Cotten, Grant tie for No. 1 spot in College Football Pick 'Em contest

The tenth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest wrapped up on Saturday night and once the dust settled, we found ourselves with a two-way tie for first place in the local standings.

Mark Cotten moved into a first-place tie with Casey Grant, who had been in sole possession of the No. 1 spot for weeks. Cotten and Grant both have 72 total points in the contest through the end of the day’s games on Saturday.

Drew Skipper and Blake Stringer were tied for third place with 71 points each. Brett Loftin, Clint Hyde and Jesse Jordan were tied for eighth place with 70 points each. Justin Chandler was in ninth place with 68 points, and I came in tenth with 67 points.

This Saturday, we’ll move into the final third of the contest with just five more weeks to go. In other words, we’re getting down to the short rows, so it’ll be interesting to see if the top competitors can maintain their lead or if a dark horse will come out of no where and steal their thunder.

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Hillcrest’s varsity football team will begin its postseason run tomorrow (Friday) night when they play Alabama Christian in the opening round of the 4A playoffs. Like most area football fans, I know that Hillcrest has a 6-4 record, but I’m optimistic about their chances of returning to the 4A title game. In fact, I won’t be surprised if they win it all.

UMS-Wright has been ranked No. 1 in 4A all season, and they’re the two-time defending 4A state champs. However, those of you who watched the Hillcrest-UMS game a few weeks ago at Brooks Memorial Stadium will know that Hillcrest can hang with UMS. If they can hang with UMS, they can hang with any other team in 4A.

With head coach Clinton Smith at the helm and with the help of his other top-notch assistants, Hillcrest is never out of the game. I call Coach Smith the “Miracle Worker” because he did something that I never thought I’d see at Hillcrest, that is, he won a state championship there in football. In my book, if he can do that, he can do anything.

The win-or-go home nature of the playoffs also brings a different mental approach to the playoff games ahead. I know that the talented group of seniors at Hillcrest this season wants nothing less than to win another state title before getting their diplomas. In the weeks ahead, I look for them to lay it all on the line because if they don’t, they’ll fall short of what could have been.

In the end, if for the next five weeks, Hillcrest can limit their penalties and turnovers and play to the best of their ability, they’ve got a great shot of running the table. They’ve just got to take it a game at a time and take care of business. If they do that, we’ll be having to make plans for another ring ceremony in the near future.