Heading into the final week of competition, a former champion of the Carder Motors Playoff Payoff competition and a former Bridgeport High School running back took home the top two prizes in week 16. Jason Hartman, a past champion stood by himself atop the leader board this week to earn the right to pick his prize.

 

Hartman went 14-5. He will need to send his contact information to Hannah Edwards at hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to choose between a $25 gift certificate from Buffalo Wild Wings and a small cheesecake from Almost Heaven Desserts.

 

As for the runner-up, he needed a bit of help and it came via the blind draw. Former Indian running back Christopher Cunanan was one of six individuals tied for the runner-up spot. Cunanan will also need to send his contact information to Edwards to receive the prize not claimed by Hartman. Joining Cunanan with a 13-6 mark on the week are Brian Cain, Frank Cherubino, Mark Trippett, Tom Brown and Michael Wilhelm.

 

That group was followed by a six-way tie for eighth place. The group of Jeff Wright, Kevin Carbacio, Vernon Louk, Derrick Bramer, Aaron Radcliff, and Eric Jefferies all came in at 12-7.

 

Rounding out the top 25 was a 26-way ties for No. 14. The group of JT Hilton, Joe Koreski, Bill Tichenor, David Marshall, Logan Hoskinson, Eddie Huffman, Jerry Joliff, Mike Alastanos, Larry Snider, WJ Bramer, John Satterfield, Mitch Osbourn, Carlos A. Davis, Brian Martin, Kelly Ayoob, Louis Aragona, Michael Mann, Kassie Stire, Jimmy Stutler, Jason Jimmie, Bill Montgomery, David Wagner, Sue Teter, Hugh Gainer, Grant Burton, and Adam Heaster all finished 11-8.

 

In the overall standings, Kevin Carbacio tightened his grip on the top spot. Carbacio, a two-time former champion, stands at 339-94 on the year. In second place is another two-time champion, Hugh Gainer, and he is knotted up with Michael Andrew as both are 328-105.

 

Jeff Muller and Jason Hartman are both even at No. 4. The pair have a record of 327-106. Louis Aragon is by himself in the sixth spot with a record of 324-109, while Vernon Louk and Kelly Ayoob and both at No. 7 with a standing of 323-110. Frank Blake is in ninth thanks to his showing of 322-111, while Adam Holbert and Frank Cherubino round out the top 10 with a record of 321-112 each.

 

Bill Montgomery comes in No. 12 with a record of 320-113, while Mark Trippett is at No. 13 thanks to a showing of 319-114. For No. 14, the individual in the spot is Matt Ash at 318-115 and rounding out the top 15 is Lenora Montgomery with a record of 317-116.

 

A three-way tie is in place at No. 16 as Michael Mann, Curt Burner and Clayce Spurlock are even at 316-117 through 16 weeks. David Wagner and Chris Oliverio are in the same No. 19 position with a record of 315-118 to round out the top 20.

 

At No. 21, John Oldaker and Mike Alastanos are sharing honors at 313-120. At No. 23, Aaron Mann and Jeff Toquinto come in at 312-121. Rounding out the top 25 is another three-way tie as David Gillot, Brian Martin and James Burton II all come in at 311-122.

 

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 and will be finalized and announced next week. 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. You still have one week to win the weekly prizes.

 

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. This week, one NFL game was eliminated as it was listed twice.

 

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