Dale Kellis has thrown some excitement into the final week of The Pilot football contest.

The man from Candor picked up three games last week on David Hale of Seven Lakes, who has been on top of the overall standings for quite awhile. That's a good thing because this is the final week of the contest, and there is nothing like a little suspense to keep the prognosticators who regularly play this game waiting for next week's final installment.

That's right. Last Sunday's entry is the final one, folks. It is down to the nitty-gritty time to decide who wins the $200 awarded to the overall winner. Although Hale and Kellis are tied for the overall lead with 162-78 records, Velma Davis of Carthage (160-80), Shaun Ingram of West End (159-81) and Amanda Latham of Vass (158-82) are not far behind in the overall battle.

Well, enough of that stuff. Let's get down to who won this past week. As usual, we ended up with people tied, so the tiebreaker game becomes the deciding factor in who gets what money. Reuben Davis of Carthage and John Robbins of Carthage both went 17-3 last week, forcing us to go to the tiebreaker game of Wake Forest vs. Maryland.

Wake Forest (go Deacons) defeated the Terrapins from Maryland 38-24 for a total of 62 points. That means Davis (the Reuben variety) picks up the $50 first-place check based on his total points of 53. Robbins gets the $30 second-place money. He had 45 for tiebreaker total.

A lot of people had 16-4 marks this week. Well, I guess you could say eight contestants are a lot. Charles Johnson of Raeford claimed the $20 third-place money based on his tiebreaker total of 56.

The others that went 16-4 were Woody Burnell of Pinehurst, Michael Gantt of Pinehurst, David McKinnon of Carthage, Shaun Ingram of West End, Randy McNeill of Cameron, Paul Tilton of Whispering Pines and Dale Kellis of Candor.

As for me, I went 17-3, one of my best efforts of the season. Doomed by a 0-20 mark earlier this season (I didn't get my picks in the paper), I can make no run at the leaders, but I am now 136-74 overall. I did pick the Skins over the Panthers. I don't know why. Just like I don't know why I'm going to pick the following teams to win next week: Green Bay, Chicago, Kansas City, Miami, Indianapolis, New England, N.Y. Giants, Washington, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Seattle, Carolina, Buffalo, New Orleans, West Virginia, USC, Florida, Hawaii, Navy.

Overall Standings

162-78 -- David Hale of Seven Lakes, Dale Kellis of Candor; 160-80 -- Velma Davis of Carthage; 159-81 -- Shaun Ingram of West End; 158-82 -- Amanda Latham of Vass; 157-83 -- Dick Maag of Pinehurst, Paul Tilton of Whispering Pines; 156-84 -- Dal Butler of Robbins, Chase Blake of Southern Pines, Matt Rock of Carthage; 155-85 -- Michael Ed Brown of Robbins, Dorothy Maag of Pinehurst, John Robbins of Carthage, Larry Richards of Concord ; 154-86 -- Mike Bowyer of Pinebluff, Reuben Davis of Carthage, Michael Gantt of Pinehurst, Steve Lassiter of Pinehurst, Will Lassiter of Pinehurst, Tom Rock of Carthage.