Thursday, October 4, 2018

Matheny, Casey and Peacock lead local college football pick 'em contest

The fifth weekend of the college football season closed out on Saturday night, and we also wrapped up another weekend in our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest.

This week, we had a three-way tie for first place in the local standings. Those tied for first included Jeremy Matheny, Calvin Casey and your friendly neighborhood sports writer.

We then had a four-way tie for fourth place. Those tied for fourth place included Ricky Taylor, Mark Peacock, John Johnston and Travis Presley.

Robbie Moorer, Brett Loftin and Drew Skipper were locked in a three-way tie for ninth place.

Those tied for 12th place included Josh Klaetsch, Vanessa Sales, Robert Bozeman, Darrell Burch and Robert Riley Jr.

With that said, if you didn’t do so hot in the contest last weekend, don’t worry too much about it. Like you’ve read here before, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve got nine more weeks to go, and the standings will no doubt change a lot during the next two and a half months.

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By my count, we’ve got seven games this weekend featuring SEC teams, including six head-to-head conference games. For what it’s worth, here are my picks in those games. I like Alabama over Arkansas, Auburn over Mississippi State, South Carolina over Missouri, LSU over Florida, Texas A&M over Kentucky, Georgia over Vandy, and Ole Miss over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Last week: 7-1, Overall: 45-8

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The Atlanta Braves wrapped up their regular season schedule on Sunday and finished the season sitting atop the National League East standings. Atlanta went 90-72 during the regular season and finished eight games ahead of the second-place Washington Nationals.

Atlanta will begin postseason play today (Thursday) in the opening game of the National League Division series. As of Monday afternoon, their opponent was unknown, but it will either be the Colorado Rockies or the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies and the Dodgers were scheduled to play a one-game tie-breaker Monday with the winner claiming the National League West title. The winner will play the Braves on Thursday while the loser will play in the National League Wildcard game on Tuesday.

Regardless of who wins on Monday, Atlanta will face a big challenge in the Division series as both Colorado and Los Angeles are known for their potent offenses. During the regular season, Atlanta and Colorado played six times, and Colorado won five of those games. Atlanta fared only slightly better against the Dodgers during the regular season, going 2-4 against Los Angeles. Fans should remember that the Division Series is a best-of-five series, so there should be plenty of action regardless of who the Braves face.

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Before I forget to mention it, I was looking through my history notes earlier this week when I noticed that today (Thurs., Oct. 4) marks 62 years since Repton High School beat Lyeffion High School, 7-0, in Lyeffion in one of the most unusual “weather games” in Conecuh County history. On Oct. 4, 1956, which was a Thursday night, Repton, under head coach Mack Primm, beat Lyeffion, 7-0, when Franklin Baggett scored on a 25-yard touchdown run, and Terry Nall add the extra-point.

“The game was played on a very wet, soggy field,” according to The Evergreen Courant. “After a few minutes of play, the numbers were almost completely indistinct, and at the half, the only way the fans could tell Repton players from Lyeffion players was the Repton was wearing white helmets while Lyeffion wore gold helmets.”

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