Here we go again!

Turn on the Friday night lights and strike up the marching band. It’s a new season for high school football, and that means our Times News prognosticators are looking into their crystal balls in the hopes of winning the title and hoisting the coveted trophy at the end of November.

This year, for the first time, the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup trophy will be awarded to the winner. Bob passed away last winter. We lost an outstanding photographer and more importantly, a great friend. He won the Cup three seasons ago, and was in position to win it all each year. Last season, Bob lost to Rod Heckman by just one game. Our Times News sports staff will miss his sideline presence at the games, and his extraordinary stop action football photographs we were privileged to enjoy for so many years.

Nine other grid pickers will be trying to unseat current Cup holder, “Hot” Rod Heckman from the king’s throne. We add two names to our panel this season. Mike “Quick Pick” Haines and TJ “Carolina” Engle, both longtime TN sports writers. They will compete with “Hot” Rod, Emmett “Bossman” McCall, Justin “the Voice” Carlucci, “Bad” Brad Hurley, Sam “the Man” Matta, Chuck “Good Luck” Hixson, Pat “the Mat” Matsinko, and Yours Truly.

Week One is always a coin flip to pick the winners. With graduation knocking some perennially good programs down a notch, and emerging talented players from a year ago ready to deliver a good season for their teams that have recently struggled, we can’t get a grab on who will be favorites and which teams will be the underdogs.

What’s important to note is that the bleachers will once again be filled with football fans. Cheerleaders will do their routines, and the marching bands will entertain everyone, all of which was missing a year ago due to the COVID19 lockdown.

So let’s kick off the 2021 football season and begin the race for the Grid Picks Cup!

Toss this one up

In a local matchup from the newly formed Colonial-Schuylkill League, Gold Division, Lehighton travels to play Palmerton from the White Division in what we think will be a close game. Whoever has the last possession could come out with the win. Palmerton is low on roster numbers, but you can bet that coach Chris Walkowiak will have his team ready to go in the opener. Indian’s coach Tom McCarroll is ready for trench warfare with his veteran offensive line. The staff is evenly divided on who wins here, but Yours Truly flipped the coin and is picking the Tribe to ground the Bombers.

An optimum opener

Perhaps the best opening week game is Northwestern at Tamaqua in a battle of Gold and Red division solid football programs. Arguably the best quarterback in the league is the Tigers’ Justin Holmes, who threw for more than 1,300 yards a year ago. His favorite target, Cade Christopher - aka Mr. Touchdown - looks to continue to light up the scoreboard like he did a year ago. Meanwhile, Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner returns four starters on the “O” line to help move the chains. This is a classic opener between two local giants. Give Sam “the Man” Matta credit if the Raiders win because the rest of the staff thinks Holmes and his offense will be too much for Tamaqua’s defense to handle.

Seeing red again

That’s red as in the “Red Storm” defense from Jim Thorpe. We’ve become accustomed to watching their hard-nosed, physical style of football. Coach Mark Rosenberger - with career wins at north of 150 - said he has many questions about his 2021 edition of the Olympians. Our staff consensus thinks Rosenberger will find enough answers tonight and defeat the Eagles from Blue Mountain.

Rebuilding the building

Coach Stan Dakosty - the iconic figurehead of Marian football who had built the program into a perennial powerhouse - is now rebuilding the Colts’ stable on his second time around with a roster number at 39. Expect the Colts to make some noise this season. McCall and Matta tab Marian over Schuylkill Haven. The rest of us think that Marian might have to wait until at least next week to get its first win of the season.

Moving faces

Each week there could be a shuffle of our faces at the top of the Picks’ page as we jockey for position in the race for the Cup. Will it be Heckman again? The odds are against a repeat champ because it hasn’t happened in recent times. Maybe McCall will finally save face and be a contender this year. Speaking of contending, Carlucci has run in the top five in recent seasons, but he has run out of gas approaching the finish line. Yours Truly has improved each year. Could I be hoisting the Cup and doing the victory lap around the office come November?

Let’s kick off Week 1 and see who is first out of the gate to set the pace.