And away they go!

Following their outstanding 13-2 picks records from Week 5, Sam “The Longshot Man” Matta and “Hot Shot” Rod Heckman have pulled comfortably away from the pack. Matta holds a one-game lead over Heckman and sits in the king’s throne for the second week in a row.

It’s fair to note that “Bad” Brad “Trash Talking” Hurley has jumped into a third-place tie with Pat “The Mat” Matsinko and Mike “Hurricane” Haines, who has been blowing by the rest of the pack after climbing out of the Pundit Pit in Week 1. He’s now five games back and in striking range of the leaders.

“Yours Truly” had a respectable 11-4 record last week, but I still fell farther behind the leaders. What’s getting a bit concerning for me is that I’m now six games behind Matta, but only four ahead of Emmett “Free Fall” McCall, who despite a 10-5 mark from Week 5, is still floundering in the Depths of Darkness at 10 games behind.

It was not a good week for TJ “Carolina” Engle. His 8-7 record was the week’s worst, and he now finds himself just a game above the Pundit Pit. Let’s take a peak at the top games we have for Week 6.

Raiders battle JT;

Dawgs, Bombers regroup

It wasn’t so long ago when Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe were both at the top of their league divisions, but even though that hasn’t been the case through the first part of this season, that doesn’t make tonight’s game any less important for both teams. At 2-3 and fighting for a winning season and a playoff berth, coach Sam Bonner’s Raiders and coach Mark Rosenberger’s Olympians need a victory in this Times News Game of the Week. Both teams have shown an ability to score points, but both have also struggled at times to keep opponents out of the end zone. Thorpe is the consensus pick favorite, and Yours Truly thinks JT’s running back, Sal Capria, will add another 100 yards of rushing to his season total and help put up a ‘W’ for the Olympians.

Northern Lehigh might be still reeling from last week’s spanking by the North Schuylkill Spartans. This week, it’s a unanimous pick that the Bulldogs recover their mantra, and their victim will be winless Salisbury.

Palmerton lost big to Notre Dame-Green Pond in Week 5. Tonight, it takes on the 1-4 Pine Grove Cardinals, who gave up 66 points to Jim Thorpe last week. Super “Q” Matt Machalik will do what he has done so well and lead his Bombers across the goal line numerous times in a one-sided Palmerton win.

Tigers, Colts picked to win

Northwestern is a near unanimous pick to continue its fine season over Saucon Valley, while six of our 10 writers think Marian will topple Mahanoy Area - a team that scored 101 points in its first three games, but only 18 in the last two. The 3-2 Colts have been playing some really close games this year, and this matchup checks all the boxes to be another down-to-the-wire thriller. It’s a toss-up, and Yours Truly likes the Golden Bears to win by less than a touchdown.

Speaking of another Bears’ team, Pleasant Valley carries its undefeated record to Parkland, where it’s strange to see the 2-3 Trojans with a losing record thus far. That doesn’t matter to our pickers as the majority favor Parkland to deliver the Bears their first loss of the season.

Panther Valley hosts Palisades tonight, and it’s nice to see coach Mark Lavine’s Black and Gold with two victories in their first five games. The pick in this game, however, is that the Pirates’ power running game will be too much for the Panthers’ defense.

‘Canes to storm past Cavaliers

Liberty hosts East Stroudsburg South in my pick as the Out of Area Game of the Week. Despite their 1-4 record, the Hurricanes’ strength of schedule has been much harder than South, which sports a 3-2 record. Liberty is the 7-3 pick here with an amazing number of 53 seniors on their roster. Experience wins.

Two games could flip the leaders

Heckman also likes Liberty to win, but Matta’s pick of ES South could either give him a two-game lead or a tie with “Hot Shot,” who always seems to have a better than average record every week. Another game that could help put Heckman in the lead is his pick of Bangor over Pottsville with Sam liking the Crimson Tide to win.

Kyle “The Rook” Magda will rise or fall with his picks against the majority with Tamaqua and Pine Grove. Matsinko, still very much in the hunt, will also get a first down or be dropped for a loss with the Raiders. Magda can be sacked for a huge loss or take it right to the house with his unfavorable choices of Tamaqua over JT, Saucon Valley to upset Northwestern and Schuylkill Haven to beat Catasauqua. Engle and Chuck “No Luck” Hixson are the only two who think Pleasant Valley knocks off Parkland to go 6-0.

The battle at the bottom features McCall against three above the Pit, and with his picks of Haven and South to win, the boss can pull himself out or drop farther down with another devil’s kiss in the abyss.

Week 6 will either run our two leaders into what could be an insurmountable lead, or the pack will make a move to get closer to the front-runners.

Let’s see what happens!