One sure thing: three-day weekend for me

No, I'm not a day early.

Well, I am, but for a good reason. With Rosh Hashanah this weekend, the school district has moved football games to Thursday night this week.

And that means tailgating a night earlier and taking Friday off from school.

I'm not encouraging skipping school Friday. Just saying after a long night of watching games and getting reports on others, the chances of me being in class tomorrow aren't strong.

So take good notes for me. And teachers, no tests tomorrow. Picking games is hard enough.

Here are my four to score. For my other picks, log on to nevadapreps.com.

• Cimarron-Memorial (2-0, 2-0) at Palo Verde (3-0, 1-0): There's nothing like burning a potential league title showdown in Week 4. Oh, well.

As you might have seen on TV last week, Palo Verde is fast. Like by-you-before-you-even-knew-they-were-there fast. Catching Chappell Thomas is almost impossible.

Cimarron was beyond impressive in laying the smackdown on Arbor View last week. Stephen Nixon, Zach Barbara and James Poole can hold their own in any matchup.

But Palo Verde is still the team to beat in this league. And until someone beats the Panthers, it'll stay that way.

The Spartans seem to like having me pick against them. They'll love this one. Palo Verde by 8.

• Del Sol (2-0) at Las Vegas (2-0): Ever wonder why these teams bother to play each other in the regular season if they're only going to end up meeting for the Sunrise title?

Might not be the case this year, though, with Silverado looming and Canyon Springs primed for a good year.

The talk around the skate park (when we weren't discussing quantum physics and world peace) was that Las Vegas was the best team on the right side of town.

Farrell Victor is off to a good start, but the Wildcats didn't look good two weeks ago against Snow Canyon (Utah). That means they've had two weeks of Coach Faircloth's gentle reminders of what they should be doing. Ouch.

For a team that supposedly had huge rebuilding issues, Del Sol has started well, especially on defense.

Smile boys, you're on TV this week. Las Vegas by 7.

• Silverado (2-0) at Desert Pines (1-1): Which Desert Pines team shows up? The one that barely scored against Basic or the one that couldn't stop against Western?

Here's a hint: Silverado's defense is a few steps up from Western's.

Dalton Leilua has to protect the football for the Jaguars to have a chance.

People keep waiting for the Skyhawks to do something to get their season off track. With Trent Tipton running the show and Terran Madu-Jules just flat out running, I don't see it happening. Silverado by 10.

• Pahrump Valley (0-2) at Mojave (0-2): Yeah, I know. You're wondering why I would pick this game. Well, someone has to win.

Pahrump is better than it was last year but still has a long road ahead of it.

Mojave still wishes this were 2007, but the Rattlers are happy they're not playing Palo Verde or Legacy again.

Mojave hasn't scored yet this year. That changes. Mojave by 4.

Last week: 6-2 overall and with points.

Season: 21-5 overall, 20-6 with points.

Contact Fielder at fielder@nevadapreps.com.