After enjoying life near the top of the grid picks after the first week of high school football season, I slipped a bit towards the middle of the pack despite finishing with an 11-4 mark last week.

Not a bad effort. As a matter of fact, it matched my record from the first week and I'n just a few games out of first. right now Andy Steinmetz and Jason Boris are tied for first and there are a few guys ahead of me that I'm not too worried about because they aren't used to being up that close to the lead.The Grid Picks appear in Thursday's edition this week because Lehighton travels to Panther Valley tonight for the First Annual Bo Tkach Football Classic. It's really good to see two local schools come together for such a great cause.So before we miss tonight's kickoff, lets get the old crystal ball in gear one more time:LEHIGHTON AT PANTHER VALLEY - Hopefully the weatherman doesn't put a damper on things since this game has faithfully drawn a big crowd since it moved to Thursday night. The Panthers, despite missing some key people, just might give the Indians a tussle, if the latter gets caught looking ahead to its MVC opener against Pleasant Valley ... Lehighton, 21-13.NORTH SCHUYLKILL VS. JIM THORPE - The Spartans seem to be taking no prisoners this year after losing the district title to Northern Lehigh last season ... North Schuylkill, 35-7.MARIAN AT MAHANOY AREA - This is the "Game of the Week" and rightly so. Two 2-0 teams and rivals as a matter of fact going head-to-head hear. It even has our Sports Elf having mixed emotions with the alma mater facing the family alma mater. Wouldn't be surprised if Mahanoy sneaks out a win here, but have to give the Colts a little love here since we picked against them the first two weeks ... Marian, 21-16.SHENANDOAH VALLEY AT TAMAQUA - Raiders had trouble finding the offense last week against Lehighton and face a tough Shenandoah Valley team this week. It's Hall of Fame NIght, I'll be there and they'll be inducting former colleague Joe Plasko into the outstanding group. Hopefully the Raiders will take care of business ... Tamaqua, 21-18.PLEASANT VALLEY AT WYOMING VALLEY WEST - The Bears erased that awful loss to Nazareth with a win over Honesdale last week. This time around, they'll face another tough opponent ... Wyoming Valley West, 24-13.NORTHERN LEHIGH AT SAUCON VALLEY - Bulldogs seem to have still been bitten by the same "win" bug that they did last season. Why go against them now? ... Northern Lehigh, 35-0.WILSON AT NORTHWESTERN - Tigers have roared through their first two opponents. I see much of the same here against a Wilson team that just isn't as good as the Warrior teams of the past ... Northwestern, 21-12.PALMERTON AT SALISBURY - Bombers played well for three quarters then caved in against the Spartans last week. This week, they travel to Salisbury and hopefully find a way back to the win column ... Palmerton, 24-7.SOUTHERN LEHIGH AT BANGOR - This proves to be an interesting matchup and the Slaters are probably the favorite here. We're going with the Spartans because we saw their quarterback take control and throw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for a win last week ... So. Lehigh, 28-20.SCHUYLKILL HAVEN AT MINERSVILLE - Hurricanes bounce back after getting a wakeup call from Marian last weekend ... Schuylkill Haven, 28-7.POTTSVILLE AT BLUE MOUNTAIN - Crimson Tide and the Eagles battle in a game between two Schuylkill County rivals. It'll be close, but we like the Tide here ... Pottsville, 24-19.EMMAUS AT PARKLAND - The Trojans and Hornets will battle in a game that will be closer than many think. In the end, however, it's ... Parkland, 28-21.NAZARETH AT LIBERTY - There's something about the Blue Eagles that I like this season. Could it be that there is a lot of Lehighton blood on the sidelines? ... Nazareth, 21-8.NORTHAMPTON AT EASTON - Red Rovers are smarting from last week's loss to Nazareth. Not a good time for the Konkrete Kids to have to play them ... Easton, 31-0.BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC AT CENTRAL CATHOLIC - If the Vikings want to make a trip back to Hershey, they better find the win column like NOW ... Central Catholic, 31-7.