WAKE UP! | ETBlitz Power Picks, with a five-way tie for first going into the weekend

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! is presented by Cozy Coffee Station, who just celebrated its one-year anniversary in Kilgore. Go by their Kilgore location (110 Midtown Plaza) or see them in Gilmer (at 755 Highway 271 North) and celebrate with them with great coffee, tea, a snack, even a sandwich. See their complete menu here at www.cozycoffeestation.com, and check them out on social media. It’s simply Cozy Coffee Station-Kilgore and Cozy Coffee Station-Gilmer on Facebook, and on Instagram, @cozycoffeestation_kilgore and @cozycoffeestation_gilmer.

It’s week five, and for many, the opening of district play.

There are a lot of big games out there, and one of particular interest – Gilmer against Brenham in Longview – to see how the Buckeyes will respond after a couple of tough outings.

Arp at Troup is getting statewide attention because on top of the great rivalry, both are unbeaten. Kilgore-Pine Tree and Henderson at Palestine should be interesting – the winners of those two games are off to a good start in District 9-4A, Division I, which suddenly looks like the “District of Doom” of old, with Kilgore, Henderson and Chapel Hill all each having just one loss, Lindale back in the top 10 in the state along with KHS, and Pine Tree coming back after a rough start to the season.

Leverett’s Chapel celebrates homecoming tonight with the return of an old rival, Apple Springs. Beckville continues its difficult schedule with a road trip to unbeaten Elysian Fields. West Rusk is at home again, opening the district against Elkhart. Tatum is at Sabine – can the Cardinals grab their first win of the season, or do the Eagles open District 8-3A, DI play with a win?

White Oak is looking for a little bit of revenge after last year’s trip to Atlanta when the Roughnecks host the Rabbits tonight. Gladewater, with one loss this season by just one point, can shock the state tonight if the Bears can knock off third-ranked Jefferson.

Overton hosts Grapeland to open district play tonight in 11-2A, DII. Do you think Overton coach Scotty Laymance has reminded his team a few times this week that it was Grapeland that gave the Mustangs their ticket out of the 2A playoffs last year?

And the No. 1 team in all the land, defending 4A-DII state champ Carthage, has its sights set on Jasper. Run, Jasper!

Let’s get to the picks.

Our panel:

So, since the beginning of the ETBlitz Power Picks this season, my youngest daughter Ashtyn has either been a co-leader, or the leader by herself. Now, the TJC Apache Belle has company. Ashtyn, who helps with our social media platforms, had a rare rough week last week in the ol’ picks column, and some of us had a pretty good week.

Ashtyn is now in a five-way tie for the lead.

She went 14-8 in 22 games we picked last week, and is now 62-23 overall.

Joe Hale, a sportswriter in East Texas for over 40 years, went 16-6 and is 62-23; Dennis Jacobs, a photographer who’s worked with me for about 17, 18 years, went 16-6, and is 62-23; my son, Jacob, our videographer and a senior at the University of Alabama, went 17-5, and is 62-23; and even I had a good week, going 17-5 – and you guessed it, I’m also 62-23.

Billy Chrisman, who isn’t on staff but won our college football bowl pick-off last year, joins Kilgore ISD board member Dereck Borders in a tie for second (61-24), just a game back from the leaders.

Photographer Alex Nabor, who doubles as a student at Stephen F. Austin University, is 59-26, followed by my wife Jenna and Clayton Fletcher, our executive editor and assistant editor, respectively, each at 55-30; and Sabine correspondent Jeremy Newlin (sorry, Jeremy) bringing up the back at 51-34.

Now, we don’t have a guest picker this week – our planned guest had other obligations at the last minute.

But just so you know, our guests so far have done fairly well.

Our guest was Annette Wiley, of Kilgore High School. And Mrs. Wiley, who also is the administrator for Kilgore High School football’s press box for home games, did a HECK of a job: she went 16-6.

Our guests so far have been Will Estel, the director of college football operations at AT&T Stadium (and a Kilgore native); my younger sister, Jennifer Looney; sports correspondent Shawn Christopher; and Mrs. Wiley. I told you Mrs. Wiley’s record.

Shawn has the best record of any guest in a single week – he went 17-4. Mrs. Wiley, 16-6 (in 22 games; we normally have 21). Will went 15-6. And Jen, well she went 10-11. Hey, she should have listened to my advice on the high school games!

