HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: THE SPORTS EDITOR'S PICKS.(VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

Byline: LEE TOLLIVER

It's high school football time once again and with that comes the ever-popular task of predicting who is going to win the game.

Over the years, it has been surprising, almost shocking, the amount of attention paid to the picks made by those represented on these pages - reporters, guests - supposed experts and those who have no idea.

More comments are made on Friday nights about certain choices than are made about nearly everything else written on these pages.

People care, I guess, about who's supposed to win.

What they don't understand is that it's all speculation. Sure, one team should beat its opponent based on the talent and the past.

But it doesn't always go that way.

And one of the biggest reasons - and one often forgotten by both the media and the public - is that those playing high school football are still kids.

And kids often do, based simply on their youth, make mistakes.

Hey, this isn't pro football. And even with the NFL, predicting who is going to win is difficult at the least. So the fact that we're dealing with youngsters here makes it even more so.

Basically, these picks are for fun - a way to drum up interest. And it seems to work in those regards.

Last year saw a remarkable comeback for this reporter - a guy who won the prognostication contest between himself and his two peers way back when the Beach office had three writers. Since that victorious season, I slipped and slipped and slipped - even one year losing to the guests.

Well, last year saw me back at the top and hopefully that can continue. Last year I posted a pretty impressive 41-12 record through the Eastern Region championship.

There will be no guest this opening week, but we'll start that back up again next week when the schedule gets into full swing.

So with all that, here we go with the 1996 Beach District football season and the picks of the week:

Cox 21, Granby 20: The Falcons have the makings of bettering last year's 5-5 record. But the Comets could be pretty good this year as well. This one might just come down to the kicking game and Cox again has a good one.

Kellam 28, Great Bridge 0: Could it be? Another season-opening victory. Darned right. Kellam will field its best team in 10 years and the Wildcats don't have what it takes to stop the Knights - a team that is obviously on the upswing for the first time in a long time.

Maury 21, First Colonial 14: The Commodores are predicted to be pretty good this season, and while the Patriots should improve over last year, this will be a tough one to open the season on.

Salem 24, Lake Taylor 21: Speed vs. speed. The Titans might must have the best running back tandem in the area, and Salem might just have the best overall team speed in the Beach. Again, this one could come down to the kicking game and the Sun Devils have the top returning place kicking scorer in South Hampton Roads.