Casey Grant holds on to first place in local football pick 'em contest

The ninth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest wrapped up on Saturday night, and Casey Grant held on to the No. 1 spot in the local standings.

When the dust settled after Saturday’s slate of games, Grant had amassed 66 total points in the contest, and had a one-game lead over Drew Skipper, Mark Cotten and Blake Stringer. Skipper, Cotten and Stringer were locked in a three-way tie for second place with 65 total points in their favor.

Jesse Jordan was in fifth place with 64 points. Brett Loftin and Clint Hyde were in sixth place with 63 points each. Justin Chandler and I were tied for eighth place with 60 points each. Some contestant named “Doughboy36401” was in tenth place with 59 points. “Doughboy36401,” if you’re reading this, get up with me, because I need your real name for the contest standings.

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Football is still in full swing at Hillcrest High School, but basketball season is right around the corner. On Monday, new head coach Jamal Smith provided me with a copy of the basketball team’s 2019-2020 schedule. According to that schedule, Hillcrest’s boys and girls basketball teams will tip off their seasons on Nov. 21 when they play Central-Hayneville in Lowndes County. Hillcrest isn’t scheduled to play at home until Dec. 12 when they will play J.F. Shields at Fluker Gym in Evergreen.

Of course, this schedule is subject to change given that Hillcrest is in the football playoffs. If Hillcrest makes it all the way to the state finals in football, they’ll be playing football up until Dec. 4-6. Hillcrest will either have to reschedule some of its basketball games or play without some of the players that play football.

For Hillcrest, this is one of those good problems to have because it means they’re having a lot of success on the football field.

Sparta Academy also provided me with their 2019-2020 basketball schedule on Monday afternoon, and they will tip off their season on Nov. 21 when they travel to Grove Hill to take on Clarke Prep. Sparta’s first home game will be played on Nov. 26 when they take on Fort Dale in Evergreen.

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Drew Brees returned to the football field on Sunday as the New Orleans Saints put it on the Arizona Cardinals, 31-9. Brees had been out for weeks due to an injured thumb that required surgery and rehab. To see him play on Sunday, you would have never known he was injured.

I kind of felt sorry for Teddy Bridgewater, who quarterbacked the team in the absence of Brees. Bridgewater won every game he started and now he’s relegated back to the bench. The fact that he’s the highest paid backup quarterback in the league has got to help his feelings some. He sure earned that big paycheck while Brees was out hurt.

New Orleans has a bye week this week, but they’ll return to action on Nov. 10 when they will play the Atlanta Hawks at the Superdome in New Orleans. That game will kick off at noon. If you’ve got any tickets to the game that you want to get rid of, I know a fellow at the newspaper who really wants to go. He answers to the name of Lee Peacock.