Despite several upsets on the high school gridiron from Week 5, the top half of the race for the Cup held their places in line even with Shenandoah, Saucon Valley, Hamburg, and Pocono Mountain West all winning against the consensus picks of our “expert” sports staff.

TJ “Carolina” Engle and Justin “The Voice” Carlucci remain on the king’s throne after 10-4 records and “Good Luck” Chuck Hixson is in second place, but he dropped a game and is now two back of the leaders. Pat “The Mat” Matsinko and “Hot” Rod Heckman also lost ground, falling three games behind.

“There were definitely a lot of upsets and a long stretch to go yet,” said Engle, “but I want nothing more to get my hands on the first-ever Bob Ford Memorial Cup and make him proud. I know he’s keeping an eye on all of us from up above!”

The back of the pack showed the most movement. Mike “Quick Pick” Haines jumped past “Bad” Brad Hurley into a third-place tie and Sam “The Man” Matta fell into the Pundit Pit and now is blinded by the darkness with Yours Truly and Emmett “Bossman” McCall.

Drop 9

Nine of the 14 games in Week 6 are unanimous picks. Locals in that category are Jim Thorpe, Palmerton, and Pleasant Valley so no jump to bump the standings will happen in these games no matter the outcomes. All these favorites are pushing for the playoffs with half the regular season gone by.

Kudos to Coach Blaec Saeger and his PV Bears. They are favorites to be 4-1 after this week as they move toward their first winning season in recent memory.

Tigers to battle Wilson

The Times News and the Grid Picks Game of the Week features unbeaten Northwestern traveling to Easton to take on the 5-0 Wilson Warriors. This is a great matchup of offenses and star quarterbacks. The Tigers’ Justin Holmes has thrown for eight touchdowns and run for another 11 TDs. Wilson’s Cayden Stem has already thrown for over 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns. This highlight game has all the pizazz to be a high-scoring affair, but high school football is often unpredictable as we pickers find out every week.

My feeling here is that the Tigers have a solid running game, and a more balanced attack, while the ground game is not Wilson’s best weapon. The Warriors like to chuck it up to a bevy of wide receivers who possess record-breaking track star speed. Look for Holmes and company to burn out the clock late in the game and keep the flying Warriors on the sideline. If we are wrong, Engle - who picked Wilson - might have something more to say about who stands alone at the top going into Week 7.

Other games

Sometimes a winless team deserves to be a favorite in a game, or at least given an even chance to win. The 0-5 Salisbury Falcons are home against the 1-4 Palisades Pirates. The Falcons have been competitive in every game, while the Pirates have been blown out in each of their four losses. The consensus pick is Sals to beat Pals and get win No. 1.

A marquee out-of-area matchup pits the Vikings from Central Catholic against the Patriots from Freedom. Both are strong gridiron programs and though 60% of the pick here goes with the Pats, no one will be surprised if Central wins this one.

Last week, Palmerton handed Catasauqua its first loss. This week, the Rough Riders are favored over Mahanoy Area. The Golden Bears have suffered a few tough losses, and both Yours Truly and McCall pick them in an upset. Then again, look at what place we’re in so don’t bet on us.

Contenders and pretenders

Of course, anything can still happen in the race for the Cup, but as each week passes, more than four may be running uphill to try and catch the contenders.

Engle is excited and Carlucci is delighted. Hixson and Matsinko have slipped back to the pack. Heckman is always ready and is holding steady. Haines has gained and in the hunt he has remained. Hurley is barely holding on and Sam is almost gone. Yours Truly and McCall have taken the great fall, but we are still alive and trying to survive.

Week 7 may be heaven for those near the top, but those in the rear could be left crying in our beer!