When the final snap was in and the lucky draw was made between two Bridgeport residents in Week 5 of the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff Football pick’em contest, a former Bridgeport High School state championship quarterback toppled a current Bridgeport City Council member for the weekly honors.

 

With a short slate of games, Robert Marra was nearly perfect with a 21-1 record. The signal caller on Wayne Jamison’s 1979 Class AAA state championship team was able to show his skill – and then a little bit of luck – by getting the nod over Council member Dustin Vincent who also missed just one game.

 

Thanks to the prep picking skills, Marra takes home the weekly prize, which is a gift certificate from Mountaineer World that is situated just off Interstate 79 and below the Meadowbrook Mall as part of the Shops of Benny’s Place. Marra needs to emailing info@connect-bridgeport.com to claim the prize. A staff member will then get in touch with Marra no later than Monday of next week, but likely prior to that. Marra is asked to put “Playoff Payoff Winner” in the tag line.

 

While Marra and Vincent both were nearly perfect, the short slate of games agreed with many in the field this week. Twenty individuals were tied for third place. The group of Chris Nutter, Michael Mann, Bob Greer, Tom Fogg, Kevin Carbacio, Hugh Gainer, Matt Duez, Dwight Bullough, Adam Holbert, Patsy Sabatelli, Michael Andrew, Carson DeMotto, Dan McNamee, Derrick Bramer, Justin Stevens, Mike Ridgway, Zachary Markley, Scott Price, Joe Spatafore, and WJ Bramer all finished 20-2.

 

While that logjam seems large, the tie for 23^rd place was even larger.  Incredibly 28 in the field of 200-plus were all even. Finishing with a mark of 19-3 is the group of Stephen Burnside, Stephen Kelley, Jim Rookstool, Ron Huffman, Tom Surock, Kim Wilson, Jeff Miller, Vernon Louk, Gene Gladden, Brian Martin, Duke Ware, Jeff Muller, Doug Comer, Harold Tate, Jarrod Hall, Danny Hamrick, Janet Hathaway, James Hayes II, Matt Sickles, Jayson Nicewarner, Chris Oliverio, Carol Hilton, Aaron Mann, Billy Estok, Maria Morrison, Jamie Guy, Michael Ferrari, Eric Allen, Perry McAtee, A.J. DeFazio, Vinnie Zummo, Steven Hastings, Scott Strosnider, JT Hilton, Rick Crowley, Delbert Leatherman, Greg Scalise, Andrew Bank and Brent Kimble.

 

At the top of the leaderboard, there is no longer a tie. Adam Holbert stands alone with a 122-26 mark (82.43 percent). In second place is Scott Price with a 121-27 (81.76 percent) mark, while Jamie stands all alone in third place with a 120-28 (8.108 percent) record.

 

The first tie in the overall standings was at the No. 4 spot. Dwight Bullough, last week’s co-leader Kelly Ayoob and Jason Hartman stand at 119-29 (80.41 percent). The seventh spot has six individuals all even with 118-30 records and includes Joe Spatafore, Dan McNamee, Brian Martin, Kevin Carbacio, Michael Mann and Patsy Sabatelli. Five individuals are all even at the No. 13 spot as Janet Hathaway, Doug Marquette, Aaron Mann, Jay Krohe and Justin Stevens are at 117-31 (79.05).

 

A six-way tie at the No. 18 spot sees Doug Comer, Robert Marra, Louis Aragona, Danny Knight, Matt Sickles and Andrew Banko at 116-32 (78.38 percent). Rounding out the top 25 are six prognosticators tied at the No. 24 spot. The group of Mark Trippett, Eric Allen, Brent Kimble, Bob Greer, Jeff Muller and Todd Shmigalsky finished the week with an overall mark of 115-33 (77.7 percent).

 

Those individuals are the frontrunners for the overall prizes for the top three finishers. This year's overall winner will have the choice of an overnight golf package at the Lakeview Resort in Monongalia County. Along with the overnight stay, this prize also includes two rounds of golf with a cart, dinner and breakfast. Other prizes include an assortment of area gift cards, which currently include gift certificates to Mia Margherita and Meagher’s Irish Pub, both located at Charles Pointe. Once again, there will be a $500 gift card from the Meadowbrook Mall up for grabs

 

Even if you haven’t participated, you can still compete for weekly prizes. So how do you get involved? If you are registered on Connect-Bridgeport.com, you can pick immediately just by signing in. If you are not registered go to the top of the page at www.connect-bridgeport.com and click on the "Sign Up" icon on the top right hand side of the home page. Once registered, you are free to pick.

 

Each week, a story will detail the weekly winners as well as the overall leaders for the prizes. This year, the weekly winner will receive a gift card to either Mountaineer World or Mountaineer Grille (depending on the week). In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen by a blind draw by a staff member working at the Benedum Civic Center.

 

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. 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.