This week’s picks

HIGH SCHOOL GAMES
Beckville (2-2) at Elysian Fields (4-0), 7 p.m.
Grapeland (2-2) at Overton (3-1), 7 p.m.
Tatum (1-3) at Sabine (0-4), 7 p.m.
Atlanta (3-1) at White Oak (4-0), 7 p.m.
Gladewater (3-1) at Jefferson (3-1), 7 p.m.
Gilmer (1-3) vs. Brenham (4-0; in Longview), 7 p.m.
Elkhart (1-3) at West Rusk (3-1), 7:30 p.m.
Arp (4-0) at Troup (4-0), 7:30 p.m.
Henderson (3-1) at Palestine (0-4), 7:30 p.m.
Carthage (3-0) at Jasper (1-3), 7:30 p.m.
Pine Tree (2-2) at Kilgore (3-1), 7:30 p.m.

JUNIOR COLLEGE
Kilgore College (1-2) at Cisco (1-1), 3 p.m.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Friday’s game
No. 24 TCU (3-0) at Arizona State (3-1), 8 p.m., FOX

Saturday’s games
Auburn (3-1) at No. 9 Texas A&M (3-0), 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Baylor (2-2) at Oklahoma State (1-2), 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 17 Alabama (2-1) at No. 5 Georgia (3-0), 6:30 p.m., ABC

NFL
Sunday’s games
Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh (in Ireland), 8:30 a.m. – NFL Network
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, noon, FOX
Green Bay at Dallas, 7:20 p.m., NBC

Monday’s games
New York Jets at Miami, 6 p.m., ESPN
Cincinnati at Denver, 7:15 p.m., ABC

There’s no guest this week, just a plain ol’ simple battle royal (no ‘e;’ “royale” isn’t how it’s pronounced), and we’ll see what happens with that five-way tie for the lead.

Y’all keep in mind this is just for fun, and if you’d like, copy our list and play along. Happy Friday, and we’ll have your high school coverage tonight and first thing in the morning here on ETBlitz.com.

	Mitch	Joe	Dennis	Jenna	Ashtyn	Jacob	Alex	Clayton	Jeremy	Billy	Dereck
Beckville at Elysian Fields	EF	EF	Beckvile	Beckville	Beckville	EF	Beckville	EF	EF	EF	Beckville
Grapeland at Overton	Overton	Grapeland	Grapeland	Overton	Overton	Overton	Overton	Overton	Overton	Overton	Overton
Arp at Troup	Troup	Arp	Arp	Troup	Arp	Arp	Arp	Arp	Arp	Arp	Arp
Elkhart at West Rusk	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR	WR
Tatum at Sabine	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum	Tatum
Atlanta at White Oak	WO	Atlanta	Atlanta	WO	WO	WO	WO	WO	WO	Atlanta	WO
Gladewater at Jefferson	G’water	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	G’water	G’water	G’water	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	G’water
Gilmer vs. Brenham	Gilmer	Brenham	Brenham	Brenham	Gilmer	Brenham	Gilmer	Brenham	Brenham	Brenham	Brenham
Henderson at Palestine	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo	Hendo
Carthage at Jasper	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage	Carthage
Pine Tree at Kilgore	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS	KHS
Kilgore College at Cisco	KC	KC	KC	Cisco	KC	KC	Cisco	KC	KC	Cisco	KC
TCU at Arizona State	ASU	ASU	ASU	ASU	TCU	ASU	TCU	TCU	TCU	ASU	TCU
Auburn at Texas A&M	A&M	A&M	A&M	A&M	A&M	Auburn	A&M	A&M	A&M	A&M	A&M
Baylor at Okla. State	Okla. St.	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Okla. St.	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Okla. St.
Alabama at Georgia	‘Bama	Georgia	Georgia	‘Bama	‘Bama	‘Bama	Georgia	‘Bama	Georgia	Georgia	Georgia
Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Minnesota	Minnesota	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Minnesota	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay	Tampa	Philly	Philly	Philly	Philly	Philly	Tampa	Philly	Tampa	Philly	Philly
Green Bay at Dallas	Dallas	Green Bay	Dallas	Dallas	Green Bay	Dallas	Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay	Dallas	Green Bay
New York Jets at Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	NYJ	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami
Cincinnati at Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver