The Birdie delivers Week 4 A-K Valley football picks with a hard candy shell

By: The Birdie
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 | 7:58 PM

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Last week: 10-2

Season: 37-7 (84.1%)

As The Birdie was waddling through his local supermarket one day this week, he noticed the giant Halloween displays at the end of each aisle.

This makes some people angry because they haven’t even put their pool noodles away for the year yet, and here is pumpkin-spiced this and pumpkin-spiced that.

Not Birdie, though. He loves fall, for two reasons.

First, there’s nothing that makes him happier than guzzling down bags of M&Ms.

“Whoever called this ‘sharing size’ never met me,” he crowed.

Second, it means football season is really heating up.

“And this is turning into one heck of a season in the A-K Valley,” Birdie said, picking through the bags spread out on his desk with a gleam in his eye.

He decided to combine his two passions.

“You know Burrell? They’re like these plain M&Ms. Nothing fancy but gets the job done,” he chomped.

“And Plum, they’re like these Pretzel M&Ms. Just when you’re caught expecting the ground game, bam, they hit you with the surprise pretzel core of the passing game.

“Leechburg, they remind me of Peanut M&Ms. Sure, Braylan Lovelace is the center of it all, but the combination of everything is what makes it a classic.

“And Highlands, they’re like Fudge Brownie M&Ms. They’ve got a relentless barrage of flavor that leaves opponents with their mouths hanging open.”

Somehow, the Birdie pulled himself away from his chocolate buffet long enough to make his Week 4 picks.

• Leechburg (3-1) at Clairton (1-3): The Blue Devils have turned the program around the past couple years, but there’s one thing missing: A win over perennial power Clairton. Time to change that. Leechburg, 28-27

• Apollo-Ridge (2-2) at Derry (0-4): This is no easy road trip for the Vikings. The Trojans have been improving. Apollo-Ridge, 14-13

• Elizabeth Forward (4-0) at Knoch (0-4): The Knights road show makes a stop at Butler. Elizabeth Forward, 34-13

• Greensburg Central Catholic (2-2) at Springdale (0-4): The rebuilding process continues in Springdale. Greensburg Central Catholic, 40-6

• Highlands (4-0) at Indiana (2-2): The Golden Rams announced their presence with a win over North Catholic last week. Highlands, 28-7

• Kiski Area (0-4) at North Catholic (2-2): The Cavaliers run into a motivated group of Trojans. North Catholic, 20-14

• Mt. Pleasant (3-1) at Freeport (3-1): There’s no shame in the nonconference loss to Armstrong the Yellowjackets suffered last week, but the section schedule starts. Now’s the time to bounce back. Freeport, 35-34

• Pine-Richland (1-3) at Fox Chapel (0-4): The Jon LeDonne era has been off to a difficult start in Pine-Richland. Time for the Rams to gain some traction. Pine-Richland, 27-7

• Plum (3-1) at Gateway (3-1): Was Gateway’s loss to Franklin Regional last week a blip or a sign the Gators are vulnerable. No doubt the Mustangs would love to kick their neighbors while they’re down. Gateway, 20-14

• Riverview (1-3) at Frazier (0-4): A good spot for the Raiders to build some confidence. Riverview, 34-6

• Southmoreland (2-2) at Deer Lakes (1-3): The Scotties have won two straight, but the Lancers are itching for a bounce-back win. Deer Lakes, 14-12

• Yough (2-2) at Burrell (3-1): The Bucs gave a good account of themselves against a tough Serra Catholic team last week. Burrell, 28-0

• Valley (0-4) at Uniontown (2-2): Time for the first win of the Dave Heavner era. Valley, 21-12

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Clairton, Deer Lakes, Derry Area, Elizabeth Forward, Fox Chapel, Frazier, Freeport, Gateway, Greensburg C.C., Highlands, Indiana, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Mt. Pleasant, North Catholic, Pine-Richland, Plum, Riverview, Southmoreland, Springdale, Uniontown, Valley, Yough