There are only a few more weeks left in the season and the contest is heating up. Jamie from PrepNation was running away with it but a couple of bad weeks have brought him back to the pack. The top 3 are within 3 games of each other and 7 of the 8 experts are within 10 games. This week is highlighted by state title games in California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Alabama. We have a few big quarterfinal games from Texas as well.

The game of the week is the California Open Bowl Title game between traditional powerhouses Mater Dei and De La Salle. The Monarchs are looking to finish off back to back national title runs in a few of the major national polls. These two teams met in last year’s final as well with the Monarch winning 52-21. While this is the Open title game most of the other California divisions are still in the regional finals due to the wildfires. One of those games is between Del Oro and St. Francis. There will be other California Bowl games in the picks next week.

In Florida we have the 7A and the 6A title games in our picks this week. In 7A St. Thomas Aquinas and undefeated Lakeland square off if what is sure to be a classic. Both of these traditional powers are looking to add another state title to their legacy. The Raiders last won in 2016 while the Dreadnaughts haven’t won the title since 2006. All of the experts are siding with the Raiders in this one so that puts them on upset alert if you have been following the picks this year. The 6A game should be interesting as well. Everyone expected Miami Central or Carol City to win 6A this year but Miami Northwestern made sure that didn’t happen. The Bulls have 5 losses on the year but they have got hot at the right time for their meeting with Armwood. The Hawks lost their first game of the year but have been unstoppable since. The experts are divided on this one.

In Georgia Colquitt County looks to complete their undefeated season and get the win they barely missed out on last year. This game has already been moved back until next week due to the MLS Finals. There is weather possibly in the forecast for next week in Atlanta but the Packers are hoping they don’t end up having to play a true road game again this year. They will have try to take down Milton. The Eagles lost back to back games in September but have been on a dream run since. They have never won a state title and they are looking to break the stranglehold that South Georgia Region 1 and Gwinnett County have had on the AAAAAAA class for over a decade. If the Eagles pull off the win the people of Fulton County will have bragging rights that they haven’t had in a long time.

Louisiana brings us two state title games this week. if you follow the column you will see that we included John Curtis and Catholic Baton Rouge last week because we forgot about the week off. Edna Karr and Warren Easton will be battling for the 4A title. The two rivals met a few weeks ago in a classic with the Cougars getting the win after the Eagles failed on a 1 point conversion late. The Cougars have dominated this series lately but that will all be forgotten in the Eagles bring home the title. In South Carolina two undefeated teams will battle it out for the AAAAA title. Dutch Fork is nationally ranked in some of the polls while TL Hanna is rolling along beating South Carolina power houses along the way. This game was moved up from Saturday to Friday due to weather.

Things are finally heating up in Texas. Since many of the teams don’t play out of state games they haven’t been in the picks much this year. That changes this week with 3 games making the cut. The game we are most looking forward to is the battle of the undefeateds between Duncanville and Southlake Carroll. Duncanville is getting more love in the national polls but the Dragons will be ranked if they get the win this week. Also in 6A D1 Judson and Lake Travis will meet in what could very well be a shootout. In 6A D2 Longview and Westfield meet. Most of the Texas polls have both teams in the top 10. The Lobos are undefeated while the Mustangs have a loss on the year to nationally ranked North Shore. The winner of this game could likely bring home the title. The experts are pretty split on all three games.

Don’t agree with our picks? Let us know about them on Twitter or in the comments below. Make sure to go follow all the experts for all your high school football and recruiting news. Follow us @PrepForce1 to keep track of the picks and to vote on each of the games to see if you can do better than we do. Check out our Prep Force Top 25 High School Football Rankings. We have started releasing our world famous highlight remixes for this season so check those out as well.