It was a battle of former champions in week 13 of the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff football pick’em competition. Past season champions Hugh Gainer and Jason Hartman both were at the top of the picking pile this week as both compiled a 25-5 record.

 

The good news for both is that they will each receive a prize for their effort. The good news for Gainer is he won the blind draw.

 

That means Gainer, a retired educator and championship coach in the Bridgeport school system, will have his choice of a gift certificate from Buffalo Wild Wings or a small cheesecake from Almost Heaven Desserts. Gainer needs to send his choice and address to Hannah Edwards by email at hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to choose his prize. Hartman will also need to send the same information and will receive the prize not chosen by Gainer.

 

The pair led the way in a competitive week of picking. The pair of Jimmy Stutler and Kelly Ayoob was right off the pace with 24-6 marks, while a huge group was tied at No. 5. Bill Montgomery, Andrew Banko, Jason McCall, John Pulice, Henry McDaniel, Aaron Williams and Zachary Markley all finished the week at 23-7.

 

Ten individuals tied for the No. 12 spot. Chris Bowman, Adam Starkey, Tamie Arbogast, Mike Alastanos, Frank Cherubino, Carol Hilton, Aaron Mann, Adam Holbert, Kevin Carbacio, and J.T. Hilton all finished 22-8.

 

Twenty-three members of the field round out the top 25 for the week tied at No. 22. The group of James Burton II, Scott Nicewarner, Chris Skidmore, Bob Greer, Steven Hastings, Matt Ash, Rob Stallman, Don Cumming, Chris Byrd, Tyler Furbee, John Hart, Aaron Gilnes, Larry Snider, W.J. Bramer, Timothy Casten, Gregory Strogen, Steve Alfred, Jeff Muller, Patsy Sabatelli, Jayson Nicewarner, Vernon Louk, Richard Houck, and Scott Price finished week 13 at 21-9.

 

In the overall race, Kevin Carbacio remains comfortably in front with a record of 323-58 (84.78 percent), while defending champion Jason Hartman is ranked second overall at 298-93 (78.22 percent). There is a tie for third place with Jason McCall and Bill Montgomery even at 293-88 (76.9 percent), while Adam Holbert rounds out the top five with his fifth place standing thanks to a record of 292-89 (76.64 percent).

 

At No. 6, Jimmy Stutler is holding things down at 291-90 (76.38 percent) and Aaron Mann comes in at No. 7 thanks to a showing of 290-91 (76.12 percent). Ryan Chandler is at No. 8 with a mark of 289-92 (75.85 percent) and Mark Trippett comes in at No. 9 with a record of 288-93 (75.59 percent). Rounding out the top 10 is the duo of Andrew Banko and Jeff Muller, both at 287-94 (75.33 percent).

 

There is a three-way tie at No. 12 as Hugh Gainer, Clayce Spurlock and Chris Byrd have the same 284-97 (74.54 percent) record. At No. 15, the foursome of Mike Alastanos, Patsy Sabatelli, Frank Blake and Chris Oliverio are even at 283-98 (74.28 percent).

 

Dustin Vincent is alone at No. 19 with a picking effort of 282-99 (74.02 percent), while Steven Hastings, Pete Curry and Scott Price round out the top 20 at 281-100 (73.75 percent). Kelly Ayoob and John Pulice are even at No. 23 with records of 280-101 (73.49 percent).

 

The biggest deadlock rounds out the top 25 as five individuals are in the No. 23 position. The group of Michael Ferrari, Eric Allen, Matt Ash, James Burton II and Chris Johnson stand at 279-102 (73.23 percent).

 

Those individuals are currently the frontrunners for the grand prizes. 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 goes well 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.

 

For those thinking the contest is over because they’ve had a couple of bad weeks, don’t fret. What makes the Carder Motors 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.

 

While it would be impossible to win the overall prizes if you’ve not entered, you can still compete and win the weekly prizes. And it’s easy to do.

 

If you are a registered member of Connect-Bridgeport's Web site, all you have to 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.