News4JAX put its Week 0 high school football picks on the board Thursday, giving readers predicted scores for a full slate of local matchups as the season begins. Justin Barney said he will keep offering picks on the games each Thursday during the season, turning the opening week into the first checkpoint of a weekly routine.
That matters now because Week 0 is the first chance to see how these teams are lined up before the results start arriving. The list included Bishop Snyder at Port Orange Atlantic, Christ’s Church Academy at St. Joseph, Crescent City at Bayside at 7:30 p.m., Eagle’s View at Old Plank Christian, Fernandina Beach at Keystone Heights and First Coast Christian at Harvest Community, with each game carrying a predicted winner and final score. The same approach stretched through Interlachen at Trenton at 7:30 p.m., Lafayette at Union County at 7:30 p.m., Stanton at Duval Charter, West Nassau at Paxon at 6:30 p.m. and Westminster Academy at Episcopal, giving the football schedule a clear start point and a set of numbers to test against the field.
The picks also showed how closely the slate was being judged. West Nassau at Paxon was labeled the best Week 0 matchup among independent teams, but the forecast still gave West Nassau a 35-20 win, a reminder that the most anticipated game is not always the one expected to be close. Other calls were tighter, including Bishop Snyder over Port Orange Atlantic 23-17, St. Joseph over Christ’s Church Academy 21-20 and Trenton over Interlachen 21-20, while Bayside was picked to beat Crescent City 28-21 and Union County to top Lafayette 34-21.
For now, the value is in the map more than the margin: who is playing, when the games begin and how the early predictions stack up once Week 0 is over. Barney’s Thursday picks will keep shaping the conversation all season, but this first pass already sets the standard for the week ahead.
