From Las Vegas to Lehighton: The search for winners continues
Just back from a five-night stay in Las Vegas and ready to dig into another week of high school football.
Can't believe it's the end of September already. It's definitely time to sort the pretenders from the contenders.
As for yours truly, I fared better in Vegas handicapping the pros than I picked last week's high school games. One of the most unpredictable nights I can remember in area football left me with an atrocious 11-10 record for Week 4 and a mediocre 72-27 mark for the season.
As for my doings in Sin City, let's just say plenty happened -- some good, some not so good.
But if you've heard the expression "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," you know that what almost always stays in Vegas is your money and yours truly was no exception, although the Washington Nationals (yes, you can bet on baseball in Vegas, too) were very good to me with their sweep of the Mets.
Now back to the picks and I have an admission to make: I sent some scores for the "Magnificent 7 Picks the Dirty Dozen" pick'em column back to the office from Vegas and I can't remember what those exact scores were, at least until I get my copy of Friday's Morning Call.
So, to avoid score confusion, I'm just going to give the winners here. Besides, there's no lines on high school games, at least none that I know of:
Freedom over Allen (Canaries caught in another bad spot as Patriots look to snap two-game skid).
Liberty over Dieruff (About the best thing to be said about this mismatch is that it'll be over fast).
Whitehall over Nazareth (Blue Eagles may give Zephyrs a tougher game than expected, but Tony Trisciani is all of a sudden my frontrunner for area's coach of the year).
Parkland over Northampton (Bob Steckel gets to take on his alma mater, but it won't be a happy reunion).
Easton over CCHS (Can't see Red Rovers losing two in a row)
Emmaus over Becahi (Another close loss against a top team last week indicates that Green Hornets are, indeed, still a year away from real championship contention).
Northwestern over Saucon (Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to the entire Tiger community after the passing of 22-year-old Krysta Hankee, a former Northwestern track and field hockey standout).
Palisades over Bangor (After an enjoyable visit to Treasure Island in Vegas, I can't go against any band of Pirates).
Salisbury over Catasauqua (The Falcons' 28-0 win over Wilson was the shocker of the season so far).
Northern Lehigh over Notre Dame (Bulldogs bite back).
Pen Argyl over Palmerton (Both teams surprised me in different ways last week. The Green Knights go forth and grab their fourth straight win).
Wilson over Southern Lehigh (If Vegas odds makers paid attention to Lehigh Valley football, I bet I could've gotten at least 10,000 to 1 last week that the Warriors wouldn't be shut out by Salisbury. Maybe someone saw that coming, but not me.)
ES South over Stroudsburg (I just don't get it. Why do these two schools need to play twice in a season? This is not the NFC East we're talking about here. Just stick to Thanksgiving morning!)
Pocono Mt. West over ES North (All of a sudden, West looks like it could be one of the MVC's best).
Lehighton over Pocono Mt. East (Believe it or not, I'm headed to this one. 25-plus years of covering high school football and I've never covered a Lehighton home game. Hope the Tribe gives me a good show, at least half as good as Barry Manilow at the Las Vegas Hilton the other night).
Jim Thorpe over Shenandoah Valley (Come to think of it, I've never covered the Olympians either, but I have been to Jim Thorpe's beautiful downtown and their famous jailhouse -- but only as a tourist).
Marian Catholic over North Schuylkill (I've actually been to both of these schools, but not for football).
Panther Valley over Schuylkill Haven (Panthers on a win-loss, win-loss pattern and this is their week to win).
Abington over Pennridge (Tough season so far for teams with nickname of Rams, but I am already pushing for the coach of the St. Louis Rams to be fired after he cost me money last Sunday).
Hazleton over Pleasant Valley (When I think of Hazleton I always think of the legendary Pat Garramone, the true godfather of basketball and football officials).
Upper Dublin over Quakertown (Speaking of teams nicknamed the Cardinals, it was sure nice of my banged up Redbirds to beat the Mets in a big spot once again and help the Phillies in the process).
Conrad Weiser over Tamaqua (Another of these strange District 3/District 11 matchups that don't seem to have a long history behind them).
Phillipsburg over Bridgewater-Raritan (Bob Stem is a Vegas kind of guy. And since I'm still thinkin' Vegas, I'll roll the dice with his boys one more time).
There you have it, 23 games, 23 winners.
But pardon me if I get a little greedy and go after more winners this weekend. If Penn State, Notre Dame and the University of Washington come through on Saturday and at least cover, yours truly will be getting one last souvenir from Vegas in the form of a check from my friends at the Luxor Sports Book
It wouldn't be enough to lead me into early retirement, but it could be enough to start a new Vegas Vacation fund.
See you around the Corner.
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