Varsity Insider

Mike Donoghue just about has this year’s Fearless Free Press Football Forecast in the bag. With just four weeks to go, he’s stretched his lead to an impressive nine game. His 15-3 record this week shared the top spot with Kevin Commo, marking the third week in a row Mike has been first or tied for first.

Meanwhile, the guest pickers continue to struggle. The 11-7 of USA Today’s Andy Gardiner was two games worse than any of the Free Press regulars and dropped the group of Free Press sports alumni three games behind Shawn Corrow in the race to avoid the basement.

The full Week 7 results:

Mike Donoghue 15-3
Kevin Commo 15-3
Ted Ryan 14-4
Alex Abrami 13-5
Shawn Corrow 13-5
John A. Fantino 13-5
Andy Gardiner (alumnus) 11-7

And the overall standings are:

Donoghue 98-22
Commo 89-31
Fantino 89-31
Abrami 86-34
Ryan 85-35
Corrow 84-36
Alumni 81-39

WCAX’s video from Saturday’s unbelievable conclusion to the Mount Mansfield-Otter Valley high school football game has drawn quite the attention across the nation.

The video was uploaded to Youtube and, as of this afternoon, there’s been nearly 500,000 views.

The video has also been linked/posted on several big-time Web sites, like Sports Illustrated and Digg, a social networking site that allows people to share content — like videos and articles — from anywhere on the internet.

A key function of Digg.com — and probably the major reason its so popular — is the voting on stories/videos. This afternoon, the football video was the top-rated digg in the last 24 hours.

Here’s the Free Press’ recap and WCAX’s video.

Back by popular demand: The Free Press Fearless Football Forecast, where our crack sports staff tries to predict the winners of the high school football schedule. The annual feature will kick off in Friday’s edition. We know, there will be some head scratching; everyone thinks they can do better. Now is your chance. Feel free to critique our picks on this blog, or make your own and see how you stack up.

The week-one schedule:

Friday night (all games at 7 p.m.)

Middlebury at Colchester
North Country at Montpelier
Woodstock at U-32
Mount Mansfield at Essex
BFA at Hattford
Burlington at Brattleboro
South Burlington at Rutland
Spaulding at Mount Anthony
Champlain Valley at Burr and Burton
Mill River at Fair Haven
Bellows Falls at Moriah, N.Y.

Saturday (all games at 1 p.m.)

Lyndon at Rice
Milton at Fairfax
Mount St. Joseph at St. Johnsbury
Springfield at Poultney
Mount Abraham at Otter Valley
Oxbow at Windsor
Norwich University at Western New England
Anna Maria at Castleton State