Gridiron Challenge analysis: Navaroli pulls into third place with big week

Steve Navaroli went 13-1 last week to vault past Lyzz Jones and into third place in our staffers' rankings.

On mobile? Click here to view photo gallerySteve's accuracy rate was the best of the week, and Lyzz had the worst, going out on a limb as the only predictor to choose Littlestown, which lost to Delone, and South Western, which fell to Central York in an overtime thriller. She also ended up on the wrong side of the toss-up game of the week -- Biglerville's win against York County Tech.

Steve, on the other hand, only got Northern York wrong, as the Polar Bears surprised all of our pickers with their loss to Waynesboro.

At this point in the season, there's little wiggle room as we learn more about these teams and get a better handle on what to expect each week. So Steve's three-point swing to pass Lyzz is about as big as it gets.

Everyone else, meanwhile, went 12-2. So entering Week 6, our standings are: 1) Matt Goul, 65-19. 2)Tom Sixeas, 63-21. 3) Steve Navaroli, 62-22. 4) Lyzz Jones, 60-24. 5) Brandon Stoneburg, 59-25. 6) Mike Rubin, 58-25.

And when I said there's not much wiggle room, I submit to you Exhibit A: The Week 6 predictions:

Click here to see the Week 6 preview capsules

Look closely, and you'll see a few variances, I promise. But don't get your hopes up for any separation among the Tom-Steve-Lyzz pack. Their picks are identical.

Matt is out on an island with his pick of Hanover over Fairfield, so a Green Knights victory would let Tom close within a point of tying for first place.

Mike will either look like a genius or a madman after West York's game against Pius X: He's the only one who picked Pius X.

But one point is the most he could lose to Brandon, as both of them also picked South Western to beat Red Lion.

So after this week, Matt will definitely still be in the lead, followed for certain by Tom, Steve then Lyzz.

A South Western win would move Brandon into a tie with Lyzz for fourth while Mike would keep pace with Brandon. If both the Mustangs and Pius X pulled off victories, it'd create a three-way tie for fourth among Lyzz, Brandon and Mike.

So although there aren't many wrinkles in our staff predictions, the race is still tight enough that even just four errant picks can shake up the whole Challenge picture.

Have you checked the Gridiron Challenge leaderboard lately? How do you stack up?