Northwest rival Western advances to 3-0

The Western Panthers, Northwest's longest-running rival, is off to a 3-0 start this season.

It's the first time since 1975 that the Panthers have been 3-0, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Read story here.

The Mounties will host Western in the regular-season finale Oct. 23.

If the Panthers keep up the winning (their game next week is against 0-3 Hillsdale), they'll be heading to the playoffs after the Northwest game.

Mason is the only other team on Northwest's schedule that has started the season 3-0.

The Mounties play at Mason on Oct. 2.

Jackson Northwest-Owosso game postponed after shooting

The game will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday at Northwest.

Here's the story from the Jackson Citizen Patriot:

Northwest, Owosso football game postponed after fatal shooting of anti-abortion activist

Massey Ratings predicts a close game Friday against Owosso

Well, the Massey Ratings computer came close last week, predicting a 32-20 loss for the Mounties; the final score was 35-20.

The computer this week is calling for a 24-20 win over the Owosso Trojans. See prediction here.

If it is a four-point game, that'll be the closest margin in the brief history of these two teams squaring off. (The Mounties beat Owosso 35-6 last year and 35-14 in 2007. Rivals Archive here).

We've got video!

A Mountie fan has uploaded to YouTube four video snippets from Thursday's home against St. Johns.

Here they are:

Coach Cobb: 'We have to be consistent'

According to the Jackson Citizen Patriot, the Mounties put up a tough fight against St. Johns but missed several opportunities to take control of Thursday's game.

Check out the game story here (it includes a slideshow of pictures).

From MLive's High School Sports site:

TEAM STATS

PLAYER STATS

Jackson Northwest loses to St. Johns, 35-20

The Jackson Northwest Mounties lost their home opener Friday to St. Johns, 35-20.

The Mounties fall to 0-2 on the season while St. Johns improves to 2-0.

No story or detailed stats are yet available on MLive's High School Sports site. But the quarter-by-quarter score is. Click here to see it.

It looks like Northwest played the Redwings tough but gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Next week, Northwest plays at home against Owosso. The Mounties are 2-0 against the Trojans, beating them 36-6 last year and 35-14 in 2007.

Owosso is 0-2 so far this year. The Trojans lost on Thursday to Mason, 35-13. They lost their opener, 9-7, to Corunna.

Massey Ratings predicts Saint Johns victory Thursday

For what it's worth, the Massey Ratings computer predicts Saint Johns will beat Northwest on Thursday, 32-20.

The Mounties are still searching for their first win against the Redwings, having gone 0-4 since they first played in 2005.

Two years ago, Northwest lost in a 49-41 shoot out. (see Rivals Archive for all the scores).

Saint Johns went 7-2 in the regular season last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Redwings beat Charlotte last week in the season opener.

The Mounties will likely have their hands full in their home opener Thursday evening. But if they can keep up the momentum their offense showed in the second half last week, and if they can hold Saint Johns under 30 points, an upset is possible.