Oh well. That was short-lived.
Two weeks of perfect picks went by the wayside last week courtesy of Cedar Bluff’s thrilling comeback win at Spring Garden. Kaden Pack’s 13-yard touchdown scramble with 33 seconds remaining lifted the Tigers to a 7-6 victory. For the game, Pack completed 9-of-17 pass attempts for 90 yards. He also posted 11 tackles on defense, including four for loss.
Pack was definitely excited when I talked with him following the game, and deservedly so. He called it the best game he’s ever played.
It’s moments like those I’ll happily take a good-natured ribbing for a wrong pick. They’re priceless, and not just for the kids either.
Anyway, it turns out that game was the only blemish on my record last week. I went 5-1 to improve to 27-6 overall on the season.
Everyone’s back in region play this week, and there are several interesting matchups on the slate. So let’s take a look at them.
Gaylesville (1-5) at Woodville (4-1): Woodville is off to its best start in school history. The Panthers’ only loss has been on the road at Appalachian. That’s due in part to a veteran team.
Gaylesville is right the opposite: a young team that has struggled to this point. The Trojans will get to the point Woodville currently is, but it isn’t there quite yet.
The pick: Woodville.
Sand Rock (1-5) at North Sand Mountain (3-2): I can almost say the same about Sand Rock and North Sand Mountain as I did for Gaylesville and Woodville. The Wildcats are young. The Bison have several key veteran players. They’re also coming off a bye week and have beaten Sand Rock the past four meetings, including last year’s 49-13 contest.
I like North Sand Mountain in this one.
The pick: North Sand Mountain.
Spring Garden (4-2) at Talladega County Central (1-4): The good news for Spring Garden is its defense appears to be in peak form. The past three weeks the unit has given up a touchdown or less.
However, the Panther offense has had trouble finishing drives, including last week’s 7-6 loss to rival Cedar Bluff.
I think that gets righted this Friday in a Spring Garden rout at Howell Cove.
The pick: Spring Garden.
Fyffe (4-1) at Collinsville (4-1): The defending state champion Red Devils uncharacteristically opened the season with a 17-6 loss to Geraldine, but ever since they’ve been back to their dominating ways. They posted three straight shutouts and beat Plainview last week 49-14.
Collinsville hasn’t been too shabby either. The Panthers’ lone loss has been to a top-3 Pisgah team. The defense has two shutouts to its credit, including last week’s 47-0 victory over Gaston on homecoming.
I think the Panthers will prove to be game for the Red Devils, but Fyffe pulls away for the win in the end.
The pick: Fyffe.
Westbrook Christian (3-2) at Piedmont (1-4): The Bulldogs played to unprecedented heights under Steve Smith the past 17 seasons. He led the Bulldogs to 198 wins, including five state championships. Now in his first season at Westbrook Christian, I’m sure it’s going to be an emotional night for him, defensive coordinator James Blanchard (also with Smith at Westbrook), as well as the Piedmont faithful. But knowing Coach Smith and Coach Blanchard like I do, they’ll put that emotion aside during the game.
New Piedmont coach Jonathan Miller and this year’s Bulldogs have battled the injury bug, but they played valiantly last week against Anniston and have had an extra day to recover.
This game is crucial to both teams’ playoff chances. A win here evens their region mark at 2-2 and puts them back in the hunt. The Warriors are still in search of their first road win of the season. They’ve lost at Ohatchee and Hokes Bluff and have never beaten Piedmont. In fact, they’ve never scored more than a touchdown in a game in five previous meetings.
One has to go all the way back to 2004 to find the last time Piedmont lost three games in a row during a season. That shows in part how tough a place the Field of Champions has been to play over the years.
As hard as it is for me to go against that state, it’s even harder for me to go against a Steve Smith-coached team.
The pick: Westbrook Christian.
Valley Head (3-2) at Cedar Bluff (3-3): As I mentioned at the top of my column, Pack etched his name in Cedar Bluff football history last week. And like I said in last week’s game story, he’s developing into the leader the Tigers need.
A lot of them are in fact.
There’s no doubt this team has grown since its first game of the season. They’ll get another tough test this week when they welcome Valley Head to town tomorrow night for homecoming.
A win would boost Cedar Bluff’s playoff chances and get the Tigers above .500 for the first time this season. Here’s thinking they get a ‘W’ in our Foothills Tractor Game of the Week.
The pick: Cedar Bluff.