season game dating back to last season.

Palmerton won its first game last week, and the consensus is they sink the Pirates from Palisades for two wins in a row. Northern Lehigh is a unanimous choice to beat winless Wilson, as is Blue Mountain to defeat the Tribe from Lehighton.

Out of Area Game of the Week

North Penn plays at Central Bucks South in a battle of 6-0 teams. The visiting Knights look to avenge last year’s 50-28 loss to the Titans. Both teams have been racking up the points and have also won some close games. Penn is loaded with standouts like tight end Aiden Eves and running back Josiah Coleman, who last season was ranked in the top 100 of all running backs in Pennsylvania. The Titans feature dual-threat QB Owen Pinkerton, who had a 200-yard passing game combined with 102 yards gained on the ground in a game earlier this season. The slight favorite pick here is Penn, but Matta and McCall can gain if the Titans prevail.

The keys to the kingdom

There are two games that might shuffle the order in the standings. Palmerton hosts Palisades, and it’s a 6-4 vote by the staff that the Pirates defeat the Bombers. I’m going with the local team here. The other game in which the staff picked a slight favorite has Easton winning over Northampton, two teams having terrific seasons.

The out of area games are tough to pick, but fun to guess at. A 4-2 Executive Education team takes on the 2-3 Conwell-Egan Eagles, and yet the consensus of the staff is that EE Charter loses this game. Then there is Scranton at Wallenpaupack Area. From the top seven racers on the board, four favor Scranton making it a pivotal contest this week.

Then there are times we have majority picks and the team loses. One of those games could be tonight as unbeaten Tamaqua visits 5-1 Southern Lehigh team. If the Raiders win, Matsinko will gain a game on the leaders.

We’re looking forward to a great Week 8. I’m now the hunted and not the hunter, but I’m going to sit back in the King’s Throne and dream of running a lap around the Times News office with the Cup raised over my head.

With five weeks to go, I’d better keep dreaming.