Pigskin Picks: District football schedules heating up

DOWNSTATE — All the games played to this point have mattered, of course.

But with most of the state’s high school football programs starting the district portions of their schedules this weekend, they seem to matter just a little but more.

That’s especially true in Class 3A and 2A where most of the squads haven’t played a district game yet.

In Class 3A District II, Sussex County rivals Cape Henlopen and Sussex Central square off in Georgetown on Friday night.

In Class 2A District III, Delmar hosts Lake Forest in a showdown that could end up having some bearing on the district title.

Here are our predictions for all this weekend’s local games:

Andy Walter, Daily State News: 59-15
Tim Mastro, free-lance writer: 56-18
Glenn Frazer, 302 Sports: 64-10

THURSDAY'S GAMES

Indian River (2-0, 4-1) at Brandywine (2-0, 3-2), 6 p.m.: The Indians have won both meetings with the Bulldogs since they became district rivals.
AW: IR, 38-17; TM: IR, 33-24; GF: IR, 35-20.

Concord (0-5) at Sussex Tech (3-2), 7 p.m.: After a couple tough losses the Ravens have a chance to get back on track on Homecoming.
AW: Tech, 35-14; TM: Tech, 35-13; GF: Tech, 21-13.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Games start at 7 p.m. unless noted.

Polytech (1-1, 4-1) at St. Andrews (1-2, 1-4), 3 p.m.: After dealing with a few key injuries, the Panthers have had some young players step up for them.
AW: Poly, 33-12; TM: Poly, 33-14; GF: Poly, 27-14.

Conrad (1-1, 2-3) at First State Military (2-1, 5-1), 3:30 p.m.: The Bulldogs can match their win total for last season with a victory on Homecoming.
AW: FSM, 31-13; TM: FSM, 22-13; GF: FSM, 21-13.

Dickinson (1-4) at Early College (0-5), 5 p.m.: One of the two struggling programs will be happy to get a victory.
AW: Dck, 27-8; TM: Dck, 13-12; GF: Dck, 14-12.

Woodbridge (1-0, 4-1) at Milford (0-0, 4-1), 6 p.m.: Both teams have played some good football going into the interesting district matchup.
AW: Wood, 19-7; TM: Wood, 22-21; GF: Wood, 28-17.

Laurel (2-3) at Seaford (2-3), 6 p.m.: The two long-time Sussex County rivals square off in an inter-district contest.
AW: Laurel, 24-13; TM: Laurel, 22-13; GF: Laurel, 34-14.

Cape Henlopen (0-0, 4-1) at Sussex Central (0-0, 4-1): The Vikings and Knights split their two games a year ago with Cape taking the state tourney win.
AW: Central, 28-21; TM: Central, 28-21; GF: Central, 28-27.

St. Georges (0-0, 2-3) at Dover (0-0, 1-3): Coming off their big first victory, can the Senators make it two in a row?
AW : SG, 21-17; TM: SG, 17-14; GF: Dover, 17-14.

Lake Forest (1-0, 3-3) at Delmar (0-0, 4-1): The Wildcats have won six of the last seven meetings heading into this showdown.
AW: Delmar, 35-28; TM: Delmar, 20-10; GF: Lake, 28-21.

Caesar Rodney (0-0, 2-3) at Smyrna (0-0, 1-4), 7:30 p.m.: One of the two will feel better about themselves if they open their district schedule with a win.
AW: Smy, 30-17; TM: Smy, 36-20; GF: Smy, 30-20.

COLLEGE
SATURDAY

Maine (1-1, 3-2) at Delaware (2-0, 5-0), 1 p.m.: Due to injuries, the Hens have had to use a lot of players — but it’s all worked out so far.
AW: UD, 37-10; TM: UD, 34-17; GF: UD, 34-21.

Delaware State (1-5) at Robert Morris (2-3), 3 p.m.: The Hornets would love to get a victory after some tough luck the last two weeks.
AW: RM, 24-21; TM: RM, 23-16; GF: RM, 27-20.