Week 4: And Is It Time To Recognize Some Teams…?

After three weeks of play, at least four area teams stand 3-0, and have surprised in the pre-season minds of some.  Maybe it’s time we write about changing some minds.  Read more in this week’s Friday Night ‘Picks’.

The older I get the less I’m interested in pre-season hype about football teams.

Why?

One, there’s too much of the unexpected, even on opening night.  Ask the Celina Bulldogs.

Two, what can you really learn from two pre-season scrimmages that are controlled to prevent unnecessary injury risk?

Three, and honestly…how can you actually gauge untested freshman and sophomore talent playing significant football for the first in their lives?

By constrast, after three weeks of the varsity season you can kinda’ get an idea.

One, Marion Local is always going to play like Marion Local, even when the coach tells you his non-conference games are the toughest in his 26 years as coach.

Two, injuries do happen in football, so there’s no reason to worry so much about an 0-2 start for St. Henry when they have at least six starters out.  Turns out when they came back last week they won a tough football game..

And three, you have to give credit to maturity.  A lot of those young player’ from a year ago are bigger, stronger, and more physically ready to compete.  And in the case of the 3-0 Minster Wildcats, who believed that they couldn’t?

Or Miami East, for that matter, who’s non-con schedule, like Marion’s, might be the tip-off to just how good the Vikings could be in 2026?

As always, the Friday ‘Picks’ are sponsored by the Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio, with offices in Centerville, Dayton, Fairborn, Troy, Sidney, Hamilton, Greenville, Springfield, and Eaton – nine of them – to best serve you if and when you need orthopedic care.  Their reputation for care and compassion is second to none, and the convenience of an office near you makes your journey to an optimum result that much more pleasant.

Call them when you need them…the Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio, sponsors of the Friday Night ‘Picks’ on Press Pros.

Coming off a second straight week where we got at least 10 of 12 picks right, we’re right back at it with some more significant matchups in Week 4.  Starting with…..

Miami East @ Covington…No one was talking about the Miami East Vikings over the summer, or at least in the same context with Marion Local, Anna, Coldwater and others projected to be a deep finisher in the post-season playoffs.  But the Vikings are 3-0, with wins over Dayton Christian and Carlisle, and a blowout last week over Northwestern.  And chances are, if they’re healthy they’re going to be favored in their remaining seven games against the Three Rivers Conference.  And that’s where we find them this week, at Covington, facing the 1-2 Buccs who’ve scored just 7 points in their last two games with New Bremen and Graham.  This is one of the good, older rivalries from the days of the Cross County Conference, and I believe this game will be more competitive than Covington’s last two.  But I also believe that the Vikes have too much talent and confidence.  Covington will be fine once they get over this hump, but I’m picking East…by two scores.

Graham @ Urbana…With due respect to Graham, Urbana has played the tougher schedule, narrowly losing late last week to LCC…and have a quarterback who can hurt you up and down the field.  The passing game is just too hard to defend at any level to not make Grady Lantz and the Hillclimbers a favorite in this game.  I’m taking Urbana, at home, by two scores.

St. Henry @ Anna…Although we missed the pick it was no surprise to see St. Henry bounce back against Versailles once they got all those injured players back.  Versailles coach Scott Broerman even admitted as much.  “They good, they’re well coached, and they’re getting healthy,”  he said following his first loss of the season.  But this will be a bigger challenge for the Redskins, who have to go to Anna and win against a team that’s been talked about as a conference favorite since June.  This this is one of the week’s most competitive games, and I believe with all their parts St. Henry is a different competitive team, and that some confidence from last week’s win carries over to this week. And don’t be surprised if St. Henry wins the line of scrimmage…and the game, by a score!  You want a risky pick, because Anna is that good?  Here it is.

Parkway @ Minster…This game is more about Minster than it is Parkway.  The Wildcats are surprisingly 3-0, at least to some, and now have to make sure they’re not overconfident against a team that hasn’t won against Minster in a long time. But don’t underestimate the Panthers too much.  At 1-2, that lone win came against a respectable Brookville team that’s won their last two.  That said, I’m picking Minster for the fourth week in a row…by three scores.

