If Rod Heckman is as good at picking lottery numbers as he is at predicting high school football game winners, I might have to ask him to get me some Powerball tickets.

His perfect Week 6 record of 15-0 moved him three games ahead of Yours Truly in the race for the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks Cup.

Brad Hurley stands four back of Heckman before there is a considerable drop off by the rest of the pack.

“I got lucky last week,” said Heckman. “There’s still a long way to go.”

Well, Rod, yes there are six weeks left of picks, but now your expertise or luck as you call it, puts the rest of us behind the eight ball to hang in contention until the playoffs begin which can definitely flip the order of the standings. While you can play the favorites for the rest of the regular season, all of us who are chasing you will need to pick a few upsets and hope to cut into your lead.

Drifting away

Everyone had a good Week 6, but the seven pickers did not advance upon the leaders. Justin Carluccci with 64 wins is in fourth place, nine back of Heckman. Pat Matsinko is tied with Sam Matta at 12 games behind. Jeff Moeller, Mike Haines and TJ Engle are fighting to stay out of the Pundit Pit where Emmett McCall resides for yet another week.

At this point, the standings reveal that the race for the Cup is between three pickers and for anyone behind them, perfect or near perfect weeks will be necessary to get them back in contention.

Sink or swim

Seven games come off the board in Week 7 as unanimous picks. If I’m going to catch Heckman or fall much farther behind, three games may decide my fate.

Against Heckman, I’m betting on the Pocono Mountain teams — East to beat East Stroudsburg South and West to defeat Stroudsburg. I also tabbed the Mifflinburg Wildcats to tame the Southern Columbia Tigers.

Hurley can move past me if Stroudsburg, Nazareth and the Tigers prevail.

A critical game that is an even split of the staff picks is Liberty at Nazareth. Both teams are 5-1. After an opening game loss, Liberty has ripped off five straight wins, outscoring its last two week’s opponents 89-0. With a loss in between its last two wins, Nazareth scores an average of nearly seven touchdowns a game. This battle could be a shootout with the victory going to the team with the last possession.

At the back end of the standings, Engle and Haines are trying to avoid being the guests of McCall in the Pundit Pit. Haines and McCall have five different picks and Engle and McCall didn’t agree on three games, so Emmett might have some company in the Depths of Darkness, or he might see the light of day if he has a great week.

Out of Area Game of the Week

This week, I like Southern Columbia at Mifflinburg. Both teams are 5-1. Southern Columbia is famous for an incredible 65-game winning streak that ended in 2021. The record for most wins in a row is held by De La Salle High School in California, which won 151 straight games from 1992-2003.

SC’s Tigers have won 14 state championships in their history, the most in our state. This year’s version has outscored their opponents 241-86. They are led by junior quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch, who has thrown for 608 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 140 yards at nearly six yards a carry. Senior Brayden Andrews is a dual threat runner and receiver. He’s averaging eight yards on the ground and 13 yards in the air. Joey Williams and Grady Garcia add to the ground game punch.

Mifflinburg has outscored their opponents 235-124. The Wildcats feature quarterback Chad Martin, who has passed for over 5,000 yards and 60 TDs in his career. One of his many targets is Jackson Griffith, who has averaged 20 yards a catch over the past two years.

The Tigers’ defense has posted three shutouts in their five wins and good defenses usually slow down good offenses. The Tigers are looking to avenge their loss to Mifflinburg a year ago, but I’m going on nothing more than a hunch here. Wildcats win in a close one.

Catch me if you can

It’s only Week 7, but Heckman is threatening to run away from the pack. Will Hurley be able to catch him or will it be Strack? Will the M & M & M boys — Matsinko, Matta and Moeller — make some noise? They are jammed inside the pack trying to get ahead and not fall back. Will McCall catch Engle or Haines? Mike is banking on a key win from the Liberty Hurricanes.

This is the seventh week of our start. Heckman has set a torrid pace. Let’s see if Week 8 has him sitting in the king’s chair and still in first place.