That old lucky coin I’ve got didn’t let me down too badly in last week’s contest.

But then again, Gary Deese, of Aberdeen, must have a luckier coin or, perhaps, he actually knows what he’s doing when it comes to selecting winners. At least in week one of The Pilot football contest, Mr. Deese reigns supreme.

His 14-2 mark was the best in the many entries received, so he gets to receive the first-winner’s check for $50. Oh, by the way, the two games Deese missed were picking Tennessee to beat Jacksonville (which they almost did, the Jags eking out a 16-14 win) and picking Indianapolis to defeat Houston (now, that one wasn’t so close, as the Manning-less Colts really didn’t look very good in losing 24-7).

In the battle for second place, the tiebreaker came into play. Both Harry Graham, of Pinehurst, and Jeffrey Williams, of Aberdeen, came in with 13-3 marks. So to the tiebreaker we did go.

The tiebreaker game was San Francisco versus Seattle, a game that ended with the 49ers claiming a 33-17 win over the visiting Seahawks. That equals 50 points, and that means that Graham gets the second-place money of $30 because he had 51 points as his tiebreaker.

Even the tiebreaker was close, as Williams earns the third-place check for $20. His tiebreaker number was 48.

OK, I know, I never did say what my first week record was, but I will say that it was matched by Kelly Collins (could he be related to Kerry, who happens to live in Troy?), of Southern Pines; Dick Kolke, of Pinehurst;

David McKinnon, of Carthage; Seth Norris, of Aberdeen; the mysterious L. Johnson, of Vass; Lee Maurath, of Vass; Seth Horton Jr., of Eagle Springs; and Michael Gantt, of Pinehurst. Yep, those guys went 12-4, which is exactly what my lucky coin did.

My only problem this week is that I spent that lucky coin, so I’ve gone to my second option in defying the gods of chance: my dog, Bunny.

Bunny is a black Lab who specializes in eating — anything. So last night, she sat down and helped me with my choices (remember the octopus that predicted the Stanly Cup winner? Well, that Octo got nothin’ on the Bun). I won’t reveal the way she picked, but I will say it involved food.

And the Bun went with Detroit, Buffalo, Minnesota, New Orleans, Baltimore, Indianapolis, N.Y. Jets, Pittsburgh, Washington, Green Bay, Dallas, New England, Miami, Denver, Atlanta, Florida State (yes, M.J., ’tis true, the Sooners are going down).

Check back with y’all next week. The Bun is excited to see how she did.

After all, by next week all her choices will have been, well, let’s say, recycled and used as fertilizer.

Contact Hunter Chase at sports@thepilot.com