Sports

High School Football Predictions

Will I be your team's lucky charm, or a jinx?

I’ll never forget the exchange of conversations I had with a Gwinnett County football coach several years ago when I worked for a pictures-and-words outfit out of Atlanta (I think they’re in Dunwoody now).

“Scott,” the coach said of the weekly high school football prediction column I wrote. “Don’t pick us this week. You jinxed us last time.”

Sure enough, that happened, although I wouldn’t call it a jinx. I picked his team to win the week before against an inferior team, and the coach’s team played spectacularly awful and lost. His team’s inability to hold onto the ball had more to do with it than what I wrote.

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OK, I said to the coach. Why not? It was an important game and I could be the bad guy and pick against his team. Result? His team won. He called to say thanks.

I then picked his team to win the next several games.

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Later in the season, before another important game that could determine the region championship, I picked against his team again — this time, I meant it.

I talked to him the day the column ran.

“Scott, you picked against us? C’mon,” he joked, adding that his team was on a roll and could’ve used the extra boost of confidence for the big game. The conversation was light-hearted, but I could tell he would have preferred a pick for his team.

“Hey, just tell them to prove me wrong,” I joked back.

Result? A resounding victory.

So, here we go again for another week of football predictions.  Last week, I was 21-3 in picking games for 12 Patch sites in four counties.

Will I jinx your team, or bring it good luck? You pick.

North Cobb at : There may not be a more difficult pick to make than choosing between two teams that finished 5-5 and played a tight game last year (won 21-14 at home by North Cobb). Centennial beat Campbell 27-22 on the road last week; North Cobb fell 29-26 to Alpharetta. This is a home-team-gets-the-nod game. Centennial 23, North Cobb 15.

Peachtree Ridge at : The two teams that faced each other in the 2006 Class AAAAA final — it ended in a 14-14 tie, by the way — have much less at stake in this one, but with both coming off season-opening losses it’s still important as each gauges how it stands with region competition right around the corner. Peachtree Ridge, which beat Roswell last year in Suwanee, lost to Walton 26-14 two weeks ago. Roswell lost at home to Collins Hill 24-21 last week after leading by two touchdowns at halftime. Neither of those can be considered bad losses. Somebody has to be 0-2, unfortunately. Peachtree Ridge 27, Roswell 21.

at Grady (5:30 p.m. Friday): Don’t want to stay out late, but still want to see a great game? This could fit the bill. Blessed Trinity, a Class AA playoff team, plays at Grady, a AAA quarterfinalist, in a 5:30 p.m. game. Blessed Trinity (1-1) was the only team to beat Grady (1-0) in the regular season last year — beating the Grey Knights 17-14. It'll be close again. Blessed Trinity 13, Grady 9.

Scott Bernarde is the Associate Regional Editor for 12 Patch sites in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Fulton and Forsyth counties.


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