ETBLITZ POWER PICKS! | It’s Kilgore-Chapel Hill week; LC at Union Hill; Buckeyes-Pirates; Detroit comes calling on Dak & the Cowboys
Kilgore-Chapel Hill.
Three words, 17 letters.
Hard to believe this will be the seventh time these two programs have met since September, 2021, and it’s never for pennies, right? It’s always for big bills.
We’ll talk about it more in the morning in Who’s Where and What the Heck is Happening, our honest-to-goodness preview of all the games in the ETBlitz.com coverage area, but wow – it’s a big one, folks. And not just for Kilgore and Chapel Hill. It’s a big one for Henderson, for Lindale and for all the schools in the District 9-4A, Division I playoff race.
More on it tomorrow, although you can see how our staff picks all the games below.
What else is happening this weekend?
Well, speaking of Henderson, they’re a 39-point favorite, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, over Mabank; Overton and Lovelady have a showdown in their district – and I’ll be interested to see if anybody in that district can give coach Scotty Laymance’s Overton Mustangs a fight at all; coach Johnny Louvier’s Gladewater Bears and their balanced game will host Liberty-Eylau; Gilmer opens up district play with Pittsburg, who seems to have kind of fallen on tough times; Troup will try and keep Winona winless; we’ll see if White Oak can get back on track, coming off their open date with a home game against state-ranked Jefferson; and West Rusk goes for a third straight win, but an upgrade in opponent, with state-ranked New Diana.
We’ve also got several college and NFL games on our picks list, including top-ranked Texas facing the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas; Ohio State visiting Oregon (how about that? Ohio State actually playing a ROAD GAME! And against a real TEAM!); and the Dallas Cowboys facing a Detroit team that is a contender.
There’s great football up and down the list this week. Let’s meet our panel of “pickers.” If you check in with us weekly, you’re familiar.
THE PANEL
Dennis Jacobs is a middle school teacher who’s been our Kilgore sports photographer for about a decade and a half, and he’s excellent. He’s also excellent at picking, and dating back to my job at the other place for 22 years, he’s won the picks contest on multiple occasions. Watch him: he’ll come from behind and wind up winning the whole dern thing. Not “darn;” DERN. You know what I mean?
Then, there’s Joe Hale. Ragin’ Red Broadcasting lead Doug Smith says Joe’s been around longer than baseball, and that his Social Security Number is 3. It’s all in good fun, but his point is, Joe’s covered more sports than Carter has liver pills. If you don’t get the reference, Google it. Joe has been covering East Texas sports for about 45 years.
Dereck Borders is a man of many trades. He’s a taxidermist. He’s a Kilgore Independent School District board member. He’s a husband, a dad, a grandfather, a Texas A&M aggie, and he’s my friend. He’s also a pretty funny guy. And he had the best record of the week last week (more on that in a second).
There’s Alex Nabor, a student at Kilgore College, and my A-student when it comes to sports media. Like, this freakin’ guy is my pride and joy. Not only is he a well-mannered kid, not ONLY is he a great photographer – well, that’s pretty much it. He’s well-mannered and a great photographer. And he’s already fantastic in this business, getting all kinds of experience. He’s done more before 20 years old than I did before I was 28.
Clayton Fletcher is our assistant editor here at ETBlitz, and there’s nothing Clayton won’t do if I asked him. He’s gotten better as a writer, and I think he’s even surprised himself in that role. And he’s doing great in his picks.
Then there’s Ronnie Sartors, who has so much of my respect for what he can do with his camera. Ronnie has so much talent. I don’t care how great of a camera you have – you still have to have the knowhow. He has all of it, and then some.
I have three family members picking against me, but all are legit in ETBlitz.
Jenna is my wife, our executive editor and basically our business manager. She’s also a darn good photographer that we pull out of “retirement” from time to time.
Ashtyn is my youngest, is also a student at KC, and helps me with whatever I need, normally with social media, just all kids of stuff.
Jacob is my son, a student at the University of Alabama, a videographer, a great photographer, and is one of those people who opens the door to get out at a store, and a $100 bill blows up at his feet. Seriously, he’s just blessed like that.
Last but not least, there’s me. And I’m glad to be your driver. Hands inside the car. Let’s roll.
THE STANDINGS
OK – Dereck hit on some picks that we didn’t last week, and out of 21 games, he had the best record, going 17-4.
Our overall leader, Mr. Joe Hale, had a great week, too, going 16-5 a week ago.
Ashtyn and Alex each went 15-6, really good, and Clayton went 14-7. That’s better than middlin.’
The rest of us? Wellllllll…
Jenna, Jacob, Ronnie and myself, we each went 13-8, and while that’s not bad at ALL, it’s nothing to write home about.
Dennis had an off-week in his effort to catch up. He went 11-10.
