Our Weekly High School Football Predictions Are In

I was leaving church Wednesday night when I heard the beautiful words: “Thank God for football season.”

“Amen,” I thought, as I felt a comfortably cool breeze hit me under the striking golden hues of sunset.

“That’s right,” I was still thinking. The summer heat has broken and become Chamber-of-Commerce quality. College and pro games have started, there’s a game on TV almost every night and our favorite sons are playing high-school ball every weekend in our neighborhood stadiums.

I took a deep breath to take it all in. How great it is!

“Football season is beautiful,” I said in agreement with my fellow church member.

She rolled her eyes.

The mother then rattled off what it’s like to have a young boy playing in a youth league in Gwinnett County. There’s practice three, sometimes four, nights a week. Games are every Saturday.  And, she said, if she’s lucky, football could be six days a week.

Oh wait a minute, I get it. She was being sarcastic.

“Yeah, football is great,” she said with another roll of the eyes.

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

This week’s picks

Every week, I pick high-school football games that are played in Patch coverage areas from Stone Mountain to Cumming. I was 19-6 last week, bringing my overall record to 57-15.

Are you ready for another round of picks?

at Holy Innocents’: This is the game that should tell us a whole lot more about Wesleyan and its chances in Class A. This is the Region 5-A North opener for both schools. Both are 2-1 and returning playoff teams — Holy Innocents’ lost in the first round; Wesleyan was a state semifinalist. Wesleyan won last year’s meeting 24-10. We like the Wolves again. Wesleyan 21, Holy Innocents’ 17.

Duluth at : How big of a win would this be for Duluth to knock off state-ranked Norcross? The Wildcats (2-1) could easily be 3-0 — a 43-41 triple-overtime loss at Alpharetta last week is the lone blemish on the record — and are one of Gwinnett County’s most improved teams. But Norcross is averaging 40 points per game, allowing 12 and has talent all over the field. This will be closer than last year’s 35-0 Norcross win over Duluth, but the Blue Devils are still a heavy favorite. Norcross 40, Duluth 24.

Scott Bernarde is the Associate Regional Editor for 12 Patch sites in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Fulton and Forsyth counties.