RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht wins tiebreaker to take top of podium in last week’s AQB challenge

The twelfth week of the Tri-City Record’s annual Armchair Quarterback (AQB) competition has been contested, but we made sure to continue our long-standing tradition of challenging our knowledgeable “superfans” over some ultimately tough choices on the gridiron. Our pigskin diehards attempted to pick the winner of one local high school game, five collegiate games and four professional games that occurred during week twelve. In terms of final records, our panelists always strive to put on a winning performance, which they hope will lead to more green checkmarks (wins) than red crosses (losses) on their weekly examinations.

When all was said and done, our expert pickers rebounded from a dismal week with no less than seven wins; hopefully breaking their recent losing traction that has been occurring in recent weeks. However, the contest remains a slugfest, with everyone still in contention. Now is the time for the stretch run!

Let’s start by recapping the games from week twelve of our competition. In our local high school football games, only one team from our two-county area remained in contention for a trip to Ford Field, as the Niles Vikings took on the Portland Red Raiders in regional final action. Niles’ dream of a state championship was dashed in a 21-14 win by Portland. But, hey, the Vikings went further than plenty of teams, so give them props for a great run!

In collegiate action, Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan continued their seasons last week, while Notre Dame had their second ‘bye’ week of the year. When the games were made final, the results were mixed; two of our local teams earning victories. In terms of final scores, #3 (CFP) Michigan (10-0) made a road trip to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions, who were ranked in the top ten themselves. The Wolverines shook off the negative publicity of recent to capture a 24-15 victory, while Western Michigan (4-6) took home the Michigan MAC Trophy and the victory cannon by shaking off rival Central Michigan, 38-28. Meanwhile, Michigan State (3-7) fans are just waiting for the season to end, as they watched their Spartans fall at #1 (CFP) Ohio State, 38-3, losing for the seventh time in their last eight games.

Finally, in professional action, both of our local teams, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, were in action and both of our favorite teams made fans happy with victories on the field! On Thursday night in the “Windy City,” the Bears (3-7) hosted the Carolina Panthers in a battle of teams at the bottom of their divisions. In the end, the Bears scored the victory, 16-13. Meanwhile, on Sunday, in Los Angeles, the Lions (7-2) battled the Chargers in an offensive-minded game. The teams combined for 79 total points; the Lions won the battle, 41-38, for a key victory on the west coast.

When the final whistle blew and all the scores were verified, the best mark of the stretch stood at 8-2. Last week, winning records were hard to come by, but not this week. Two of our prognosticators, RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht and Bill Whitney, will duke it out in the tiebreaker for top honors this week. If you thought having the same record was a crazy enough occurrence, both panelists also picked the exact same winners and losers in our slate.

Because we have a tie in the weekly standings, that means we had to go to the dreaded tiebreaker scenario to determine our weekly champion and runner-up. Our tiebreaker matchup, which featured the Michigan State Spartans and Ohio State Buckeyes, finished with a total of 41 points. Their highly educated guesses were separated by just three points, but it was determined that RoxAnn, based on her prediction of 51 total points, will win the duel to take home the top step of the podium and the gold medal. Bill (who predicted 54 total points) will have to settle for the silver medal and a runner-up finish.

While our top two panelists finished with matching 8-2 records, our other four “gurus” – Greg Krell, Rodney Lynch, Mike Banic and Maureen Ovington – came home just one game back in the loss column at 7-3, meaning we will have to break a four-way tie to determine the remainder of our weekly standings, which just happens to boggle my mind. We’ve had tiebreakers so far this year, but nothing the magnitude of this. I guess this creates suspense!

One more time, because we have a tie in the weekly standings, that meant we had to go back to the dreaded tiebreaker scenario to determine the remaining weekly standings, including positions third through sixth. Once again, our tiebreaker matchup finished with a total of 41 points. Based on their highly educated guesses, the final place on the podium this week, and our third-place finisher, was Rodney, who predicted 47 total points. Fourth place went to Greg (who predicted 51 total points), while Maureen (who predicted 56 total points) will finish in fifth place, and Mike (who predicted 64 total points) will take home the ‘cellar dweller’ award in sixth place, although are there really any losers this week with all this success?

In case you are new to our newspaper or need a refresher on how this competition works, let’s take a moment to bring you up-to-speed. Each fall, our newspaper enlists the assistance of six local football fanatics, who should be deemed “superfans” really. Each week, the six-person panel is given a list of pre-selected games from the local high school, collegiate and professional ranks, and is given the daunting task of selecting the winners of each game.

Weekly records are kept from the beginning of the high school season through Super Bowl Sunday, with each week’s edition of the paper reporting on the progress of each participant. At the conclusion of the football season, the panelist who has the best overall record will earn the right to wear the 2023-24 Tri-City Record Armchair Quarterback hat and claim bragging rights until the next season begins.

In the event there are multiple AQBs that have the same weekly or season-long record, their place in the weekly or overall standings will be determined by a weekly tiebreaker game. In addition to trying to pick the winners of each week’s slew of games, they will also predict a total score from a specially selected game, one that usually stands out on a local or national level. The quarterback that predicts closest to the actual number of points scored by both teams will receive the higher position in the standings.

In the season-long race for the hat, there have been weekly changes in overall positioning virtually every week since this competition began in August. However, with our panelists all having records separated by just one game in the loss column, we finally were able to go a week where no changes happened, albeit some aesthetic changes in games ahead or behind.

In terms of the overall classification, RoxAnn continues to keep a tight hold on the lead in the race for top honors, with her overall record sitting at 82-38 through our first 120 games. She was able to increase her lead by one game, to three, over Greg and Rodney, who remain joined at the hip for the runner-up spot, with their overall records standing at 79-41. The final three positions in our race feature Bill in fourth place, with an overall record of 76-44, followed by Mike in fifth place, with an overall record of 72-48 and Maureen brings up the rear of the caboose in sixth place, with an overall record of 70-50. The margin between the top and bottom of the standings sits at just twelve games, so things are still within reason. Plus, we still are expecting twists and turns all the way to the end of the journey, so stay tuned!

The season continues this week, with the semifinals of the playoffs in high school football being contested across the state (although our slate will not feature any of those games), along with week twelve of the college football season and week eleven of the professional football season.

Be sure to check back each week as our panel of ardent, loyal pigskin pickers weave their way through the football season, in pursuit of their own “one shining moment.” Now, here are your week thirteen games that our qualified panelists were tasked with picking:

Western Michigan at

Northern Illinois (Tue)

Kansas State at Kansas (Sat)

Michigan at Maryland (Sat)

Michigan State at Indiana (Sat)

Wake Forest at Notre Dame (Sat)

Arizona Cardinals at

Houston Texans (Sun)

Chicago Bears at

Detroit Lions (Sun)

Minnesota Vikings at

Denver Broncos (Sun)

Seattle Seahawks at

Los Angeles Rams (Sun)

Philadelphia Eagles at

Kansas City Chiefs (Mon) *

* tiebreaker