So, the overall standings look like this: Joe Hale still leads. He’s got a 91-37 record.
Ashtyn is in second place, now all by her lonesome, with an 88-40 mark.
I’m in third, at 86-42.
Clayton is in fourth, a game behind me, at 85-43.
Dereck is in fifth (82-46), and Jenna, Jacob and Alex are in a three-way tie (each at 78-50).
Dennis sits at 76-52, and Ronnie started late, so his numbers are a bit off, but he’s at 78-40.
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Here’s our games for this week, followed by our picks grid.
Have some fun and make out your own list, and try to pick with us! Let us know how you did in the comments!
ETBLITZ POWER PICKS!
Thursday, Oct. 10-Monday, Oct. 14, 2024
HIGH SCHOOL GAMES
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Leverett’s Chapel (3-2) at Union Hill (4-2), 7 p.m., Union Hill Stadium
Overton (5-1) at Lovelady (3-2), 7 p.m., Lovelady ISD Stadium
Sabine (2-4) at Atlanta (4-2), 7 p.m., Atlanta ISD Stadium
Liberty-Eylau (4-1) at Gladewater (3-3), 7 p.m., Jack V. Murphy Stadium
Jefferson (6-0) at White Oak (4-1), 7 p.m., White Oak Roughneck Stadium
Gilmer (3-2) at Pittsburg (0-5), 7 p.m., at Pittsburg High School Broach Park
Troup (4-2) at Winona (0-6), 7:30 p.m., Winona Wildcat Stadium
West Rusk (3-3) at New Diana (5-0), 7:30 p.m., New Diana ISD Stadium
Mabank (1-4) at Henderson (5-1), 7:30 p.m., Henderson ISD Lion Stadium
Kilgore (4-2) at Chapel Hill (5-1; 7:30 p.m., Chapel Hill ISD Stadium
COLLEGE GAMES
FRIDAY’S GAME
No. 16 Utah (4-1) at Arizona State (4-1), 9:30 p.m., ESPN
SATURDAY’S GAMES
No. 1 Texas (5-0) vs. No. 18 Oklahoma (4-1), 2:30 p.m., ABC
No. 9 Ole Miss (5-1) at No. 13 LSU (4-1), 6:30 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Ohio State (5-0) at No. 3 Oregon (5-0), 6: 30 p.m., NBC / Peacock
No. 17 Boise State (4-1) at Hawai’i (2-3), 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network
NFL GAMES
THURSDAY’S GAME
San Francisco (2-3) at Atlanta (3-2), 7:15 p.m. Amazon Prime Video
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Arizona (2-3) at Green Bay (3-2), noon, FOX
Houston (4-1) at New England (1-4), noon, CBS
Washington (4-1) at Baltimore (3-2), noon, CBS
Detroit (3-2) at Dallas (3-2), 3:25 p.m., FOX
Cincinnati (1-4) at New York Giants (2-3), 7:20 p.m., NBC
MONDAY’S GAME
Buffalo (3-2) at New York Jets (2-3), 7:15 p.m. ESPN
| MITCH | DENNIS | JOE | DERECK | JENNA | JACOB | ASHTYN | ALEX | CLAYTON | RONNIE |
| LC | LC | Union Hill | Union Hill | LC | Union Hill | LC | Union Hill | LC | Union Hill |
| Overton | Lovelady | Overton | Overton | Overton | Overton | Overton | Overton | Overton | Lovelady |
| Sabine | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta |
| G’Water | L-E | L-E | L-E | G’water | L-E | L-E | L-E | G’water | L-E |
| Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer | Gilmer |
| Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup | Troup |
| White Oak | Jefferson | Jefferson | Jefferson | White Oak | Jefferson | Jefferson | Jefferson | Jefferson | Jefferson |
| West Rusk | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson | Henderson |
| Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore | Kilgore |
| Arizona St. | Utah | Utah | Arizona St. | Utah | Utah | Utah | Arizona St. | Utah | Arizona St. |
| Texas | Texas | Texas | Texas | Texas | OU | Texas | Texas | OU | Texas |
| LSU | LSU | Ole Miss | LSU | LSU | Ole Miss | LSU | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | LSU |
| Oregon | Oregon | Ohio State | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon | Ohio State | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon |
| Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. |
| SF | SF | SF | Seattle | Seattle | SF | SF | Seattle | SF | Seattle |
| Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Arizona | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay | Green Bay |
| Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston |
| Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore | Washington | Washington | Baltimore | Washington | Washington | Baltimore | Washington |
| Dallas | Dallas | Detroit | Detroit | Dallas | Dallas | Detroit | Dallas | Detroit | Dallas |
| NYG | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | NYG | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Cincinnati | NYG | NYG |
| Buffalo | NYJ | Buffalo | NYJ | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo |
