By Sterling Guesser
I got seven out of eight this week in my high school picks, with my only miss being Garrard County. I picked the Golden Lions to win 35-14 but they lost 52-42.
After four weeks of making picks, I am now 30 out of 34 (88.2%).
We are halfway through the regular season, for the teams that have not had an open week, so I have more data for my pick-em machine (my old noggin). Let’s get to the picks (local high schools first in alphabetical order):
- Boyle County (3-1)-The Rebels had an OPEN week to heal up some injuries and will travel to Louisville this week to take on Ballard (2-3). Ballard is a tradition-rich big city basketball school, but this game will be played with an oblong ball that takes funny bounces. Boyle beat Ballard 35-21 in 2018, and the 2025 game will be the same outcome but with a larger winning margin. The Rebels will beat the Bruins 42-7.
- Casey County (1-4)- Winless Clinton County is winless no more after their victory at Casey County last week. This week the “other” Rebels host Garrard County (2-2), a team that I have had trouble predicting. I am 100% picking Casey County games but Garrard defies logic at times. My head and my guts tell me the same thing about this game, and I guess I only have to pick Casey correctly and I’ll get Garrard right by default. See the Garrard entry, below, for the prediction.
- Danville (4-1)- The Admirals are riding high in the water after their fourth win of the season and their first district win in a couple of years, squeaking past Washington County 21-12. Like Boyle County, they have a trip to Louisville this week, too, to play Shawnee (3-2). How is Shawnee called the Eagles and not the “Tribe” or “Warriors” or whatever? These teams have a common opponent in Fort Knox, with similar runaway wins. It is hard to match up scores and Danville is better and more confident than they were in their opening game against Fort Knox. The Admirals will ground the Eagles this week for their second district win of the season, and you can mark down this prediction, too: Danville will finish second in the district behind Lexington Christian and host a playoff game in the first round. Danville will come home from Louisville with a 35-21 win over Shawnee.
- Garrard County (2-2)- The Golden Lions, despite my prediction to the contrary, lost to Bardstown Bethlehem last week in a 52-42 shootout. This week Garrard travels to Liberty to meet Casey County (1-4) in a district contest. As Patrick Henry said, “Give me Liberty or give me death”, the Golden Lions with take Liberty, Dunnville, Middleburg, Yosemite, Bethelridge—well, all of Casey County—in this football game. The outcome is not and will not ever be in doubt. Garrard wins this one 42-14.
- Lincoln County (5-0)- Lincoln County is 5-0 for the first time in a long time. I have heard some rumblings about Lincoln County’s weak schedule. None of their first five opponents are traditionally weak, and three of the five have winning records at this point. In fact, Lincoln County’s opponents are a combined 13-12, with five of the 12 losses being to Lincoln County. If those teams had scheduled easier teams than Lincoln County, they would be 18-7. Anyway, Lincoln’s schedule gets even tougher this week with the Franklin County Flyers (5-0) coming to Bill Ed Leedy Field. They were the 4A runners-up last season to Paducah Tighman and will be the best team Lincoln has seen so far this year. Oh, by way, Franklin County’s opponents are a combined 7-15 and only one of their opponents has a winning record at this point. Schedules are what schedules are. My head says Franklin County will outscore the Patriots. My heart says Lincoln figures out the defensive woes and makes some stands. It will be closer than most armchair experts want to admit. I think the Patriots find a way and win this one 31-28.
- Mercer County (0-5)- Mercer lost to previously winless Southwestern last week. The Titans are being outscored, on average, by a score of 53-17. Their offense is generally ineffective, and their defense is porous. It’s an unfortunate combination. This week, Bardstown (4-1) comes to Harrodsburg, and the timing could not be worse. The Tigers are coming off a 56-30 loss to powerhouse Owensboro Catholic, and they will want to set things right by toppling the Titans. Bardstown will run away with this, beating hapless Mercer County 56-12.
- Pulaski County (4-1)- I correctly predicted the Maroons loss at Johnson Central, but I had no idea they would give up 500+ yards of rushing. If you can’t stop the running game against good teams, you can’t win big games. PC has another big game this week when they host South Warren (5-0) from Bowling Green. This is going to be a tough matchup for Pulaski, even though South Warren is more skewed to passing than running. The Spartans have played a murder’s row of a schedule: Bryan Station, Manual, Greenwood, Bowling Green, and Hopkinsville, and have remained undefeated. This will be another loss, but a learning experience for Pulaski. South Warren wins 42-21.
- Rockcastle County (5-0)- The naysayers talk about Rockcastle’s schedule, too, as the Rockets are undefeated and are outscoring opponents 48-12 on average. Their opponents are 7-17 so far this season and only one opponent has a winning record. Their only regular season challenge is going to be Bell County in two weeks. We’ll see if the Rockets are for real, or are a dud, that week. This week, they host Clay County (1-3). They will de-claw the Tigers and send them home with their tails between their legs. Rockcastle wins this one 48-0.
- Somerset (4-1)- The Briar Jumpers are on a nice roll since their opening game loss to South Laurel, and they seem to be gaining momentum with four straight wins. This week, Somerset hosts Metcalf County (1-4) in a district game at the briar patch. This won’t be much of a game and Somerset will win 42-7.
- Southwestern (1-4)- The Warriors got their first win of the season at the expense of Mercer County. The reservation will be calm and peaceful this week, as Southwestern has a week off before hosting Pikeville in two weeks.
Kentucky Semi-Pro Games (College Football):
I missed three college game picks this week, with EKU, Geogetown, and Centre all taking losses despite by picks to win. A bunch of teams are off this week, so I think I’ll be 100% with the smaller sample size:
UK (2-1) had the week off. This week, they travel to Columbia to lose to South Carolina….
Louisville (3-0) beat up on Bowling Green from the MAC conference. This week, they get a win at Pittsburgh…
EKU (1-2) went down to Georgia and lost to West Georgia. This week they play Nichols State in the friendly confines of Roy Kidd Stadium. EKU gets back in the win column……
WKU (3-1) beat Nevada last week in an impressive victory. This week they travel to Springfield, Missouri to play Missouri State. This Hilltoppers win that one easily…..
Murray State (0-4) lost to Jacksonville State. The Racers are OPEN this week and get a respite from the beatings…..
Morehead State (2-2) got a much-needed win by throttling Kentucky Christian. This week they play Presbyterian College, whose nickname is the “Blue Hose”. Yes, their nickname comes from hosiery, specifically the blue stockings they wore in the early 1900s. Morehead, which is a funny name in and of itself, cannot stand to lose to the Blue Hose. Morehead gets the win here….
Georgetown College (3-1) got tripped up by St. Thomas of Florida. They Tigers are off this week but will have a big in-state game with Lindsey Wilson in two weeks…..
Lindsey Wilson (3-0) is still rolling. The beat Reinhardt University on the road in Georgia last week. They also have an off week before that big game with Georgetown in two weeks…..
Centre College (1-2) lost to LaGrange last week. They will be off this week and will spend their time memorizing next semester’s textbooks…..
Editor’s Note: Sterling Guesser has always been a local football fan. He became a savant prognosticator when he was involved in a car accident with a semi-truck carrying a load of footballs. He was not badly injured, but ever since a pallet of footballs fell on his head in that collision, he can see the future of football games. He is also a fictional character, and his picks are purely for entertainment purposes.
