For the first time in the seven years of the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff Football Pick’em competition, one of the weekly winners was disqualified. Thanks to that, it opened the door for two individuals that were among seven that tied for the top spot.

 

Not only was the winner that was chosen by a blind draw of the Bridgeport Parks and Recreation even with six others at 19-7 on the week, but he also found the top spot in the weekly drawings for the first time ever. Because of running the contest, when Jeff Toquinto’s number was pulled he was immediately disqualified.

 

That left former Bridgeport coach and educator Vernon Louk as the winner. Louk matched the 19-7 mark and will have his choice between a $25 gift certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings or a small cheesecake from Almost Heaven Desserts. Louk needs to email Hannah Edwards at hannah@connect-bridgeport.com with contact information and his choice.

 

The runner-up for the week is Harrison County native Jason Dodd. Dodd will also need to email Edwards with his contact information. He will receive the prize Louk does not accept.

 

Along with those three, four others were at the top of a week that saw multiple games scrapped. Sharon Stutler, Ron Sandreth, Jason Hartman and Tim McNally also went 19-7. The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings game was scrapped due to it ending in a tie, while the Oklahoma game with Iowa State game was eliminated due to it being entered incorrectly as Oklahoma State. West Virginia University, Marshall and Virginia Tech all saw their games scratched as they were not played due to Hurricane Florence.

 

Fourteen individuals tied for the No. 8 spot. Chuck Morrison, Pete Curry, Joe Koreski, James Burton II, Brian Murphy, Nancy Wickenhofer, Brandi Kopec, Christopher Cunanan, Jayson Nicewarner, Eric Winans, Theresa Roush, Hugh Gainer, Jay Garrett and Rob Stallman all finished 18-8.

 

A huge logjam rounded out the top 25 as 41 individuals tied for No. 22. Kassie Stire, Jimmy Stutler, John Minnocci, Russ Colley, Kelly Ayoob, Michael Ferrari, Amber Gaines, Adam Heaster, Scott Gainer, Ryan Chandler, Brent Kimble, Robert Marra, Andrew Banko, Melissa Rohrbough, Rick Johnson, Jonathan Beckley, Bobby Tenney, Dan McNamee, Jeff Muller, Michael Harki, Aaron Mann, Doug Palmer, Steve Davis, Pat Boyles, Richard Houck, Tom Surock, Jerry Joliff, Larry Snider, Brian Cain, Joe Teter, JT Hilton, Bill Tichenor, Mark Hoffman, Al Stafford, Braeden Oldaker, Clayce Spurlock, Charles Blankenship, Tommy Stewart, James Burton, Darren Snyder and Jeremy Cook all finished 17-9.

 

In the overall standings, Bridgeport’s Louis Aragona stands alone. Aragon is 80-22, while four individuals – Jason Dodd, Michael Andrew, Jeff Muller and Vernon Louk – are tied for second 79-23. There is also a three-way tie for the sixth spot with Nancy Wickenhofer, Dan Glover and Bill Tichenor all coming in a 78-24.

 

The No. 9 spot saw eight individuals even. James Burton II, James Burton, Jay Garrett, Richard Houck, Dan McNamee, Frank Blake, Curt Burner and David Gillot are all 77-25.

 

Rounding out the top 25 is a 10-way deadlock for the No. 17 position. The group of Valerie Toquinto, Lenora Montgomery, Delbert Leatherman, Clayce Spurlock, Pete Curry, Tim McNally, Jason Hartman, Mike Alastanos, Frank Cherubino, and Zachary Kesling are currently 76-26.

 

Someone from the field of the hundreds registered will walk away the winner of some serious 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.

 

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.

 

For those entering late, you may not win the end-of-the-contest prizes, but you can still win 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.