It’s back! The Fearless Friday Football Forecast, Week 1 version
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
When I began covering high school football at the local newspaper a few years back – OK, 40 years back, to be exact — the sports staff participated in the weekly “Pigskin Picks.” We picked winners in the local games and the readers loved it.
Some of the guys on the staff weren’t enthused about the idea; they knew they’d hear about it if they picked the wrong team. Fans love to mention that stuff to you. Coaches, too. Hey, it’s hard to pick against Wilson knowing DC Ernie Wolber will be waiting for you next time you venture over to a Bulldogs practice.
No one likes to be counted out.
Once, when I found myself lagging in the standings late in the season, I picked a big underdog, hoping to make up ground on the leaders. My pick went down the tubes but the head coach appreciated my faith in his team. He even thanked me for it after the game. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was just throwing a Hail Mary!
I’m not sure why but that popular weekly feature, like a lot of good things at the newspaper, faded away. This website is an effort to bring back a lot of that lost local coverage; bringing back a version of the “Pigskin Picks” seems like a good way to do it.
Last year we introduced the “Fearless Friday Football Forecast.” Now it’s back for Season 2.
The reporters and photographers at MikeDragoSports.com, along with sportswriter Jeff Reinhart of our football partner, LNP | LancasterOnline, and broadcaster Daryn Zeiner of Jerry Geleff Media will make weekly predictions on local high school games.
Jeff was the preseason favorite last year, but . . . well, things can go wrong in a hurry on a Friday night and they certainly did for Jeff. Despite his obvious advantages, having covered the LL for decades, he finished in the middle of the pack.
As Steve Spurrier once said after his Washington Football Team finished 5-11: “Not very good at all . . . but better than some.”
We’ll pick all the games involving Berks teams, plus a few bonus Lancaster-Lebanon League games of interest. This week we’re adding Cocalico at Warwick and Lampeter-Strasburg at Solanco. With 11 Berks games, we’ll have 13 total picks.
To spice things up, each Fearless Forecaster will have the option of “doubling down” on a Berks team each week. Get it right, it counts as two wins. Get it wrong and . . . well, you’re gonna hear about it, pal.
Forecasters are allowed to “double down” on the same Berks team just once during the regular season (and a second time during the postseason). Use your Wyo pick judiciously, fellas.
The stakes are high. The Fearless Forecaster who has the best record at the end of the season — playoffs included — will win a big, though as yet undefined prize. I’m thinking maybe a MikeDragoSports.com “Player of the Week” T-shirt and a four-foot sub from Mays Sandwich Shop.
As it turns out Joe Mays, the former Bulldogs linebacker and official team photographer, was the winner in Season 1. How’d you like that sub, Joe?
Just keep in mind: It’s all in fun and it’s all for the love of the game. No hard feelings if we don’t pick your team to win this week. Maybe next week.
| Wilson Roman | CD East Reading | Boone Exeter | Mifflin S-Ford | Octorara Muhlenberg | Kutztown Fleetwood | |
| Sam Cavalieri | Wilson | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg (DD) | Fleetwood |
| Andrew Clauser | Roman | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg | Fleetwood (DD) |
| Chris DeAntonio | Roman | CD East | Boone | S-Ford | Octorara | Fleetwood |
| Mike Drago | Roman | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg (DD) | Fleetwood |
| Matt Gaffney | Roman | CD East | Exeter (DD) | S-Ford | Muhlenberg | Fleetwood |
| Matt Hagy | Roman | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg | Fleetwood (DD) |
| Phil Marabella | Wilson | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Octorara | Fleetwood (DD) |
| Joe Mays | Wilson | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg | Fleetwood (DD) |
| Sean McBryan | Roman | CDEast | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg | Fleetwood |
| Mike Mitchell | Roman | CD East | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg (DD) | Fleetwood |
| Logan Moyer | Roman | CD East | Exeter (DD) | S-Ford | Octorara | Fleetwood |
| Jeff Reinhart | Roman | Reading | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg (DD) | Fleetwood |
| Daryn Zeiner | Roman | Reading | Exeter | S-Ford | Muhlenberg (DD) | Fleetwood |
| Staff consensus | Roman 10-3 | CD East 11-2 | Exeter 12-1 | S-Ford 13-0 | Muhlenberg 10-3 | Fleetwood 12-1 |
| Sch. Valley Twin Valley | Wyomissing vs. Kennard-Dale | Berks Cath. Loyalsock | Halifax Hamburg | Weiser Garden S. | Cocalico Warwick | |
| Sam Cavalieri | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Andrew Clauser | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Weiser | Cocalico |
| Chris DeAntonio | Twin Valley | Wyomissing (DD) | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Warwick |
| Mike Drago | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Matt Gaffney | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Matt Hagy | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Phil Marabella | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Weiser | Cocalico |
| Joe Mays | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Sean McBryan | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg (DD) | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Mike Mitchell | Sch. Valley | Wyomissing | Berks Cath. | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Logan Moyer | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Weiser | Cocalico |
| Jeff Reinhart | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Daryn Zeiner | Twin Valley | Wyomissing | Loyalsock | Hamburg | Garden S. | Cocalico |
| Staff consensus | Twin Valley 12-1 | Wyomissing 13-0 | Loyalsock 12-1 | Hamburg 13-0 | Garden S. 10-3 | Cocalico 12-1 |
