And down the stretch we come!

With just one week remaining, Justin Carlucci has widened his lead to five games over Pat Matsinko and Rod Heckman in the race for the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup.

It looks like Carlucci’s 14-1 week has put him in a solid position to finally hold the gold and chase away the late-season stumbles he’s had in the past.

Heckman has made his usual sprint to the wire and is tied with Pat Matsinko for second place, but it looks like it might be too little, too late to unseat Carlucci from the King’s Throne.

“The last week is one of the toughest weeks of the season,” said Carlucci. “Expect the unexpected, but with a decent lead for once, I will likely play the chalk and go with the many favorites on paper.”

The other big story of the week was Sam “The Man” Matta. Sitting last in the Pundit Pit for much of the season, he dialed up a 15-0 record and is the only picker this season to go undefeated for a week. Matta leapfrogged over Chuck Hixson, Mike Haines, and Emmett McCall.

When told about his incredible week of picks that brought him up to see the light of day, Matta said with a touch of humor, “I’m better when I’m under pressure.”

Hixson, with the lowest record of 9-6, now has sole possession of the Den of Darkness.

Playoff fever

Four area teams will play for District 11 titles this week, with two of them going against each other. Northern Lehigh battles Palmerton in a rematch from the Bulldogs’ 43-14 win over the Bombers in late October.

This game features two outstanding quarterbacks in Northern Lehigh’s Dylan Smoyer, and Palmerton’s Matt Machalik. In their first contest, the Bulldogs led 36-0 at the half.

This time, Yours Truly feels the Bombers will make a better game of it, but the nod goes to Northern Lehigh to win the 2A championship.

Jim Thorpe is riding a huge wave of momentum having won four in a row, including last week’s upset over Notre Dame Green Pond. The Olympians will need to have all cylinders clicking against state ranked and reigning titleholder North Schuylkill.

The Spartans have five straight wins over JT, including a 28-7 victory earlier this year. On paper, the O’s are a long shot to win, but numbers on paper don’t win football games.

Yours Truly thinks Thorpe finds a way to pull the big upset and take home the 3A crown.

Undefeated Northwestern might be facing its biggest challenge yet against Allentown Central Catholic for the 4A title. The Vikings have convincingly won their last four games, and an upset over the Tigers would not appear to be out of the realm.

The call here is that Northwestern rides the arm of senior quarterback Justin Holmes to end a perfectly magical season.

Pats vs Kids

My out-of-area Grid Picks Game of the Week is a 6A semifinal match between the 9-2 Freedom Patriots and the 11-0 Northampton Konkrete Kids.

This is a game loaded with exceptional players, beginning with Jalen Fletcher from Freedom. He’s only 5-10, 170 pounds, but a beast on defense. This First Team All EPC South cornerback has 19 tackles and an interception. He also returns kicks, and averages nearly 10 yards a carry, rushing from his wideout position.

At the same size, but three pounds heavier than Fletcher is Northampton’s Everett Luisi. In the K-Kids win over Pleasant Valley last week, Luisi rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he made 5 1/2 tackles from his free safety position.

Speaking of defense, Freedom’s Owen Johnson has put up 62 tackles, three sacks and a pick. On offense, the 6-2 junior has 521 receiving yards and six TDs.

Northampton QB Cooper King has passed for over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns, and owns the most remarkable record of throwing no interceptions this season.

Cooper King has the perfect name for a quarterback - and Konkrete Kids is a great mascot name for a school - but Yours Truly and the overwhelming majority pick Freedom to knock out Northampton and play the winner of the Emmaus-Parkland game next week.

The coveted Cup awaits

What makes this year’s Grid Picks Cup so special is that it’s named after our prestigious photographer, Bob Ford, who passed away in January.

If Bob were still with us, he’d be right in the thick of the race right down to the wire and if he didn’t win, he’d have nothing but insults to pass along to the victor in his customary and beautiful tone of language that makes us miss him so much.

So, it’s on to Week 12 and the sprint to the wire for our pickers, and to the end zone for our playoff teams.

The great Vince Lombardi once said, ‘If winning isn’t everything, then why do they keep score?’

Well, Vince, you were right about keeping score. That’s what we will all be doing this weekend during the district playoffs to see what teams brings home the trophies.

And, for our pickers to find out who gets to hoist the golden Cup.