I'm honestly just as shocked as you that I'm now 19-2 with my 21 Coachella Valley area high school football picks through the first two weeks of the season.
Yes, I've correctly picked the winners of 19 of 21 games, including a perfect 10-for-10 the first week. The only two I lost last week were the Twentynine Palms game and the Palm Desert game. The Wildcats won by just a point and the Aztecs lost in double overtime, so I was wildly close to going 21-for-21.
But I maintain that this is mostly luck. I'll hang a 4-and-6 week sometime soon. Just wait.
Still, I do my research and every week I go in thinking that I'll hit on more games than I miss.
On the other hand, our sports editor, Shad Powers, was 5-6 with his picks last week. That makes him 11-10
in 21 games this season.
Usually, by this point in the season Shad is cooking me in the picks department. Not this year. Call it luck, but I've got a good thing going. Let's see if it continues.
Here's who Shad and I are taking with our picks for Week 3:
Andrew's picks
Thursday
Notre Dame (Riverside) 56, Cathedral City 13
Desert Mirage 27, Mendez 6
Serrano 30, Xavier Prep 13
Shadow Hills 24, Yucaipa 17
Friday
Desert Hot Springs 23, Rialto 14
Indio 28, Perris 15
Lakeside 49, Twentynine Palms 7
Colton 41, Yucca Valley 27
Palm Springs 28, Coachella Valley 20
Rancho Mirage 21, Hemet 13
Victor Valley 19, Palm Desert 14
La Quinta 34, Citrus Valley 21
Desert Christian Academy 62, San Jacinto Valley 13
Andrew's Game of the Week: Coachella Valley at Palm Springs: The Arabs haven't beaten the Indians since 1998. Last year, the Indians won this matchup, 61-27. But with Palm Springs graduating several key players from last year's team, is this the year the Arabs break the losing streak? I'm saying that it won't be, but I do expect this game to be close.
Shad's picks
Thursday
Notre Dame (Riverside) 27, Cathedral City 13
Desert Mirage 33, Mendez 14
Serrano 27, Xavier Prep 19
Yucaipa 26, Shadow Hills 20
Friday
Rialto 21, Desert Hot Springs 13
Perris 29, Indio 22
Lakeside 34, Twentynine Palms 14
Colton 30, Yucca Valley 20
Palm Springs 35, Coachella Valley 20
Hemet 16, Rancho Mirage 14
Palm Desert 28, Victor Valley 21
La Quinta 33, Citrus Valley 30
Desert Christian Academy 57, San Jacinto Valley 0
Shad's Game of the Week: This is cheating, but I've got my eye on three of the desert's 2-0 teams to see what they do against stiffer competition. Desert Hot Springs vs. Rialto, Indio vs. Perris and Rancho Mirage vs. Hemet. To me I think all three games are pretty much toss-ups, and I'll be impressed if any of those teams go 3-0. Just to help the cause, I picked against all three desert teams, doing my part to provide bulletin board materials.
Andrew John covers sports and recreation in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com. Find him on Instagram at @desertwriter.
Shad Powers is the sports editor at The Desert Sun. Email him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Who we're taking with our Week 3 high school football picks
