I have been with the Standard Democrat sports department since 2007. I took over as sports editor in May of 2011 and have been slightly crazy about sports since I can remember. I attended Southeast Missouri State University and Scott County Central High School. I co-created our sports web show "The Last Word" and my two children, Elijah and CJ. I was married to my wife, Angie, in May of 2014. I love to golf, I am an avid NBA2K gamer and root for the Fighting Irish on Saturdays.

Media Football Pick 'Em Week 5

Posted Thursday, September 18, 2014, at 3:21 PM

Last week was a bummer for picks. I express my discouragement perfectly here.

Lots of upsets with Dexter over Sikeston leading that category and the East Prairie win over Hayti is a close second. This week could very well be the same.

There's a few games that I can say with confidence that I'm okay with my pick. Then there's the other four.

Let's start with Sikeston and Farmington.

They're both 2-2 and they're both coming off crushing losses. Sikeston's was the 'hook and ladder' heartbreaker against Dexter and Farmington suffered a 55-7 loss to Class 5, state-ranked Jackson.

I'm taking Farmington. It's on the road and Sikeston, historically, haven't played their best football way up north. The Bulldogs' offense has sputtered of late too gaining just 30 yards in the first half against Dexter last Friday. If Farmington's offense gets rolling early that could be the right recipe for Sikeston's third loss.

Cape Central makes the haul to Ladue on Saturday in a battle of Class 4 powers. The Tigers are ranked sixth, undefeated and feature an explosive offensive attack. Ladue is just outside of the Top 10 rankings and have not tasted defeat either. Most of our panel took the home team in this one. Myself included. But I went 5-6 last week in my picks, so, there's that.

What could be the game of the night Friday is a SEMO South Conference matchup between Portageville and Hayti.

They're both 2-2 and are both coming off of upset losses (in my mind). Piggott, Ark., completed a late rally to knock off P'ville 30-21 and Hayti fell to East Prairie 32-28. They each were their own worst enemy with fumbles and penalties leading to both defeats. I picked the Bulldogs in a close 25-21 game.

There's one more game that the famous panel split on. Five took Kelly. The other five, including me, took Fulton Co., Ky.

Now if you're not aware of Fulton Co., let's just say our traditionally weaker teams can usually circle this game on their calendar as a win if you catch what I'm throwing. So Chris, why did you pick the Kentucky doormats to defeat the new darlings of the SEMO football world? First, Kelly's recent long road trip ended with a 37-6 defeat to not-so-tough Confluence Prep last week. Going across the border on a Friday night is a different beast and this will be yet another first challenge for Kelly's first-year program. I won't be surprised if Kelly pulls it out, but I needed to take a few leaps with my picks this week if I want to rise in the ranks.

If you may have noticed, all but one of the bottom half of the panel took Fulton Co. That could explain our current Pick 'Em situation.

As always, feel free to leave your picks or comments.