Drew Skipper maintains lead in local college football pick 'em contest

The tenth weekend of the 2018 college football season came to a close on Saturday, and we also closed out another weekend in our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest.

This week, when the dust settled after Saturday’s final game, Drew Skipper found himself in sole possession of the No. 1 spot in the local standings for the second straight week. Brett Loftin and John Johnston were locked in a two-way tie for second place.

Ricky Taylor, Jeremy Matheny and I were all tied for fourth place. Justin Mixon and Travis Presley were tied for the No. 7 spot. Darrell Burch was tied for ninth place. Casey Grant and Vanessa Sales were tied for the No. 10 spot.

With that said, if you didn’t do so hot, don’t sweat it. As I’ve said before, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve got four more weeks to go, and the standings will change a lot during the month as we make the final push toward the end of the season.

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

Last week: 5-2, Overall: 69-15

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On Monday morning, I took a close look at the bracket for the Class 4A football playoffs, and I feel very optimistic about Hillcrest’s possible return to the state title game.

From here on out, every team that Hillcrest will face will be pretty good and shouldn’t be taken lightly. The one-game-at-a-time approach will be in full effect for the Jags, and it all starts tomorrow (Friday) night against Sipsey Valley.

Sipsey Valley won’t be a pushover, but presuming Hillcrest wins that game, they’ll face either Lincoln or Alabama Christian Academy in the second round. Entering the playoffs, Lincoln is 7-3 while Alabama Christian is 3-7. Lincoln will probably win that game, and I look for them to face Hillcrest in the second round.

Just looking at the results from this season, I think Lincoln has played a pretty soft schedule, nothing like the type of schedule that Hillcrest has played.

I look for Hillcrest to get past Lincoln and to probably face Headland in the third round. Headland enters the playoffs with a 9-1 overall record, and they’re ranked No. 7 in the latest high school football poll. Headland will be a tough opponent.

The only game Headland lost during the regular season was this past Friday when they suffered a 32-27 loss on the road at Abbeville, the No. 8-ranked team in Class 2A. Abbeville might be really, really good, but then again Headland might be very overrated. One thing is for sure, Headland has scored a lot of points this season, an average of 38.7 points per game.

If Hillcrest can make it to the fourth round, that is, the semi-final round. I look for them to play a rematch against UMS-Wright, the defending 4A state champions. UMS-Wright beat Hillcrest earlier this year in Mobile, but the second time around could be much different, especially if the game is played in Evergreen. It’s hard to beat a good team twice, and Hillcrest could be clicking on all cylinders by this point in the playoffs.

I look for undefeated Jacksonville or Hokes Bluff to win the northern half of the 4A bracket. If Hillcrest faces either one of those teams in the state title game, I like Hillcrest’s chances. It won’t be Hillcrest’s first rodeo, and if the Jags make it that far, anything can happen.