MLive's playoff brackets make it easy to follow teams

MLive has playoff brackets for all eight divisions of prep football.

Click here to see them.

It's the easiest way to stay on top of who the teams are playing as the playoffs progress.

Here is who regular-season Mountie foes Lansing Sexton, Mason and St. Johns play during the second round of playoffs (according to MLive):

St. Johns vs. Mount Pleasant (Division 3).

Mason vs. DeWitt (Division 3).

Lansing Sexton vs. Battle Creek Pennfield (Division 4).

Mountie opponents go 3-1 in first round of playoffs

If it's any consolation, Lansing Sexton beat Vicksburg tonight in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 48-0. (see the score and playoff bracket here on MLive).

In Week 5, Sexton beat Northwest 45-0.

Before tonight, Vicksburg was 6-3.

Overall, of Northwest's four opponents that made it to the playoffs, three won tonight.

In addition to Sexton, which competes in Division 4, here are the scores:

Mason 28, Fowlerville 3 (Division 3)

St. Johns 27, G.R. Forest Hills Eastern 24 (Division 3)

Williamston 58, Lansing Catholic 24 (Division 4)

Lansing Catholic had been 9-0 before tonight, including its season-opening win over Northwest.

Obviously, the Williamston Hornets were on a mission. The only game they lost this year during the regular season was against Lansing Catholic.

Williamston has a good shot at going all of the way. Last season, they lost to eventual state champs Marshall and they turned out to be the only team in the tournament to give Marshall much of a game.

The Hornets are an old Northwest foe, holding a 4-2 series edge over the Mounties. Given the strength of Williamston's program these days, I wouldn't encourage Northwest to add them back to the schedule any time soon.

Four Northwest opponents are playoff-bound

In the end, the Mounties did indeed play a challenging schedule in 2010.

One opponent, Lansing Catholic, finished the regular season undefeated, and two (Sexton and Mason) had one loss.

St. Johns had two losses but, of course, is still headed to the playoffs.

Here is who those four teams play this week in the first round of the playoffs:

- Lansing Catholic vs. Williamston

- Sexton vs. Vicksburg

- Mason vs. Fowlwerville

- St. Johns vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern

And, here is the final regular-season record of Northwest's nine opponents in 2010:

- Lansing Catholic (9-0)
- St. Johns (7-2)
- Owosso (3-6)
- Belleville (5-4)
- Sexton (8-1)
- Mason (8-1)
- Waverly (3-6)
- Jackson High (3-6)
- Western (2-7)

These records are according to michigan-football.com.

Proud of the kids

“We’ve got some good kids, and I’m proud of them,” Northwest coach Eddie Cobb told the Jackson Citizen Patriot tonight after the Mounties' 41-0 win over Western.

Northwest finishes the season 1-8.

Read the Citizen Patriot story here.

MLive box score and game stats here.

Good to see Coach Barrett

I wrote yesterday that I planned to attend my first Northwest game since I last played 21 years ago.

The game was on the road, so I didn't necessarily expect to see anyone I knew.

I walked in with my mother and my daughter and, not 20 paces in, we ran into Coach Barrett.

Joe Barrett played for Northwest in the late 1970s and returned in 1987 to coach my JV team. We went 5-4 that year (although it should have been 6-3 but I muffed a field goal on the last play of the game against Columbia Central -- a not-so-fond memory that coach and I revisited Friday).

Barrett was the assistant varsity coach under Duane Kaiser during my senior year in 1989 and then he took over the program in 1990 and ran it for much of the decade.

His 1993 squad was one of only two since 1980 to go 7-2 (The other being the 1982 team).

Seeing him again made me realize that, while the Northwest football program has its challenges, the game and the memories that live on still mean a lot to those who suit up.

The connections made through hours of practice and the intense focus of the games are deep.

That was obvious to me tonight. It didn't feel like it had been 21 years since I last saw Coach Barrett. In no time, we were each ticking off names, games and even plays (such as the infamous missed field goal) that we both remembered.

Northwest may not have the strongest football tradition, but it's there and it lives on within the individuals who once played the game and with those, such as coaches, parents and fans, who shared a close connection.

Northwest football archive: 2010 season

The 2010 season
1 win
8 losses

L, 20-49 -- Aug. 27: Lansing Catholic Central (H)
L, 7-34 -- Sept. 3: St. Johns (A)
L, 14-30 -- Sept. 10 –- Owosso (A)
L, 6-24 -- Sept. 17 –- Belleville (H)
L, 0-45 -- Sept. 24 -- Lansing Sexton (A)
L, 0-49 -- Oct. 1 – Mason (H)
L, 16-18 -- Oct. 8 -- Lansing Waverly (A)
L, 20-35 -- Oct. 15 -- Jackson High (H)
W, 41-0 -- Oct. 22 -- Western (A)

Head coach: Eddie Cobb

Friday's 41-0 win was Mounties first shutout over Western since 1978

The last time Northwest shut out Western was in 1978.

The score of that game was 14-0.

See the Rivals Archive for details.

Tonight's win was Northwest's eighth straight over Western.

The Mounties' record over the Panthers now improves to 25-17-2.

The last shutout in a Northwest-Western game occurred in 1986 when the Panthers blanked the Mounties 12-0.