Once again, I, The Great Fitzini, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Sage of Sages and Sports Prophet Extraordinaire, am back for another day of predicting this week's prep football games. I did a little better in my Fantasy League last week (Thank you Anquan Boldin) than I did picking real games. But, it will not stop me from giving my unconditional 100 percent guarantee of being either right or wrong.
Okolona, Miss. (2-0) at Blytheville (0-1)
With not much to go on for Okolona, this is a hard one to predict with any intelligence, (not that that's stopped me before).
The Chieftains have apparently beaten two larger schools in Mississippi in North Panola and Houston. They have a lot of speed and don't seem to stray from what works in the offense. Again, like Algebra, I really don't know what that means. The Chicks are coming off their first loss to Osceola since 2005 and will be without head coach Vince McCrosky for another week at least. It may sound cliche but the 40-22 final last week may be a bit deceiving. After an official tally, the Chicks racked up over 400 yards of total offense but failed to score on four of their five trips to the red zone. With some fine-tuning in the offensive strategy and some adjustments on defense, I think BHS should pull this out and give the home-opener crowd something to cheer about.
Blytheville 26, Okolona 18
Gosnell (0-1) at Osceola (1-0)
Osceola picked up a huge win last week against Blytheville but they have no reason to rest on that win after giving up a huge chunk of yardage to the Chicks on the ground and through the air. Their defense proved to be opportunistic and they got strong play from the quarterback position.
The Pirates may have gained more than they lost at Forrest City. Gosnell stayed right with the 5A-East Mustangs right to the end.
The Pirates know they can run with a host of talented runners in the backfield and they can stretch the field if they have to. The only thing holding me back from firmly picking Gosnell is that they haven't won at Osceola in over a decade. But, that streak has to come to an end at some point. Why not this year?
Gosnell 38, Osceola 33
Greene County Tech (0-1) at Rivercrest (0-1)
It's hard to gauge how good or bad Greene County Tech is after week one. They lost 56-17 but that was to Jonesboro.
Rivercrest lost on a late score to East Poinsett County a week ago. I think they'll be ready to give the home crowd in Wilson a good showing. They played the Eagles tough last year and I think they're a little better this year. Tech will find out just how difficult it is to get a win at the Cotton Patch.
Rivercrest 19, Greene County Tech 15
East Poinsett County (1-0) at Manila (0-1)
You can't fault the Lions for playing a solid non-conference schedule starting the year with three teams that reached the playoffs a year ago. So, it's hard to tell how much they may have improved over the year.
EPC squeaked by Rivercrest and has plenty of firepower to go on the road and get by the Lions. Manila may have to wait the conference season before it gets a win.
EPC 27, Manila 14
Last week: 2-2; Season: 2-2
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com