The Birdie mulls new ways to predict games before Week 7 in A-K Valley

By: The Birdie
Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | 7:23 PM

Last week: 8-2

Overall: 51-19 (72.9%)

The Birdie trudged into the office with a concerned look on his face, plopped down at his desk and exhaled deeply.

When something’s bothering him, he’s not exactly the type to suffer in silence.

“I know I went 8-2 last week. I know my season winning percentage is brilliant, as usual,” the always humble prognosticator said. “But I swear, I get the Kiski Area game wrong every week.

“The Cavaliers had a great win over Latrobe last week. I should have seen it coming.”

He spent the rest of the after­noon road-testing different ways to pick Kiski Area games.

“Started with a Ouija board, but I had flashbacks of my grandmother telling me about burning in the eternal KFC fryer of hell if I played with those.

“Thought about asking a groundhog. I mean, it works in Punxsutawney. But here’s a fun fact: Groundhogs bite.

“Considered calling Miss Cleo, but those 99 cents for each additional minute can really add up.

“Wanted to flip a coin, but I used all my change in the candy machines in the lobby of the Dollar Tree. Banana Runts.

“Finally, I was going to call my dad and ask his advice, but I didn’t have time for another 25-minute rant about how great the 1953 Har-Brack Tigers were.”

With that, The Birdie sighed again.

“None of these options is any good,” he concluded. “I’ll just do what I always do: Examine past results carefully, giving more weight to more recent performances, evaluate style of play factors and home-field advantage, and then close my eyes and throw a dart at that board over there.”

Even means home team. Odd means road.

It’s time for Week 7 picks.

Flick, thump.

Clairton at Leechburg: The Blue Devils are probably the best story in the A-K Valley this season, but there’s a problem this week. Looks like Clairton is Clairton again. Clairton, 26-21

Kiski Area at Armstrong: Dart landed on 19. Kiski Area, 28-20 (Seriously, the Cavaliers have been really close to putting it all together all season.)

Fox Chapel at Plum: The Foxes did a nice job bouncing back from a loss to Pine-Richland to take an early lead on Franklin Regional last week. The Mustangs played North Hills pretty tough, too. Plum, 21-13

Hampton at Knoch: Only eight teams make the Class 4A playoffs this year. That makes this a huge game. Hampton, 27-20

Burrell at Highlands: The teams have flipped the script the last few weeks. The Bucs have won two in a row, and the Golden Rams are coming off a loss. That said, Highlands is more explosive. Highlands, 20-14

Deer Lakes at Imani Christian: Tough task for the Lancers. They have to bounce back from their first loss against a dynamic group. Imani Christian, 34-21

East Allegheny at Valley: The Vikings have been in games the last two weeks. This might be the time to get in the win column. East Allegheny, 21-20

South Allegheny at Apollo-­Ridge: Every time The Birdie sees the Vikings, he thinks, “There’s no way this is a winless team.” But this week will be a tough spot to change that. South Allegheny, 34-20

Greensburg Central Catholic at Springdale: Credit to the Dynamos for sticking with it. They’re in a tough stretch of schedule. Greensburg Central Catholic, 35-7

Freeport at Hopewell: The Yellowjackets have to guard against a letdown after a big win while facing a team whose only losses have been to top-tier opponents. Won’t be easy. Freeport, 21-20

Frazier at Riverview: Time for the Raiders to snap a two-game skid. Riverview, 34-13

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Armstrong, Burrell, Clairton, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Frazier, Freeport, Greensburg C.C., Hampton, Highlands, Hopewell, Imani Christian, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, South Allegheny, Springdale, Valley