Fifteen weeks in and the tallies are finally all counted. The race for first and second was a close one. It came down to a one-point victory in which Alivia Swapp emerged victorious over Homer Blankenship for the grand prize of $300 of cold hard cash. Homer didn’t go home empty handed, as he was awarded the second place prize money of $150.
After 15 long weeks we finally have our top three PigSkin Predictions 2024 winners. Congratulations to Alivia Swapp (center) for her incredible season, definitely deserving of that $300 first prize win. Homer Blankenship (left) fell just one point shy of Alivia’s win for a second place claim of $150. Kelly Brown couldn’t bring himself to show his face at the SUNews office, but luckily his brother Neal Brown had an extra Kelly-face on hand. (Your prize is $50 Kelly, what Neal ends up giving to you however is none of my business.) Photos by Brooke Knighton.
The race for third was also a nail biter. We had five players within two points of the money finish, but it was none other than our never-to-be-seen, can’t find a pair of scissors, double weekly winner, Kelly Brown who emerged victorious with a one-point win over Pat Blankenship to snag the $50 third place prize money.
A tally of those who played at least half of the total weeks is found below:
1. Alivia Swapp - 159
2. Homer Blankenship - 158
3. Kelly Brown - 153
4. Pat Blankenship - 152
5. Neal Brown, Andrea Gilberg, David Williams - 151
6. John Hiscock, April Hunt - 149
7. Kerry Glover - 148
8. Mike Davis, Tricia Spendlove - 146
9. Daniel Gilberg, Becca Glover, Lane Sims - 144
10. Don Corry, Jerry Hermansen - 135
11. Coby Glover - 133
12. Scott Pratt - 131
13. John Bacialli - 129
14. April Riddle - 119
15. Donnie Riddle - 95
16. Jordan Willoughby - 95
17. O’Connor Dale - 94
18. Dennis Brunner - 90
19. Sandy Whitaker - 85
20. Aneisha Beal - 81
21. Allison Bacialli - 78
22. Jaxon Riddle - 67
We cannot thank our sponsors enough. They are true supporters of this community and this friendly competition would not be near as fun without their weekly prizes, so a big thanks goes out again to all our 2024 sponsors:
Best Friends Animal Society • Brown Box Bake Shop • CC Auto Parts • ERA • Garkane Energy • Glazier’s Family Market Honey’s Marketplace • Jakey Leigh’s • Kanab Family Dental • Kanab Tour Company • Kane Co. Office of Tourism • Lumber Plus • Ramsay Service Center • Sego Restaurant • Stage Stop
Speaking of weekly prizes, let’s take a look back at those weekly winners and who went home with bragging rights:
Week 1 may have been some foreshadowing as Homer Blankenship kicked things off for us with his tiebreaker win, guessing 12 correct and only being 11 points off the total points scored.
Week 2 went to David Williams with 11 correct and a narrow win of 16 points off the total, edging out Mike Davis who was 17 points off.
Week 3 is when we starting hearing the name Alivia Swapp and it never went away. With a win of 11 correct nobody else was in the ballpark and she walked away the easy victor.
Week 4 was another no contest win, as John Bacialli took the W with 13 correct, he then came back in Week 5 with a repeat win of 12 correct, edging out April Riddle with his tiebreaker guess being only eight off.
Week 6 is when Kelly Brown made himself known for something other than terrible entry form etiquette, with a win of 12 correct and a tiebreaker guess 29 points off.
Week 7 went to Alivia again with 13 correct, second place had 12 correct. (Poor Neal was always just short of the goal.)
Week 8 was Scott Pratt’s time to shine, with an 11 correct, no contest win.
Week 9 got crazy with a four-way tie for first, but it was Alivia’s tiebreaker again. Her guess being 23 off, nudged out Tricia Spendlove’s 26 to take the win.
Week 10 bragging rights went to Aneisha Beal, proving it is all in the tiebreaker. Seven players guessed 11 correct, but Aneisha was the closest, being only 15 off.
Week 11 went to Kerry Glover who went uncontested with 12 correct.
Week 12 was another tiebreaker showdown, with Daniel Gilberg taking home the win, edging out Alivia, and being only two points off the total.
Week 13 went to John Hiscock with 13 correct, edging out six others for the win.
Week 14 was back to Kelly Brown with an uncontested win of 12 correct.
Week 15 wrapped up with Mike Davis winning the final prize with 14 correct predictions, tying the season weekly high.
It’s been a fun year, predictors, we hope to see you all again in the fall for our 2025 season. Until then, stay sharp, some of you … get sharp. Maybe we’ll have some new players or new winners. Who knows, anything is possible. I’ll be resting up for the fall, see you all then. Thanks for the ride.
