It’s Week 7 in the high school football season and while every game from here on out has conference title and playoff implications, the race for the top spot among the Friday Night Fanatics is heating too.
Another Fanatic has joined the Perfect Pick Club. Sports Director Dan Messerschmidt joins News Director James Massara as the only two to have a 10-0 week during the 2018 season, after Messerschmidt posted the perfect performance during Week 6. Messerschmidt moves within one game of Coaches Corner East host Mike Sparks for the top spot.
Speaking of top spots, multiple games in the area have big implications for top spots in the local conferences.
Carey, Seneca East and Wynford have one loss in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and sit behind Mohawk waiting for the Warriors to slip up.
None of the Fanatics or the fans think Mohawk will slip against Week 7 opponent Bucyrus which picked up its first N10 win of the year against Buckeye Central last week.
It was also a unanimous thought that Buckeye Central will remain in search for its first win when the Bucks travel to Colonel Crawford for the WQEL broadcast game.
The third and final unanimous pick was Wynford as the Royals travel to Upper Sandusky for the WBCO broadcast game and try to bounce back from losing to Seneca East for their first-ever N10 regular season loss. The unanimous pick follows after the injury-plagued Rams suffered a heavy loss to county-rival Carey in Week 6.
WQEL Morning Host Will Beard is the lone Fanatic to pick Carey to defeat Seneca East in a battle of two of the teams tied for second in the league. The other lone-wolf picks are Friday Night Phoneboard Host Davey Jones picking Galion against Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title contender Clear Fork, WBCO Play-by-play Announcer Jared Moore picking Crestline against Ashtabula St. John which will make the trip from northeast Ohio for the second week in a row after defeating Ridgedale last week and WQEL Play-by-play Announcer Josh Stallings thinks New London can defeat Firelands Conference foe Plymouth.
Both Jones and Moore think River Valley can continue its hot streak and handle Ontario as the Vikings host the Warriors.
The most contested picks came from the Knox-Morrow and Sandusky Bay conferences, as Beard, Sparks and WBCO Color Commentator Tim Birie think East Knox can stop a Northmor team that has proved to make people take notice and Sparks, Moore and Birie think Shelby will make a statement against Edison after dropping three straight games by large margins.
FAN PICKS:
Mohawk: 88%
Colonel Crawford: 97%
Ashtabula St. John: 59%
Clear Fork: 71%
Seneca East: 87%
Wynford: 92%
Northmor: 69%
Edison: 74%
Plymouth: 59%
Ontario: 65%
Standings after six weeks:
Mike Sparks – 47-13 (9-1 last week)
Dan Messerschmidt – 46-14 (10-0 last week)
James Massara – 44-16 (7-3 last week)
The Fans – 43-17 (8-2 last week)
Will Beard – 43-17 (6-4 last week)
Tim Birie – 42-18 (9-1 last week)
Josh Stallings – 41-19 (8-2 last week)
Jared Moore – 39-21 (8-2 last week)
Davey Jones – 39-21 (8-2 last week)