BRANCH COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – The Pigskin Prophet had a second straight .500 record last week in his Branch County high school predictions but he went 8-3 in his college and NFL picks.
Recapping last week’s Branch County high school football selections….
Coldwater 52, Hastings 48 (Saxons won 40-37)
Union City 22, Springport 14 (Spartans scored two touchdowns in the final 4 1/2 minutes to win 35-34)
Bronson 41, Reading 24 (Vikings won 44-0)
Quincy 35, Maple Valley 16 (Orioles won 17-14 on a last second field goal by Noah Rufenacht who added six catches to his season total to set the school record for receptions in a season with 44. Noah Kelley also set a school record for carries in a game. He had 43 carries for 253 yards and 2 TDs.)
COLLEGE PICKS
Michigan 28, Washington 24 (UM won 24-7)
Indiana 48, Michigan State 10 (Indiana won 38-13)
Vanderbilt 20, LSU 17 (Vandy won 31-24)
Ole Miss 21, Georgia 13 (Georgia won 43-35)
Alabama 38, Tennessee 30 (Bama won 37-20)
USC 24, Notre Dame 21 (Notre Dame won 34-24)
BYU 28, Utah 26 (BYU won 24-21)
NFL
Bucs 35, Lions 28 (Lions won 24-9)
Bears 27, Saints 17 (Bears won 26-14)
Eagles 31, Vikings 27 (Eagles won 28-22)
Packers 27, Cardinals 14 (Packers won 27-23)
For the season, the PP is 23-8 on the high school picks. Overall, Piggy is 57-27-1.
The regular season ends on Friday night and the latest 11-player high school football playoff rankings from the M.H.S.A.A. still show Coldwater, Union City and Bronson in the playoffs while Quincy is two spots away from qualifying.
Here are the Week #9 picks…
COLDWATER AT MARSHALL
Two long time rivals meet on Friday with the 6-2 Cardinals looking to improve their playoff standing while the 3-5 Red Hawks want to play the role of spoiler.
The Cardinals lost at home to Hastings last week 40-37 which may have cost them home field for the opening round of the playoffs. The Red Hawks are coming off a 41-22 loss to Harper Creek.
Coldwater used a dramatic goal line stand to defeat Marshall last year 10-6. The PP thinks there will be less drama this year.
The PP says Coldwater 28, Marshall 17
BRONSON AT SPRINGPORT
The 7-1 Bronson Vikings will look for their seventh straight win Friday night against undefeated Big 8 Conference champion Springport in a Southwest 10/Big 8 Conference crossover game. Under the original format of the crossover games, the two league champs were to play each other with other games pitting second place vs. second place, etc. But with the final standings leading to some rematches of regular season games, scheduling changes were agreed to.
The Vikings agreed to play a Southwest 10 schedule under the two conferences arrangement and wound up finishing second behind league champion Decatur. As it turned out, 26-20 double overtime loss at Decatur in week #2 decided the conference title.
Bronson has been rolling over the opposition while Springport has been forced to rally the last couple of weeks. The PP thinks it will be another big night for the Vikings.
The PP says Bronson 45, Springport 24
DECATUR AT UNION CITY
The Union City Chargers need to shake off last Friday’s heartbreaking loss to Springport which cost them a chance to claim a fourth straight Big 8 Conference title. The 5-3 Chargers host the Decatur Raaaaaaiders at Alumni Field this week.
The 6-2 Raiders are Southwest 10 champs and have won five in a row including last week’s showdown with White Pigeon. The Chargers seemed to have things well in hand against Springport as they led 34-21 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.
But the Spartans pulled out a stunning 35-34 win thanks to touchdowns on their last two possessions.
The PP will be pulling for the Chargers but thinks the Raaaaaiders will Just Win Baby.
The PP says Decatur 34, Union City 18
HARTFORD AT QUINCY
The 5-3 Quincy Orioles look to cap off a turnaround season against Hartford. After going 0-9 last season, the Orioles are in the hunt for the postseason in week #9.
They are 34th in the Division 7 playoff point system standings, two spots out of the final playoff spot. Basically, Quincy needs to win and then get some help.
The 3-5 Huskies have won two of their last three games but the PP thinks the Orioles have their MOJO back after last week’s thrilling win at Maple Valley.
The PP says Quincy 38, Hartford 21
COLLEGE PICKS
Michigan 28, Michigan State 13
Oklahoma 31, Ole Miss 24
Vanderbilt 24, Missouri 21
Texas A&M 31, LSU 28
NFL
Bears 34, Ravens 24
Steelers 35, Packers 28
Comments