March 29, 2024

PERK’S PICKS for Week 12 of the 2019 High School Football Season

Last week I picked 29 winners out of 40 games for a 72% accuracy rating.  Twenty-four of the 32 correct picks covered the spread, twelve games were within 7 points and three were spot on.  That brings my totals for this season to 348 winners out of 453 games for a 77% accuracy rate. 

This is the last week of the regular season and some of the conference races have been settled but a lot of teams still have some work to do on the season finale this week.

The Smoky Mountain 1A Conference champion and second place finisher will be decided this Friday when Murphy hosts Robbinsville in a winner take all contest.  Both squads have identical 5-0 conference records.

The Southern Piedmont 1A Conference is in a three-way tie at the moment and all three leaders: Bessemer City, Mountain Island Charter, and Thomas Jefferson Academy should win this week.

In the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Conference both of the top spots have been decided regardless of this week’s outcomes.  The Ashe County Huskies are the 2A Champs and the Elkin Elks are the 1A Champs.  Incidentally, both champs have 5-1 conference records going into this week’s action and both should be favored to win.

In the Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference the only thing that has been decided is that the Madison Patriots are not going to the playoffs. All of the other five teams are still alive for a playoff spot however only the front-running 2A Mountain Heritage Cougars and the 1A Mitchell Mountaineers control their own destiny.   Everyone else is going to need some help.

Brevard’s Blue Devils lead the Mountain 6 2A however, they hit road this week to take on the Pisgah Bears who trail by a single game and the Smoky Mountain Mustangs also trail the league leaders by only a single game and they will be at home against Franklin.  A Brevard win seals the championship for the Blue Devils but a Brevard loss and a Smoky Mountain win will result in a three-way tie for first place.

The Northwestern Foothills 2A conference champ has already been decided with Hibriten taking those honors once again.  The Bunker Hill Bears have the second spot provided they can get by West Caldwell and the third spot will go to either Draughn, Patton or West Iredell.

North Lincoln has already secured the top spot in the Southfork 2A Conference but East Lincoln and Newton-Conover, who play each other this week and Maiden are fighting it out for number two spot.  If Maiden’s Blue Devils win at Lincolnton this Friday night they secure second place in the conference race because they defeated both East Lincoln and Newton-Conover earlier in the season.

In the Southwestern 2A the Shelby Golden Lions are a lock for the top spot even if they decided to take an extra BYE this week.  However, I’m sure they will show up in Belmont for their annual finale against South Point in what will likely be a big letdown from the usual game these two teams usually produce.  Those surprising Burns Bulldogs have secured the second spot in the conference race and they close out the season against non-conference North Gaston.  Chase takes the third spot with a win against RS Central.  RS Central takes the number three if they win.  Also, if RS Central wins and a miracle comparable to Moses parting the Red Sea takes place with South Point defeating Shelby a three-way tie for third place would occur.  Easy folks, I said if a miracle took place.

The Big South 3A Conference has Crest leading by a game but they host Kings Mountain who is only one game behind them and Hunter Huss trails Crest by a single game also as they host Ashbrook for their finale. So, that conference could also end up in a three-way tie. 

In the Western Mountain 3A Conference the AC Reynolds Rockets are sitting in the cockpit hoping to ride out a perfect conference season against TC Roberson this week.  Even if they do a nose dive this week they will still be conference champs.  West Henderson is looking good for the second spot however a TC Roberson win and a West Henderson loss would bring Erwin back into the mix for the second and third spots.

In the Northwestern 3A/4A South Caldwell will claim the top spot in the 4A Division and will surely be the only playoff team.  Watauga owns the top spot in the 3A division with a perfect conference record and a BYE this week should help them to get ready for the playoffs.  Alexander Central can secure the number two spot with a win this week against South Caldwell leaving Hickory and Saint Stephens to fight it out for the number three spot and they tangle in the finale this Friday evening.

Here’s a complete list of this week’s gridiron contests from the following conferences.   

