By Sterling Guesser
This was another 7-out-8-week for me. I went out on a limb and picked Lincoln County for an upset win, but it didn’t happen.
After five weeks of predicting high school football games, I am now 37 out of 42 (88.0%). Note: I started the picks after the first week of games.
We are starting to see teams play district games, and these are often harder to pick. I believe I’m getting them all right this week. (local high schools first in alphabetical order):
- Boyle County (4-1)-The Rebels went to Louisville and defeated Ballard 35-14. The Rebels have played a tough non-district schedule and that will continue this week when they host Louisville St. Xavier (3-2). The Tigers have also played a tough schedule so far this season, with wins over Owensboro, Bowling Green, and Male, plus losses to Cincinnati Elder and Louisville Trinity. This will be the game of the week in our area but will not be a good one for the Rebels. I see the Tigers clawing out a 28-14 victory.
- Casey County (1-5)- Casey County got walloped by Garrard County last week in a district game. This week, they travel to Bardstown (5-1) for another district game and another walloping. It will look like Casey went on a bourbon trail tour as they stagger home with a 54-0 loss.
- Danville (5-1)- The Admirals have charted a course for a winning season and turning the tide on the previous two winless seasons. They beat Louisville Shawnee in impressive fashion, 41-0, and now host Louisville Southern (1-4). The Admirals will run away with their sixth win of the year, beating Southern 48-0.
- Garrard County (3-2)- The Golden Lions face a big test this week in district play when they host the Lexington Catholic Knights (3-2). The Knights lost the season opener to Ballard 19-6 but then beat Boyle County two weeks later 17-7. Boyle beat Ballard this week 35-14. Outcomes like that makes my job a hard one. The Golden Lions will be in their home den, but the invading Knights will tame them and vanquish them. Lexington Catholic wins 35-14.
- Lincoln County (5-1)- Franklin County was too much for the Patriots last week, and Lincoln will move into district play this week when they host Wayne County (2-4). The Cardinals have been missing their starting quarterback since the first game off the season, and have struggled in his absence. Lincoln County will have little trouble with the wounded Cardinals and win 31-7.
- Mercer County (0-6)- Mercer gave up 65 points in their loss to Bardstown. They will have a week off to rest up for Lexington Catholic on October 10th. The fort will be safe this week in Mercer County but there is only one possible win left on their schedule.
- Pulaski County (4-2)- The Maroons started red hot and then ran into the difficult part of their schedule, Johnson Central the week before last and now South Warren this past week. South Warren shut them out 35-0. Pulaski has an OPEN week this week to plan for their next game against their former head coach who is now at South Laurel.
- Rockcastle County (6-0)- “The Rock is Hard” even if their schedule is not. The Rockets rolled Clay County 47-8 last week, and they have not had a game that has been closer than a twenty-one-point difference all season. How will Rockcastle handle a dogfight of a game? We’re about to find out when they travel to Log Mountain this week to play Bell County (6-0). Other than their season-opening win at Campbellsville, the Bobcats have not played football giants either. I think both teams will find out a lot about themselves in this one. I never bet against Bell’s Coach, Dudley Hilton, so I’ll take Bell County to win 42-21.
- Somerset (5-1)- The Briar Jumpers took care of business in a lopsided win against Metcalfe County. This week, they travel to Clinton County (1-5), whose only win is against Casey County. The Jumpers will get their sixth straight win by leashing the Bulldogs and winning 48-6.
- Southwestern (1-4)- After their OPEN week, the Warriors will host small school powerhouse Pikeville (3-3). The Panthers are having uncharteristic losses this season, but the three losses have been to three very good teams (Lexington Christian, Johnson Central, and Belfry). This one is tough to predict but I’m going with the mountain boys to win. Pikeville will pull away with a 38-21 win.
Kentucky Semi-Pro Games (College Football):
I missed one college game this week due to erroneously thinking Morehead could beat the Presbyterians. There are less bye teams this week but there is one really interesting in-state game. Let’s pick ‘em:
UK (2-2) lost an SEC game to South Carolina. That’s the bad news. The worse news (there is no good news) is that they travel to Georgia this week. The Bulldogs win big over the C-A-T-S….
Louisville (4-0) started slow but beat Pittsburgh. This week they host Virginia who is coming off that exciting overtime win against Florida State. Virginia will come back down to earth as the Cardinals hand them a loss…
EKU (2-2) beat Nichols State in Roy Kidd Stadium. This week, they have a bye week……
WKU (4-1) got a win at Missouri State. They are travelling to the east coast this week to play Delaware in a tough Conference USA game. The Hilltoppers come back to Bowling Green with a win…..
Murray State (0-4) was idle last week but will make a journey to South Dakota this week. The woes continue for the Racers as they will lose their fifth game of the season to the Coyotes…..
Morehead State (2-3) got outplayed by Presbyterian College. This week they host Dayton and will get another loss. If you can’t beat the Blue Hose, you won’t beat the Flyers….
Georgetown College (3-1) was off last week but has a big in-state game this week at home with Lindsey Wilson. This is going to be a battle between two great small-school football programs. See below for the prediction…..
Lindsey Wilson (3-0) was also off last week. They will make the trip from Columbia to Georgetown to take on the Tigers this week. This is a tough game to pick but I think Lindsey Wilson gets the win…..
Centre College (1-2) was off last week. This week they host Millsaps College from Jackson, Mississippi this week. I aways thought that was a school for the blind named in honor of Ronnie Milsap, but not the case. Is was named for the founder, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps, and the school’s mascot is “Mr. Major” in honor of their founder. Centre College’s mascot is the Colonel. Even though a Colonel outranks a Major, Mr. Major will win this game. It’s starting to look like a long season for Centre…..
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.
