Paladin's Pigskin Picks --Wk 2

[C-Bolt]

Just hope Pickerington isn't real speedy,Logan will have major problems with teams like that this year,Norths recievers don't look as tall on paper as I thought they might except the tight end so that will help,but I really think Logan can keep it close and I also think West will beat Portsmouth but agree with the other picks.

[Paladin]

Locos

I thought long & hard about the Portsmouth game. If West is as one dimensional as I believe, the Trojan should be able to slow down their run game. I agree that Portsmouth has to be two dimensional to win, but they do have the athletes to do it. That makes its tougher on West. But should be a close game either way.

I watched the Mooney game on TV and North has good skill people with some speed. The Spread was somewhat effective against Mooney. They just couldn't stop the Card's O. Logan isn't in the same league as Mooney, but if the Chiefs can move the ball ( and I think they can), they'll control some of the clock and keep the ball away from North, making it a close game as well . Any thing can happen in a close game.

[C-Bolt]

Yea the defense is what worries me,they just don't look the same as years past,I think the offense can probably keep it close though.,the toughest pick for me was the Jackson-Waverly game,,I knew Jackson wouldn't be that good after witnessing their reserves last year and losing their QB but I never dreamed they would lose to Wellston,,is Jackson that bad or Wellston that good? I'll give the SEOAL team the benefit of the doubt for now...

[loganlocos]

C-Bolt -

I actually still think Jackson is better than last year. They remind me a lot of Ironton the last 3-4 years - to be honest, Jackson did not play well at all against Wellston and I'm sure the coaching staff at Jackson has a lot of regrets.

Wellston is MUCH improved this year - they definitely deserved that game against Jackson, no doubt.


As for Logan, they will be fine on defense. Remember, all 3 linebackers are new starters and we have a scheme that relies on linebackers reading and reacting - and that takes time. Lancaster is hard for veteran linebackers to read, I think they'll be fine.

[Paladin]

And so for the second week I improve with a 6-1 record. However, bad week for the SEOAL as teams went 3-4 overall --

Big Walnut as expected put it on lowly Chilli 28-7. Gallia stomped poor Hillsboro 44-14. Jackson whipped a weak Waverly team 49-9. Warren blasted hapless Morgan 42-6. Parkersburg downed Marietta 40-21. And Pickerington North beat Logan 24-3. All my picks here were correct. However, my miss was Portsmouth as they got their butts handed to them by Portsmouth West 44-14.

That takes me overall to 11-3 for two weeks of games. No suprise here that Logan is now 0-2 after playing two D-I schools both projected to make the play-offs. And with Portsmouth making a poor showing this week, little threats have emerged yet in the SEOAL to rival pre-season favorite Logan. Warren & Gallia are both unbeaten but haven't played anyone yet with their weak schedules. The rest of the SEOAL appears to be another average group of teams with not much on their resume' to take seriously.

Next week, Logan has to take charge against D-I Reynoldsburg and start an 8 game win streak as I projected. We'll see what the rest of the SEOAL can do with another round of non-league games, many of which will be easy pickings again..

[85inside]

Paladin,
Little doubt in my mind that Logan will end up at worse 7-3. Can they make the playoffs at 8-2, with the SEOAL being down so much this season?

[Paladin]

While the answer to that question depends alot on the rest of the region and points in their schedules, the likehood is , yes, they should make it with 8-2. 7-3 beomes dicey. Possible, but higher odds against it. Both Warren & Gallia are unbeaten. ZHS, unbeaten, is off to a good year and both Jackson & Portsmouth are projected to have winning seasons. Where most teams fail to make it is when they have too many teams with losing records on the schedule, big losing records as in 0-10, 1-9, 2-8, etc. Marietta & Chilli fill that bill. Reynolds burg is an important game as they may finish close to >500 in a D-I schedule, getting lots of points for the Chiefs. I felt comfortable enough to project an 8-2 record in losing the first two and ripping off an 8 game win streak. That nets the Chiefs another SEOAL title and should put them in the playoffs with plenty of computer points from the 8 wins. Records so far would indicate it shouldn't be a problem, but probably won't get them a home game. Of course, they have to win, lol