Skipper maintains lead in football contest with one week left to go

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

The 13th weekend of the 2018 college football season wrapped up on Saturday, and we also wrapped up another weekend in our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest.

This week, after Saturday’s final game came to a close, Drew Skipper found himself in sole possession of first place in the local standings for the fifth week in a row. John Johnston and Brett Loftin were in second place, just three games behind Skipper.

Ricky Taylor and I were tied for fourth place. Justin Mixon and Jeremy Matheny were tied for sixth place. Travis Presley and Darrell Burch were tied for eighth place. Clint Hyde was in tenth place.

With that said, if you didn’t do so great last week, don’t sweat it. We’ve got one more week to go, and the standings will no doubt change again after this Saturday’s slate of games. The big question is, can anyone catch Drew Skipper. He’s led the standings for more than a month, and it’ll be hard to catch him at this point. Only time will tell, but it’ll sure make this week’s games interesting to watch.

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The only football game we’ve got this week involving SEC teams is the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, and it should be a good one as undefeated Alabama takes on 11-1 Georgia. Alabama enters the game ranked No. 1 in the country, and Georgia is ranked No. 5. Kick off is set for 3 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Georgia has won five straight games, going back to its 36-16 loss to LSU in Baton Rouge on Oct. 13. Since then, the Bulldogs have beaten ranked Florida, Kentucky and Auburn teams. They also posted a 39-point win over UMass and beat rival, Georgia Tech, by 24 points.

In that same amount of time, Alabama has run the table against Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State, The Citadel and Auburn. LSU and Mississippi State were both ranked when they played Alabama, and the Tide beat them by a combined score of 53-0.

According to CBS on Monday afternoon, Alabama was a 13-point favorite over Georgia, but if Georgia comes to play, it could be a lot closer than that. I look for Alabama to win, but they better not take Georgia lightly.

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Like most local sports fans, I was disappointed by how Friday night’s Hillcrest-Andalusia football playoff game turned out, but on the bright side, Hillcrest had a great season, especially when you consider it from a historical standpoint. Prior to this season, Hillcrest had only made it to the third round of the state playoffs twice before, in 2015 and in 2017, both during the tenure of head coach Clinton Smith.

Also, from a defensive point of view, this was Hillcrest’s best season in 20 years, going back to 1998, when the Jags gave up just 141 points in 10 games. This season, Hillcrest gave up just 159 points in 13 games, an average of 12.2 points per game. They also shut out five of their 13 opponents.

Next season, I look for the Jags to just reload, but the key to their potential success will be whether or not Hillcrest can keep its coaching staff intact. Smith has proven himself to be one of the top young coaches in the state, and with the veteran group of assistant coaches he’s assembled, the Jags could be very formidable next season.