Recapping a busy weekend: Lehigh, NFL picks etc.

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It's early Sunday morning and here I am in Sturbridge, Mass., still trying to recover from a busy 24-hour period.

Friday night, I covered Whitehall's win over Parkland, did the story on the game and left the Valley at midnight to come up here, arriving around 4:20 a.m.

Got a few hours of sleep, called into my radio show (thanks for filling in Tony Cocca), ate a hearty breakfast, and covered Lehigh's win over Holy Cross in nearby Worcester (pronounced Woo-sta). Came back to the hotel, had dinner at the adjoining Cracker Barrel and spent too much time with my wife in the gift shop and slept about 10 hours (getting a bonus from the end of Daylight Savings Time).

We just put on the Weather Channel, and snow is in the forecast up here on Monday.

Time to get outta here.

I realize that not everybody cares about Lehigh football, particularly since the Mountain Hawks don't feature a lot of locally produced talent.

But this team is getting more and more impressive. They're winning games by large margins even when not playing well. I rated their performance as a B-minus against Holy Cross and then still won by 17.

They will likely win at Georgetown to secure the Patriot League title next Saturday, which will mean a playoff game on Thanksgiving weekend no matter what happens against Lafayette on Nov. 20. Forget the records, the Leopards will pose a severe challenge in that one and would like nothing better than knocking off a newly-crowned championship Lehigh team.

I feel good for the coaching staff, especially the people who struggled for several years. That includes head coach Andy Coen and defensive line coach Donnie Roberts, the former head coach at Central Catholic.


Donnie (pictured on the left) has to be really excited about everything that's going on this fall with his son, Nathan, playing for the undefeated CCHS team. His defensive line is part of one of the top sacking units in the country.

Roberts did a great job in his stint with the Vikings and could still be a very successful high school coach. He was a mentor to many coaches, including current CCHS leader Harold Fairclough.

Roberts couldn't resist, however, when Coen offered him an opportunity to return to the college ranks.

In a recent column on Central's Connor Faust, you heard Connor praise both Coen and Roberts.

These guys have really taken a lot of abuse and surely deserve the good moments that are coming now.

Nice to see local basketball official Bill McGinley up here. He is friends with the Zurn family from Jim Thorpe. Craig Zurn is a talented receiver for Lehigh.

Bill reminded me that basketball is coming soon, but for now, there's plenty of football to keep me busy.

Now, on to the NFL picks. Rico tells me I was 6-7 in all categories last week, making me 59-57 outright, 52-59-5 against the spread and 61-54-1 on over/under totals for the season.

He's right. I'd rather be really bad or really good than really mediocre, which is what I am right now.

HOME TEAMS IN CAPS

BUFFALO BILLS (+3) 26, Chicago Bears 21 -- over the 41.5 total.

San Diego Chargers (-3) 27, HOUSTON TEXANS 20 -- under the 49.5

New Orleans Saints (-6.5) 23, CAROLINA PANTHERS 16 -- under the 40.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (-7.5) 28, Arizona Cardinals 14 -- over the 41.5

Tampa Bay Bucs (+9) 21, ATLANTA FALCONS 17 -- under the 45.5

New York Jets (-5) 20, DETROIT LIONS 14 -- under the 42.

Miami Dolphins (+5.5) 20, BALTIMORE RAVENS 17 --under the 41.

New England (-4) 30, CLEVELAND BROWNS 17 -- over the 43.5

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (+7) 23, New York Giants 21 -- over the 40.5

Kansas City Chiefs (pick'em) 20, OAKLAND RAIDERS 17 -- under the 41.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (-3) 31, Indiananpolis Colts 23 -- over the 46.5

SUNDAY NIGHT

GREEN BAY PACKERS (-7) 24, Dallas Cowboys 20 -- under the 45.5

MONDAY NIGHT

Pittsburgh Steelers (-5) 19, CINCY BENGALS 17 -- under the 41.5

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/