With Week 1 of the high school football season in the books, TJ Engle and Pat Matsinko have jumped out in front of the Bob Ford Memorial Grid Picks race.

With records of 13-2, they both hold a one-game lead over defending champion, Rod Heckman. Two games back off the lead are Brad Hurley and Justin Carlucci.

Engle, with a great charge out of the gate, is a long shot at 20-1 to lift the trophy at the end of the season. Matsinko stands at 9-1 to win it all.

Yours Truly sits three games behind. Jeff Moeller and Emmett McCall are four back, and setting up residence in the Pundit Pit for at least this past week is Sam Matta.

It’s too early to mark any trends in the standings, but those of us chasing the frontrunners have to be concerned that a few bad weeks in a row can drop us out of contention.

Tigers roar, Bombers soar

The world keeps spinning and the Northwestern Tigers keep winning. As usual, Coach Josh Snyder has his defense playing their best football in the second half.

Tied 14-14 with Valley View at the intermission last Friday, the district champs and state runners up from a year ago, the Tigers outscored the Cougars, 14-2 in the second half to win 28-16.

Palmerton’s fourth-quarter comeback stunned Marian, 34-33. Down by 14 at the half, and by nine points in the final 12 minutes, Bombers quarterback, T.K. Gursky threw a TD pass and ran for another score to give Palmerton a thrilling one-point victory.

Bears, Panthers, Bulldogs, Tribe win on opening night …

Four other local teams began their seasons with victories.

Pleasant Valley routed Saucon Valley, Northern Lehigh won its game on a last second 27-yard field goal by Anthony Hanna, Panther Valley beat Mahanoy Area in a giant first stride they hope will lead to a winning season and Lehighton is making a statement that it could be one of the best teams in our area this year with a convincing win over Tamaqua.

Out of Area Game of the Week …

Let’s go with Blue Mountain at Southern Lehigh.

Both teams combined to outscore their opponents 103-0 in Week One. Each also has power on both sides of the ball.

Blue Mountain QB Cohen Kirby threw for 161 yards and three touchdown passes. Running back Brody Foose rushed for 105 yards at seven yards a carry, and wide receiver Chase Guers caught five balls for 82 yards and two scores in the Eagles’ balanced offense.

Southern Lehigh lit up the scoreboard with 49 first-half points, and an incredible six-touchdown assault in the second quarter against Quakertown.

Senior quarterback Colton Sams threw for 363 yards and four TDs. On defense, Jack Davis had three interceptions in the shutout win.

This might just be the toughest game to pick this week between two teams that are primed to have great seasons.

I’m going with the Spartans in a high-scoring battle for no other reason than they play the Eagles on their home turf.

Risky business…

High school football delivers upsets, but the evenly-matched games are the most difficult to pick winners.

Our Week 2 pundits have four unanimous picks which make no movement in the standings.

Two games, Minersville at Jim Thorpe and Pen Argyl at Saucon Valley, are toss ups. Our leaders, Engle and Matsinko, differ on six games, and one will not be ahead of the pack after this weekend.

Heckman, always in striking range, can move past Engle if Minersville, Southern Lehigh, and Delaware Valley are victors. He and Matsinko disagree on the Parkland-Freedom, Catasauqua-Mahanoy Area, Saucon Valley-Pen Argyl and Del Val-Northampton games.

Expect a big shuffle in the standings heading into Week Three with anyone falling five or more games out, already in jeopardy with three months yet to go.

Yours Truly loves underdogs. Let’s go McCall, Matta, Haines, and Moeller. Don’t get sacked. Come out of the pack. Make a run and have some fun. We’ll have to see. Will they advance going into Week 3?