AHOSKIE – Larry Matthews of Ahoskie topped 157 other entries to win week #10 of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Football Contest.

In a weekend full of upsets, Matthews sat alone at the top of the heap with an 11-3 record. For his efforts, Matthews will pocket the weekly prize money of $50.

For the record, Matthews missed on Wake Forest (upset 42-34 at UNC who hadn’t won at home since the turn of the new century), the NY Giants (who failed to beat the hapless Atlanta Falcons) and the Indianapolis Colts (who were stunned, 28-23, at Jacksonville).

To his credit, Matthews was only one of a handful of contestants to predict San Diego’s upset of the Minnesota Vikings.

Finishing in a five-way tie for second place, each with 10-4 records, were Clark West of Murfreesboro, Richard Thompson of Ahoskie, Tammy Evans of Murfreesboro, Buck Matthews of Aulander and Martisa Raynor of Ahoskie.

The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald’s Football Contest will run throughout the NFL’s regular season. An official entry blank and the pairings for the upcoming weekend games will appear in each Tuesday’s edition. Contestants are required to fill in the blanks with their choice of corresponding teams beside the names of each of the 14 participating Football Contest advertisers. The entry with the most correct choices will be awarded the weekly cash prize of $50. In the event of a tie, one game will be pre-selected as the tiebreaker. There, each contestant is asked to predict what they think will be the combined score between those two teams. The contestant closest to that score will earn the tiebreaker and the prize money. In the event that two or more contestants predict the same correct or closest to score, the prize money will be equally divided.

Weekly winners will be notified by phone on where to collect their prize money.

The contest is open to anyone over the age of 18, with the exception of Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald employees and their immediate families.

All entries will become eligible for the grand prize drawing of $250 in cash. That drawing will be held one week prior to the Super Bowl.

Weekly entries can be dropped off at the Ahoskie office (corner of Main St. and Catherine Creek Rd.) of the R-C News-Herald by 5 p.m. on each Friday. Entry forms can also be mailed (postmarked by 5 p.m. on Fridays) to: Football Contest, R-C News-Herald, PO Box 1325, Ahoskie, NC, 27910.

Local merchants joining the R-C News-Herald in sponsoring this year’s Football Contest are Furniture Galleries, Dixon Cleaners, Quick Lane, Hall Auto, Piggly Wiggly, H&N Mobile Home Supply, Jernigan Oil, Pizza Inn, The Athlete’s Foot, Movie Time, Allstate Insurance, Terry’s Used Cars and The Sportsman’s Edge.