***Well, I would hope somebody! Kidding aside, and thanks to Thomas Lawrence of the Record Searchlight for the high school football picks header suggestion after using Mike Singletary and “The Natural” for previous headlines. Without further ado, let’s get to the picks.
Here’s how I’ve done:
Week Zero: 3-0
Week 1: 6-6
Week 2: 7-4
Week 3 Picks: I went 7-3. I’m not even Greek. (that’s for audience members who are NFL fans 40 or older).
***You think I’m going anything different after a 7-3 week? Heck no. I’m even keeping the same lame intro.
Last week’s picks:
The right stuff: Pleasant Valley over Oroville. Anderson over Las Plumas, Orland over Willows, Red Bluff over Corning, Princeton over Herlong, Chico over Nevada Union, and the bonus pick Enterprise over Central Valley.
Didn’t see these coming: Durham over Hamilton, Gridley over Live Oak, Biggs over East Nicolaus.
So on the season: 23-13. Getting better. Marked improvement. Now, let’s see if it won’t go to my head.
Today’s games:
Central Valley at Chico. Winner: Let’s get back to this one. Keeping you in suspense.
Pleasant Valley at Paradise. Winner: Paradise. Bobcats had last week off. Give Rick Prinz and Co. extra time for preparation is usually not a good way to win.
Victory Bell game: Oroville vs. Las Plumas. Winner: Las Plumas. I’ve covered this game the past three years. I’m 1-2 with last year’s LP victory the one I predicted. I think it will be LP again as the Thunderbirds seem to be getting a grasp on the new offense that has been installed prior to the season. T’birds can run some and pass some. Oroville is a bit more one-dimensional. Two beats one, and I think LP does the same.
Durham at Quincy. Winner: Durham. Trojans get the win without wideout Lucas Mullarkey who will miss this game. Durham is just tapping into their potential.
Orland at Gridley. Winner: Orland. Trojans won’t fall to Bulldogs, who won an emotional overtime contest last week to get their first victory in more than a year. No one will mind if they take a week to soak in their first Harvest Bowl triumph, which came on Emery Haddy TD sneak in overtime. Orland takes care of business.
Esparto at Biggs. Winner: Biggs. I won’t go against the Wolverines for the second-straight week. They keep Spartans winless and stay unbeaten themselves.
Portola at Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton. Braves looked out of sorts against Durham last week. It’s hard to keep Andrew Shippelhoute and company down for two straight games. Bounce-back time.
Corning at Willows. Winner: Corning. Both teams played up last week and took a loss for it. Willows plays another D-II team in Cardinals, and they get the win this time around. Wouldn’t be shocked to a Honkers’ win.
Princeton at Westwood. Winner: Princeton. Eagles continue ascent after brutal start to schedule.
OK. It’s go time. Central Valley at Chico. Winner: Hold on, one more minute. I’ve been rolling this around for a while, especially since I’m covering this one. Been back and forth. I mean when was the last time Chico was the team that played slower, more deliberate than its opponent? This should be a fan favorite. There are a lot of reasons to go with CV. Chico played Saturday night in the mud and has one less day to rest and prepare. Panthers are at home and it’s homecoming today. Chico defensive coordinator held the same position with Central Valley when the Falcons won a section title a while ago. This is by no means, a cinch. But give me Chico in a close one.
Bonus section pick: I’m going to go with three because, hey, I make the rules here. Enterprise over Red Bluff, Turlock over West Valley, and Sutter over Wheatland.
Can’t make it to the games? Follow me on Twitter for Central Valley-Chico @JShufelberger, follow @TravisSouders for the Victory Bell game between Oroville and Las Plumas, and @jtlarson for the Pleasant Valley-Paradise paring. Follow @tjholmes_RS and @tlawrence_RS for their updates on games in the Redding area.
Feel free to throw some picks of your own in the comments section.
