5 Best Bets: Week 9
- Updated: October 23, 2019
There are only two games left in the regular season. The 2019 season has been a special one, but the excitement is far from over. There are a plethora of matchups around the Tri-State area that have big implications on conference championships and playoff seeding. Even the teams that are out of the picture can play spoiler and drastically change the outlook for November. Week 9 should set up an exciting finish to the regular season in Week 10. Here are the games to look out for in this week’s 5 Best Bets.
No. 7 Winton Woods at No. 4 La Salle
Nobody had a bigger bounce back last week than the Lancers. After losing to Covington Catholic 27-7 in Week 7, La Salle had to go to Bomber Stadium and face a very St. Xavier team. They held the Bombers to under 100 rushing yards and came out with a gutsy 22-15 victory. The Lancers now control their own destiny for a GCL South Championship. Winton Woods is coming off a tough loss to another GCL South powerhouse, Elder. They scored 37 and got significant contributions from players’ outside of Miyan Williams, but the defense could not get the stops when they needed to. The Warriors have now lost three of their past four games and now have to play another tough opponent on the road. La Salle’s lethal running game will be salivating to play a Warriors’ defense that just allowed 218 yards on the ground. The Lancers are the favorites here as they have a significantly better defense and offensively they have a ton of weapons. However, the Warriors need to get back on track before the playoffs so this matchup should live up to the hype.
No. 3 Covington Catholic at No. 18 Conner
The Class 5A, District 5 title is on the line as Conner welcomes CovCath in Week 9. Is there anything to say about the Colonels that hasn’t already been said? They come into this game undefeated and have destroyed virtually everyone on their schedule. In five of their nine games they’ve shutout the opposition. Offensively they’ve scored more than 30 points in seven of those contests. They are as good as any team in the Tri-State area, point blank. Conner is coming off a bye week, but head coach Dave Trosper’s bunch has been playing excellent football as of late. After a Week 2 loss to Ryle, the Cougars have reeled off six straight victories. They have also been mostly stout on defense. In those six wins, they have two shutouts, and two more games allowing less than 20 points. Conner has had two weeks to prepare for CovCath, and they get them at home. The Cougars need to come out strong and make a statement early to let the Colonels know they are for real. Look for CovCath to bring the pressure and make Conner play out of their comfort zone.
No. 13 Lakota East at No. 6 Colerain
It’s a different year, but pretty much of the same results for the Cardinals in GMC play. They come undefeated in undefeated in conference play, and 7-1 overall. Last week they played their closest league game in some time, as they were given everything they could handle by Mason. Colerain actually trailed in the fourth quarter of that game, but put together a couple of big scoring drives and defensive stands helped them to a 33-28 win. This extended their GMC winning streak to 81 games. Lakota East is a very good team, and their 4-4 record does not represent who they are. Coming off a tough loss to arch rival Lakota West, the defense played well allowing only 16 points, but the offense was nonexistent. They will now look to go into Cardinal Stadium and play them similar to the way Mason did. This has trap game written all over it for Colerain. We all know the undefeated Fairfield Indians await them next week, in what will be the biggest GMC game played in more than a decade. Lakota East isn’t sitting down for anyone. It will be very interesting to see how this game turns out.
No.9 Lakota West at No. 12 Princeton
Here is a GMC battle with big implications for the playoffs. West comes in sitting third in the conference and are rolling as of late. Their defense has stifled it past three opponents, holding them to a combined 13 points. David Afari has given head coach Tom Bolden a consistent workhorse on offense with true freshman Mitch Bolden battling through growing pains under center of late. The Vikings come in right behind the Firebirds at fourth in the conference and 5-3 overall. This team has struggled finding consistency all year. If it wasn’t for Lakota East blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, the Vikings would be under .500 in conference play. Regardless, this team is still as talented as anyone, and nobody wants to face this team in the playoffs. Princeton has to get good QB play from MyJaden Horton, and the defense has too much Division I talent to let the triple-option offense run all over them. The Vikings get the Firebirds at home and they have a lot to play for, but West is coming in playing their best football on the season. We will see which side gives in Friday night.
No. 10 Harrison at Mount Healthy
The train keeps rolling for the Wildcats. Last week they went into Indiana and steamrolled Franklin County, 55-7. They are one of the few teams who have a combination of a championship caliber offense and defense. Mount Healthy comes into this game at 4-4, but have played fairly well in recent weeks. The Owls have won two of their last three games and scored a season-high 54 points against Northwest. It’s a home game for Mount Healthy and Arvie Crouch will have his boys playing with their hair on fire. Both teams have plenty to play for, so expect the energy level to be a factor in how this game is decided.
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GAME OF THE WEEK: No. 21 Simon Kenton at Ryle
Make sure to check out the COMPLETE PREVIEW for this week’s featured game on the Blitz 5 Tour presented by TriStateFootball.com.
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Here are some other games for teams ranked inside the Blitz 5 Top 25:
OHIO
Clarkson North at #1 Elder
Oak Hills at #2 Fairfield
#5 St. Xavier at St. Ignatius (Saturday)
#11 Turpin at Withrow
#14 Sycamore at #19 Hamilton
Middletown at #15 Mason
#16 Anderson at Walnut Hills
Taylor at #17 Wyoming
Edgewood at #22 Little Miami
New Richmond at #23 Clinton-Massie
Thurgood Marshall at #24 Ross
Brookville at #25 Franklin
KENTUCKY
#20 Highlands at Cooper
INDIANA
Silver Creek at #8 East Central (Class 4A, Sectional 23 playoffs)
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