A first-time winner topped the field and a former Bridgeport High School coach earned runner-up in week seven of the Dyer Group Playoff Payoff Football Pick’em contest. Michael Wilhelm is this week’s winner as he stood alone atop the field with a 25-4 record.

 

Wilhelm will need to email Ben Queen at ben@benqueenphotography with his address and contact information. He’ll also need to choose between a gift card from Buffalo Wild Wings and a small cheesecake from Almost Heaven Desserts.

 

The runner-up this week was Zak Bart, the former BHS boys basketball assistant coach. Bart used his skill and a little bit of luck as he tied with several and won the random draw. Bart will also need to provide his contact information to Ben Queen at the email listed above.

 

Bart finished the week with a 24-5 mark. He was joined by Michael Andrew, John Pulice, Jeff Yoho, Brian Martin, Tom Surock, Mike Alastanos, Adam Starkey, Jimmy Stutler, Jason Jimmie, Scott Nicewarner, Delbert Leatherman and Craig Kelley all tied Bart for second place.

 

Rounding out the top 25 was a 26-way deadlock for the No. 15 position. The group of Timmy Thompson, Jared Chapman, Chris Moore, Kalie Kossar, Joe Koreski, Stephen Burnside, Clark Riley, Gary Romano, Tommy Stewart, Joseph Pecarro, Jason Dodd, Hugh Gainer, Jamie Guy, Chris Byrd, Chris Skidmore, Bill Montgomery, Jeff Wright, Clayce Spurlock, Joe Teter, Jason Hartman Jeff Wright, Scott Price, Chris Cleghorn, Jeff Muller, Patrick Coberly, and Chris Bowman finished the week at 23-6.

 

In the overall standings, there’s starting to be a little bit of separation at the top. Jason Hartman not only stands alone, but the past champion also has a four-game lead. Hartman is currently 164-35 on the year and is trailed by Aaron Williams and Brian Martin in second place with marks of 160-39.

 

In fourth place, Jimmy Stutler and Joe Teter are even at 159-40. Four individuals are even at sixth with Timmy Thompson, Louis Aragona, Hugh Gainer and Tom Surock coming in at 158-41. Clayce Spurlock stands along at No. 10 with a 157-42 mark.

 

Seven individuals are tied at No. 11 as Jason Young, James Burton II, Pat Boyles, Dan McNamee, Jeff Muller, Michael Mann and Lenora Montgomery are all even at 156-43. Six more – Chris Skinner, Chad Reppert, Aaron Mann, Adam Holbert, Stacy Greely and Gary Romano – find themselves knotted up at No. 18 with marks of 155-44.

 

Six individuals round out the top 25 with a tie in the No. 25 position. The group of Kalie Kossar, Zakery Bart, James Hayes II, Scott Price, Amber Gaines, and Jason Jimmie stand at 154-45 after seven weeks of competition.

 

The prize packages are still being put together for the year. However, one of the top prizes include a $500 gift certificate from the Meadowbrook Mall. The top three pickers will be awarded prizes at the end of the contest, which usually goes into December. The overall winner has their choice of the three prizes, while the second-place winner will have their choice then of the final two remaining prizes.

 

What makes the Dyer Group Playoff Payoff competition unique is that once the contest is over you don’t necessarily know who the winner is even though you will see your weekly overall ranking and Connect-Bridgeport will post the weekly and overall top 25 throughout the contest. At the end of the year, everyone that competes has their two worst weeks dropped and then the winner is announced based on the highest winning percentage.

 

If you haven’t entered at this point, you won’t be able to win any of the grand prizes. However, you can still enter and be eligible for weekly prizes and bragging rights with friends.

 

If you are a registered member of Connect-Bridgeport's Web site, all you must do is make sure you're signed in and the click the Playoff Payoff icon on the home page that can be found by scrolling down to the left. If you're not registered, go to the top of the home page and register. It takes less than a minute.

 

Another unique aspect of the competition is that you can make changes to your picks leading up to games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Individuals can make their picks for Friday’s games and can change them until 6 p.m. Friday. Games that are listed on Saturday and Sunday can be entered and changed as many times as necessary until 11 a.m. each day of the picks.

 

Unfortunately, there are occasional schedule changes - usually on the prep football side - that staff does not catch; usually games moved to Thursday or a time change bumped up. There are also occasional mistakes with the proper teams playing each other. As has been the case in the past, each person will either be given a win for those games when there are schedule changes we miss or a mistake on our end or a or they will simply not be counted for the weekly and final standings.

 

You must use your actual name to compete. Nicknames or aliases will not be recognized for weekly or overall prizes.