For those that know this week’s winner of the Blue Dot Services Playoff Payoff Football Pick’em contest, they probably aren’t surprised it’s not his first time in the winner’s circle. In fact, a little more than two years ago, this well-known name in Bridgeport High School football history took home the weekly win.

 

Of course, when it comes to finding ways to win, BHS alum Gary Lhotsky has got it down. The former Class AA all-state football player who was part of arguably the greatest game and greatest game-winning play in West Virginia football postseason history with the 1988 BHS Indians didn’t need to go his bag of tricks to win last week’s competition. Instead, he simply used his football prognostication skills.

 

Lhotsky went 26-2 on the week to beat the field. Thanks to his showing, Lhotsky takes home the weekly prize. He walks away with a gift certificate from the Mountaineer Grille, which is situated just off Interstate 79 and below the Meadowbrook Mall as part of the Shops of Benny’s Place. Lhotsky needs to contact Hannah Cantrell by emailing hannah@connect-bridgeport.com to claim the prize. Cantrell will get in touch with Lhotsky no later than Monday of next week, but likely prior to that.

 

While Lhotsky is a familiar name when it comes to winning, a familiar name when it comes to winning the Playoff Payoff had a huge week as well. The only winner in the two-year history of the contest – Hugh Gainer – finished tied for second on the week with Rick Carroll at 25-3.

 

After the top spots, huge ties round out the field of this week’s top 25. The smallest group is in fourth place as Kelsey Watkins, Tyrone Lockett, Selina Herod, and Chris Oliverio all finished 24-4.

 

The rest of the top 25 all finished tied for the eighth spot. In fact, 20 individuals all had the same record for the week. The group of Fred Spicer, Mike Watkins, Michael Hustead, Gregory Robe, Dwight Bullough, Doug Marquette, Paul Fulks, John Pulice, Justin Holstein, Scott Schield, Mike Nicewarner, Greg Scalise, Jordan Nuzum, Bill Montgomery, Matt Ash, Dustin Vincent, Matthew Genin, Tom Fogg, Michael Ferrari, and Louis Aragona finished with week with 23-5 records.

 

Bridgeport’s Aragona has maintained the overall top spot and managed to buffer his advantage by two games. Aragona ends Week 8 of the competition with a 188-49 (79.32 percent) mark. He now leads fellow Bridgeport resident Kevin Carbacio by three games. Carbacio is still solid with a 185-52 (78.06 percent) record.

 

David Gillot stands alone in third place. Gillot comes in at 183-54 (77.22 percent). The first tie is at the fourth place position. The group of Chris Nutter, Dan McNamee and John Pulice all stand at 182-55 (76.79 percent) on the year.

 

Perhaps the most troubling sign for the rest of the field is that Hugh Gainer is now firmly back in the mix after being out of the top 25 in the overall standings for the first few weeks. Gainer is now tied for seventh place with Doug Marquette. Gainer and Marquette both stand at 181-56 (76.37 percent).

 

In ninth place, A.J. DeFazio is the man with a 180-57 (75.95 percent) record. Casey King rounds out the top 10 with a 179-58 (75.53 percent) picking mark. The first big logjam comes in at the No.  11 position. The group of Derrick Bramer, Jeff Toquinto, Kelly Ayoob, Danny Knight, Michael Mann and Bill Montgomery all stand at 178-59 (75.11 percent).

 

Six individuals are tired for the No. 17 position in the top 25. The group consists of Tom Fogg, John Strovers, Mike Nicewarner, Mike Watkins, Michael Hustead, and Patsy Sabatelli with a 177-60 (74.68 percent) mark.

 

Rounding out the top 25 are nine individuals all even at the No. 23 Position. Michael Cross, Fred Spicer, Paul Fulks, Greg Scalise, Andrew Banko, Scott Schield, Jason Dodd, Eric Allen and James Stutler round things out with 176-61 (74.26 percent record).

 

Anyone can still enter and be eligible for the weekly prizes. The grand prize winner will receive a $500 gift certificate to the Meadowbrook Mall. There will be second and third place prizes as well. Remember, those picking will have their worst two weeks of the contest eliminated to help determine the winner.

 

As for the contest itself, 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.

 

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.