Week 5 football picks

Andrew Aragon

assistant prep editor | Sept. 17, 2010 at 12:37 p.m.

Deseret News

My picks last week were a disaster. There's no way to sugarcoat a 2-6 performance. I have no one to blame and no excuses to make. I'm not going to cry about it or curl into a little ball sucking my thumb. All I can do is do better – and come out swinging this week.

John is feeling similarly about his performance. Trevor seems to be gaining confidence.

JC: I've definitely lost my edge. No outright first-place finish in four weeks. It's hard to cope with this development. I've been wearing shades and a fake beard to hide my identity and still I can't escape the taunts and jeers from random strangers on the street. I feel like Charlie Brown going up to kick the football and having it yanked out from under me. I feel like Virginia Tech losing to Boise State and James Madison in the same week. I don't want to feel this way. This has to stop. I need to win. It will make me sleep easier. It will make my food taste better. It will make the sunlight feel warmer. It will make the air feel fresher. Well, you get the picture.

TP: Where's Al Pacino, FNR? I finally figured out your identity. You're Matthew McConaughey aren't you? Or at least he resembles Brandon Lang from the 2005 movie Two for the Money where he picks virtually every game correctly on his way to stardom. Lately, the mysterious blogger from Mountain Crest has been showing us "experts" the way to do things. In the last two weeks, he's gone 12-4 and has an overall record of 23-9, which puts him five games up in the pick 'em competition. The rest of the standings look something like this:

John 18-14

Trevor 18-14

Andrew 16-16

I was ready to pack up my things and move to Albuquerque after going 3-5 in the first week. Now that Andrew went 2-6 last week, I feel much better about my manhood (note from AA: IT'S ABOUT TIME!). This is going to be one of the most exciting weeks in high school football with a slate enriched with fantastic matchups. I'm starting to feel giddy, in fact. Almost as happy as I was last week to see the Academy take it to BYU. I would mention how the Utes picked up the win, but they played UNLV.

Brighton at Alta

JC: The Hawks finally got over the hump last week. Trevor celebrated by breaking out his old practice jersey and going down to the mall, where he tackled random strangers while screaming the whole time, 'How do you like Alta now?' I don't know about them, but my opinion of the Hawks is high. This team was much too talented to stay winless forever. The thing is that, even with that 0-3 start, Alta is undefeated in Region 4 and making a run at a region title is very much in play. After taking down the Bengals this week, Lone Peak will be the last big obstacle remaining toward making good on that goal. Don't worry about tackling me, Trevor. I'm a believer. Alta 13. Brighton 10.

TP: Brighton won last year. Good enough for me, won't happen again. Alta 21, Brighton 10.

AA: I was actually at the mall while Trevor was out tackling innocent people. It was disturbing, especially when you consider I was reading books to underprivileged youth at the time, cooking for the homeless and walking the elderly across the street. It was a busy day, and I took time away from my duties to subdue Trevor. Take it easy man. Anyway, I saw the Hawks win a game they really had no business doing so last week. They were outgained 155-19 in the first quarter against Jordan before playing much better in the final three quarters. It was a good gut-check win for the Hawks, and they'll get another one tonight. Alta 20, Brighton 6.

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