1A: Southern Piedmont, Smoky Mountain

1A/2A: Mountain Valley, Western Highlands

2A: Mountain 6, Northwestern Foothills, South Fork, Southwestern

3A: Big South, Western MAC

3A/4A: Northwestern

SMOKY MOUNTAIN 1A

Robbinsville (10-0, 5-0) at Murphy (9-1, 5-0): Robbinsville by 3

Rosman (2-8, 0-5) at Andrews (4-6, 2-4): Andrews by 20

Swain County (8-2, 3-2) at Hayesville (7-3, 3-2): Swain County by 20

Cherokee (2-9, 1-5) OPEN-Regular Season Complete

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A

Cherryville (3-7, 3-4) at Bessemer City (6-4, 6-1): Bessemer City by 28

Community School of Davidson (4-6, 3-4) vs. Pine Lake Prep (4-6, 2-5): Community School of Davidson by 25

Highland Tech (2-8, 1-6) at Mountain Island Charter (8-2, 6-1): Mountain Island Charter by 40+

Thomas Jefferson (8-1, 6-1) at Union Academy (6-3, 5-2): Thomas Jefferson by 35

Christ the King (0-10, 0-8) – OPEN-Regular Season Complete

MOUNTAIN VALLEY 1A/2A

Ashe County (6-4, 5-1) at Starmount (5-5, 2-4): Ashe County by 2

Elkin (8-2, 5-1) at Alleghany (3-7, 2-4): Elkin by 24

North Wilkes (6-4, 3-3) at West Wilkes (1-9, 0-6): North Wilkes by 20

Wilkes Central (7-3, 4-2) at East Wilkes (4-6, 3-3): East Wilkes by 10

WESTERN HIGHLANDS 1A/2A

Avery County (7-3, 2-2) at Mitchell (9-1, 3-1): Mitchell by 17

Madison (0-10, 0-4) at Owen (5-4, 2-2): Owen by 28

Polk County (8-2, 2-2) at Mountain Heritage (7-2, 3-1): Mountain Heritage by 21

MOUNTAIN 6 2A

Brevard (9-1, 4-0) at Pisgah (7-2, 3-1): Brevard by 1

Hendersonville (4-6, 1-4) East Henderson (1-8, 0-4): Hendersonville by 31

Franklin (1-9, 1-3) at Smoky Mountain (7-3, 3-1): Smoky Mountain by 40

NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A

East Burke (2-8, 1-5) at Draughn (6-4, 3-2): Draughn by 21

Patton (4-6, 3-3) at Hibriten (9-1, 6-0): Hibriten by 40

West Caldwell (1-9, 1-5) at Bunker Hill (5-5, 4-2): Bunker Hill by 21

West Iredell (5-5, 3-3) at Foard (2-8, 2-3): West Iredell by 7

SOUTHFORK 2A

East Lincoln (8-2, 4-2) at Newton-Conover (6-4, 4-2): Newton-Conover by 6

Lake Norman Charter (1-9, 0-6) at West Lincoln (7-3, 3-3): West Lincoln by 38

Maiden (7-3, 4-2) at Lincolnton (3-7, 1-5): Maiden by 21

North Lincoln (9-1, 6-0) at Bandys (5-5, 2-4): North Lincoln by 28

SOUTHWESTERN 2A

East Gaston (1-9, 0-6) at East Rutherford (0-10, 0-6): East Gaston by 14

*North Gaston (2-8, 0-6) at Burns (8-2, 5-1): Burn by 40+

RS Central (5-5, 2-3) at Chase (8-2, 3-2): Chase by 17

South Point (5-5, 3-2) at Shelby (8-1, 5-0): Shelby by 40

BIG SOUTH 3A

Ashbrook (2-8, 2-3) at Hunter Huss (7-2, 4-1): Hunter Huss by 21

Kings Mountain (9-1, 4-1) at Crest (8-2, 5-0): Kings Mountain by 17

Stuart Cramer (3-7, 1-4) at Forestview (5-5, 3-3): Forestview by 21

WESTERN MOUNTAIN 3A

AC Reynolds (8-2, 7-0) at TC Roberson (5-5, 5-2): AC Reynolds by 28

Asheville (4-5, 3-3) at West Henderson (8-2, 5-2): West Henderson by 17

North Henderson (0-9, 0-7) at Enka (1-9, 0-7): Enka by 6

Tuscola (4-6, 2-3) at Erwin (4-6, 4-3): Erwin by 3

North Buncombe (7-4, 4-4): OPEN -Regular Season Complete

NORTHWESTERN 3A/4A

Alexander Central (7-3, 3-2) at South Caldwell (4-6, 1-4): Alexander Central by 20

Freedom (6-4, 3-2) at McDowell (1-8, 0-5): Freedom by 40

Hickory (3-7, 2-2) at Saint Stephens (5-5, 2-3): Hickory by 10

Watauga (10-1, 6-0): OPEN-Regular Season Complete

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