It's been a while ... four weeks in fact.

I finally see some light once again as I've been able to climb out of the basement and start my move up the ladder in our weekly Grid Picks.Going 11-4 might not make some people happy, but it was the second best record of the week so I've got a smile on my face. You don't know how it feels to hear people who you thought were your friends say "Boy, your picks really #@&@!!"Now, Photo Editor Bob Ford will have to reply to those statements for a week at least.So I've polished up that crystal ball again and will hopefully move higher up the ladder after this week.Here goes:PLEASANT VALLEY AT TAMAQUA - The Blue Raiders finally got a win last week, but so did the Bears. And Jim Terwilliger has his team playing pretty decent ball right now ... Pleasant Valley, 28-14.SHENANDOAH VALLEY AT JIM THORPE - Olympians want to pick up the momentum that they had going in to the North Schuylkill game. It starts here ... Jim Thorpe, 21-7.SCHUYLKILL HAVEN AT PANTHER VALLEY - Panthers have improved a lot since the start of the season. This could be closer than you think ... Schuylkill Haven, 21-7.MARIAN AT NORTH SCHUYLKILL - Hasn't been a very pleasing season thus far for the Colts. And now they have to face the best team in the Anthracite Football League ... North Schuylkill, 42-7.LEHIGHTON AT POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST - Indians took a step back last week after putting together a pair of wins. This one won't be easy either with the Cardinals smarting from a big loss to Stroudsburg ... Pocono Mountain East, 21-14.NOTRE DAME AT NORTHWESTERN - Tigers won't look ahead to next week's battle with Palmerton ... Northwestern, 35-0.NORTHERN LEHIGH AT SALISBURY - Bulldogs must get in "big game" mode with unbeaten Pen Argyl knocking on the door next week ... Northern Lehigh, 49-0.PALMERTON AT PALISADES - A third straight win for the Bombers and a first ever for head coach Paul McArdle over the Pirates ... Palmerton, 42-7.PEN ARGYL AT SOUTHERN LEHIGH - The Green Knights showed they were the real deal last week against Wilson. Spartans slipped up a bit ... Pen Argyl, 21-7.WILSON AT BANGOR - Warriors look really unorganized right now and can't see Bret Comp letting that happen too long. Slaters just could pull off the win here. By the Flip of a Coin ... Wilson, 14-13.STROUDSBURG AT EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH - Will Mounts come back down to earth or win another one for Fred Ross? ... East Stroudsburg South, 14-7.MAHANOY AREA AT MINERSVILLE - Battlin' Miners get a shot at the Golden Bears, who were knocked off for the first time this season last week at Tamaqua ... Minersville, 21-18.ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC AT NAZARETH - Blue Eagles have a chance to make a statement in the LVC with a win here, but Vikings could be the best 3A team in the state ... Central Catholic, 31-27.WHITEHALL AT EASTON - Red Rovers have to be ready for a pretty good team of Zephyrs ... Easton, 21-7.BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC AT EMMAUS - The Green Hornets have one of the best defenses in the LVC this season. The Golden Hawks haven't moved the ball that well on the ground thus far, so I'm going with ... Emmaus, 21-0.