Troy @ Piqua…This was once the marquee game, and rivalry, of area football…at least in Miami County.  But Troy has had its way in the series in recent years, crowds have been down, and frankly ‘the big game’ has lost a bit of its lustre since the days of Ryan Brewer and Brandon Saine.  Troy has won three in a row since suffering a 59-0 shellacking back in 2022 and the issue this year is which  team can generate some early offense.  I think it’s Troy, even on the road, coming off impressive wins against Xena and West Carrollton.  Picking the Trojans to go to 3-1, over Piqua, by a score.

Indian Lake @ London…To you CBC fans and readers the inclusion of the league to the Friday ‘picks’ has been fun, and the support from a reader standpoint is growing with each passing week.  “Who else picks high school games like this?”, someone wrote us last week.  Well, we’ve done it for years in western Ohio, and the reason is it brings added profile to games that would otherwise go unnoticed outside the two competing communities.  This is one of those games.  Indian Lake is a team that probably shouldbe recognized for the body of work.  And London has already proven the last four years that their consistency goes hand in hand with their run game.  Kudos to Kyle Cutler for always having the Red Raiders ready to play, and up to the challenge.  Indian Lake’s lone l0ss was a thumping by Allen East, who spreads the field and throws it.  London never throws it, eats a lot of clock, and makes it a test of will.  Simply put, I won’t bet against London at home.  Raiders, by a couple of scores.

Stebbins @ Tipp City…If Tipp is healthy and back to playing mistake-free football, this isn’t a tough pick.  But one gets the sense that Tipp has yet to show just how good they might be for lack of early schedule, outside of Bellbrook.  This week amounts to another week of waiting to see.  They have undefeated Butler next week.  Still, at home they will come out hot and beat Stebbins by at least three scores.  I have that much confidence in an offense run by Larkin Thomas.

North Union @ Jonathan Alder…Admitting, I don’t know a lot about North Union football, and not as much as I know about Jonathan Alder, and the other likely  contenders in the CBC.  But North Union is unbeaten.  Jon Alder is unbeaten, and this ought to be a landmark game in the conference.  But both are unbeaten against struggling teams.  Jonathan Alder is 3-0 against teams with a combined record of 3-6.  North Union is 3-0 against  teams with collective records of 2-7.  This may or may not say something about the overall state of football, but Jonathan Alder has thus far proven more than North Union.  For that reason, at home, I like them by at least two scores against the Wildcats.

Fort Loramie @ Jefferson…Jefferson is 3-0, but in my eyes has yet to be tested, despite last week’s 21-20 win over Paulding on a a missed extra point.  Loramie owns that last-second win over Anna, which tells me there’s more in their tank for those moments in which they need to make a statement.  This isn’t a statement game by any means, but it might be a game where Spencer Wells and the ‘Skins need to recognize their consistency.  But they have to prove it, right?  Here’s their chance.  On the road, I like Loramie, by at least a score.

New Bremen @ Coldwater…Better game in actual play than a lot of people believe it to be on paper.  Bremen, at 2-1, and let one get away last week against Minster.  Coldwater, at 3-0, has one of the more enviable records for the fact of quality wins over Valley View (at home) and a road win at Clinton-Massie.  But I know this.  It’s really tough to beat Coldwater in Coldwater.  I’m picking the Cavaliers to win by two scores.

Sidney @ Butler…Sidney had their first win over Stebbins last week, and Butler is 3-0 with a couple of reputable wins against teams like Xenia and Franklin, despite neither having won a game.  Again, is this a question of area football and the cycle at those schools?  But Butler now enters a run of games where they get to prove their mettle.  Tipp and Troy loom after Sidney.  I’m taking Butler, at home, by four scores.

Marion Local @ Versailles…This is an interesting one to watch.  For the reason that Versailles is working overtime to prove that they’re better than anyone imagined that they might be in the first year of a coaching change, and an offensive style change.  And for the fact that everyone in Versailles remembers how last year’s game ended on one of the most controversial, and talked-about officiating errors of the season.  But that’s part of the game, and you have to move on, and Versailles didn’t, losing their final five games of the season after the Marion loss.  Don’t tell me it hasn’t come up in anticipation for this week’s game, because I know it still looms in 45380.  That said, I’m beginning to believe that Marion is proving that they’re the Marion Local of yearly expectation (115 points in their three games).  It’ll be one of our feature games, because there’s that much interest in Versailles to prove that ‘Tigerball’ is alive and progressing under Scott Broerman.  But…I think Marion, with a passing game and maturing balance on offense, wins by two scores.