I yearn to be perfect.

With each passing week, my record gets scarred. Finding a way to accurately predict the outcome of every high school football game around here is proving to be as tough as trying to avoid extinction.

Whether birds of my feather were going to survive a few years ago was iffy.

Whether I'm going to post a zero on the loss-side of my ledger in a given week is becoming iffy as well.

I remain proud as an eagle and will take yet another shot this week. Here goes:

BUTLER at NORTH ALLEGHENY— Playoff hopes hang in the balance for the Golden Tornado, who must win out and hope the wild-card breaks their way. But the Tigers have adjusted their quarterback situation and are on track to win the Northern Five. I don't see Butler derailing this train.

North Allegheny, 30-14.SHALER at SENECA VALLEY— Despite losing 23 consecutive section games, the Raiders can reach postseason play with wins Friday and next week at Butler. They will stay in this game, but the Titans' Wing-T will win out.

Shaler, 24-16.KARNS CITY at A-C VALLEY — The Gremlins are undefeated and have their sights set on a conference title. The Falcons are winless and have their sights set on next year.

Karns City, 40-6.SUMMIT ACADEMY at MARS — The Knights have been competitive and may hang in Friday night, but the Planets keep getting better and better.

Mars, 36-21.REDBANK VALLEY at MONITEAU— As successful as the Warriors have become in recent years, the common denominator is they haven't beaten Redbank Valley. And they won't have versatile running back Adam Cousins available when they try to bite the Bulldogs this time.

Redbank Valley, 21-20.INDIANA at KNOCH — It's do or die time for the Knights. The guess here is that they're doers.

Knoch, 23-14.SLIPPERY ROCKat MEADVILLE — This is one of those winnable games for the Rockets, who have won just once this year. But it's a winnable game on the road and the homefield advantage may be the difference.

Meadville, 15-14.UNION( N.C.) at FREEPORT — The Yellowjackets are buzzing. This team can score a lot of points and Union allows a lot of points. That's a bad combo deal for the visitors.

Freeport, 51-10.In other action, I see Union edging Clarion-Limestone 13-10 and Grove City handling Northwestern, 28-16.

Last week: 8-3. Season: 55-23