Picks were much more successful in Week 2

Every season at every level of football, you hear someone say it – whether it’s a coach or a journalist or a blogger or some guy on television or radio who never played the game but acts like they know it as well as any of the coaches on the sideline.

It’s an old saying that’s become cliché.

But as cliché as it is, that doesn’t make it any less true.

“Most football teams make their biggest improvements of the season between the first and second games.”

But that concept can also apply to others involved in football as well – like those who pick winners of football games.

After having the worst week possible in Week 1 by missing every single pick, yours truly came back in a big way and showed as much improvement as possible by not missing a single pick.

The only way the week could’ve gone better was if Trinity Christian had actually played its game and won, but beggars can’t be choosers.

I’ll say I missed six games in Week 1 (because in the sixth game I didn’t officially pick, I would’ve missed on that one too). But I’ll gladly take my four correct picks in Week 2 and gladly and gratefully move on to Week 3.

Hoping to continue the winning streak:

South Side 31, Liberty 14: This game is on Thursday, so each team gets one fewer day to prepare. South Side is coming off an emotional win. Liberty it playing its final non-region game of the season, so the Crusaders want to fix as many problems as they can before their games begin counting toward the postseason. While some of them will be fixed, the Hawks will come away with the win.

University School of Jackson 21, Trinity Christian 20: This is a tough pick. On one hand, TCA didn’t play last week and should be well rested (and that might increase the potential of the first-game-to-second-game improvement discussed earlier). Plus, USJ’s big win last week took a lot out of them and some of the Bruins might still be recovering from that one. But on the other hand, USJ appears to have established its identity as a blue-collared, hard-nosed team that might not win every game, but will make sure their opponents know they were in a fight even if they do win. The 21 predicted points would be the most they’ve scored so far this season. There are plenty of reasons to pick either team in this one. The Bruins will survive another one.

Camden 42, Jackson Central-Merry 35: Camden has already shown in its first two games it can score points as the Lions have posted 50 or more both times. JCM showed in Week 1 it can score. Both teams will score a lot of points, and the Cougar coaches will design some wrinkles to throw the Lions off some offensively. But Camden has the ball last and wins on its final possession.

North Side 27, Obion Co. 21: There’s really no reason on paper to pick North Side to win this one. They didn’t play well in Week 1 and lost big to an opponent they could’ve beaten, and then they did what they should against an inferior opponent. Obion County’s Week 1 win would probably be classified as an inferior opponent, but last week’s win was a close one over a team that could contend for a state championship in Class 2A. North Side gets a pass for that first-week loss in this pick as this one will be tough, but the Indians come out on top.

Jackson Christian 34, Goodpasture 27: This is a tough pick because it’s still early enough to question the validity of the strength of schedule – particularly for the home team in this one. But on the other hand, road trips of more than an hour are the only time (in my mind at least) that home-field advantage matters in high school football. The Eagles will be leaving early for this game, and they’ve shown they have enough talent and ability all over the field to win with different options to get that win. But that is as long as they don’t look past this week, have put last week’s win in the past and get their legs under them once they get to Nashville.Brandon Shields is the managing editor of The Jackson Post. Contact him at brandon@jacksonpost.news. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or Instagram @Editorbrandon.