JTV Sports

By Larry Jacobson JTV Sports • Seven winning seasons in the last nine years. • Six playoff berths in the last seven. • A 23-6 regular season record over the last four. • A 42-23 mark over the last eight. If you had to pick the Jackson area football team those numbers described, which would it be? The Grass Lake Warriors…? The Lumen Christi Titans…? How about Michigan Center? Maybe even the Leslie Blackhawks? While those four programs have certainly enjoyed both regular season and playoff success over the years, the above statistics belong to a football program that keeps churning out competitive, tough-minded and gritty squads year after year: The Springport Spartans. Since 2000, the Spartans have had only 3 seasons when they won fewer than four games, yet they remain often forgotten when it comes to playoff picks or power polls. Most of that lack of recognition probably stems from the fact Springport heads west come playoff time and therefore out of the area. And they’ve yet to win a postseason matchup – going 0-7 in the playoffs. But it’s not the Spartans fault their playoff path generally leads through some of the state’s most vaunted small-school programs…

Well, the high school football season is upon us, and that can only mean one thing: Some buffoon with access to a website and a key board is going to tell everyone how all of the games are going to turn out. This year, that buffoon is me – yours truly: Chucky Buckles. So, without further delay and with no regard to the final score or common sense, here’s one man’s glance into the crystal ball for week one… DUNDEE @ GRASS LAKE- Interesting Week 1 matchup because both teams are perennial playoff contenders. The Vikings are late arrivals due to a summer clearance sale at Cabella’s and they never recover. PICK: GRASS LAKE NAPOLEON @ COLUMBIA CENTRAL: Both teams are hungry for a bounce-back season after struggling last year with two combined wins (both Columbia Central’s.) The Eagles start the season off right. PICK: COLUMBIA CENTRAL ONSTED @ MICHIGAN CENTER: The Onsted team bus gets wedged under the overhang at Rudy’s Drive-In on the way into town, causing a lack of focus. The Cardinals take advantage. PICK: MICHIGAN CENTER NORTHWEST @ HILLSDALE: I feel good about Coach Slater’s Mounties this year and they’ll ride the emotional high of the…