Week 6 Football Picks: Make-or-break games ahead for Richland County teams

MANSFIELD — You got me, Tygers. You got me.

I misfired on one pick last week and it is an L I'll proudly sport after Mansfield Senior put up its best defensive effort of the season in a 20-19 win over New Philadelphia to keep their OCC football title hopes alive. I went 7-1 last week to move my record to 33-6 on the season.

Let's see who is going to hand me an L this week.

Pleasant (3-2, 1-1) at Clear Fork (1-4, 0-2)

This one is going to be very, very interesting. The Colts didn't play bad in a 31-14 loss to Ontario last week they just had a couple of costly mistakes down the stretch. Eliminate those and the Colts are right in it at the end. Pleasant is coming off of the most head-scratching loss of the season in a 35-0 drubbing to River Valley. I love the way the Colts run the football and that offensive line is big and physical. But, I had Pleasant tagged as one of the teams which would contend for a league championship. I'm conflicted on this one. I believe this is a must-win for Clear Fork as a loss would clinch a .500 or worse regular season.

Pick: Pleasant.

South Central (1-4, 0-2) at Crestview (1-4, 1-1)

The Cougars got healthy with a 67-0 win over New London last week and they are going to get even more healthy this week against South Central. The Trojans did beat New London 33-12, but in their four losses, they have been outscored 159-21. I see the Cougars rolling pretty big, giving them confidence to get closer to .500 next week at Plymouth before the tough part of the Firelands Conference schedule rolls around.

Pick: Crestview.

Lexington (2-3, 1-0) at Mansfield Senior (1-4, 1-1)

Oh boy. If I was conflicted with that first pick, I don't know what I am with this one. I love the way Lexington's offense has been playing these last two weeks, scoring 90 points combined, but it was against weak teams. I want to see them put up a good offensive game against a good defense, and this is their chance. Mansfield Senior's defense was resurrected last week in a win over New Philly, one not many gave them a chance to win. If the Tygers play defense like they did last week, the could win this one. If Lexington gets some early offensive momentum, it could pick up a win here. This is a make-or-break game for both teams. Lex cannot lose a league game if they want to be in the hunt late. Mansfield Senior does not want to clinch a .500 season or worse with a loss so it is now or never for the Tygers. I've always been told to go with defense.

Pick: Mansfield Senior.

Lucas (3-2) at Tiffin Calvert (3-2)

If there was ever a measuring stick game for the Lucas Cubs, this one is it. A road game against a tough opponent with a winning tradition is the time of victory the Cubs need. If they can stay in front of the sticks and let Dan Hockensmith continue to punish people at the line of scrimmage, the Cubs will be just fine. But, per usual with the Cubs, if I pick against them, they usually go out and win and seeing how I want them to win, I am keeping with the tradition. I don't think this is a make-or-break game for the Cubs but 4-2 sure feels better than 3-3.

Pick: Calvert.

Ashland (5-0, 1-0) at Madison (1-4, 1-1)

The Rams could very easily be 3-2 or 4-1 right now. They have had late leads in plenty of games and just needed one or two more things to go their way to earn a victory. Last week, it was a last-second field goal that knocked them off against West Holmes. Ashland looks like it is on a roll and quarterback Nathan Bernhard is playing up to the hype. If Madison can play a clean game and force some turnovers, I think it could be interesting in the end. The Rams need this one to live to fight another day in the OCC and work toward a better-than-.500 record for the first time in nearly a decade.

Pick: Ashland.

Ontario (5-0, 2-0) at Galion (4-1, 1-1)

The Warriors are running the football so well right now that it is going to be tough for anyone to beat them. Galion is coming off a disappointing 35-6 loss to Shelby so it will be interesting to see how the Tigers respond. With the way Ontario's Bodpegn Miller and Mason Vantilburg run the ball and that nasty offensive line getting stronger and stronger as the game goes on, I would be foolish to pick against the Warriors in this one. It's looking more and more like the Shelby Whippets are going to win their next three games so the Warriors have to keep pace and meet them in Week 9 with flawless records on the line.

Pick: Ontario.

Plymouth (1-4, 0-2) at Mapleton (1-4, 0-2)

This one could be interesting. Plymouth hasn't won a Firelands Conference game since 2022 and this is a winnable one. If we look at common scores, Plymouth lost to St. Paul 34-0 and Mapleton lost to the Flyers 30-0. Mapleton lost to Western Reserve 60-20 and Plymouth its game to WR 35-0. So, Mapleton looks about 4.5 points better than the Big Red. And with the game being at Mapleton, a tough place to play in everything, I have to go with the Mounties even though this is a must-win for the Big Red just for the simple direction of the program and getting that bad FC taste out of their mouths.

Pick: Mapleton.

Shelby (5-0, 2-0) at Highland (2-3, 1-1)

The Whippets are the real deal after that 35-6 win over Galion last week where they were actually up 35-0 with a running clock late in the fourth quarter. Brayden DeVito is playing like a Mr. Football candidate and no one is stopping him. Highland did pick up an impressive 28-9 win over Marion Harding last week beating the Presidents by the same amount of points as Shelby did the week before so that tells you this one has the chance to be close. But, I don't see Shelby losing a game in the regular season this year. But, they cannot get caught looking ahead so every week is a make or break kind of game for them.

Pick: Shelby.

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Week 6 Football Picks: Make-or-break games ahead for Richland County teams