I don’t want to toot my own horn, but going  5-0 in my first week of predicting the local high school action, I feel pretty good about myself.

Of course, I have been down this road before with the college picks.

One week you are miraculously 10-0, the next week 4-6. So I understand the highs and lows of being a prognosticator.

Still, I am happy to get off to a good start, although most of my score predictions weren’t even in the neighborhood.

But since I throw those in just for fun and I am really focusing on picking winners, I can live with that.

Besides, it gives the readers something to give me grief about.

It’s been a short week for our local football teams as all of them are playing on Thursday night this year.

Three Rivers at Dowagiac

Dowagiac looked impressive defeating South Haven 70-8 last week, but the Rams are not the Three Rivers Wildcats.

Despite an opening week loss, I expect the Wildcats to bounce back and give their best effort against the Chieftains.

After all, when you play in the state title game the previous year, you expect more from your football team.

A lot of people are thinking this is going to be lopsided, but I expect Three Rivers to show up ready to play knowing full well that 0-2 makes it awful tough to make the playoffs.

The Chieftains win a surprisingly close contest, 21-14.

Niles at Marshall

The Vikings got off to a great start, but this week’s opponent is the defending state champions.

Niles and Marshall played a thrilling game in 2009’s season opener, with the Redhawks pulling out the victory.

Niles showed that its new two-platoon system will pay dividends this season, but tonight it won’t be enough.

Marshall for the second straight year was defeated by the St. Joseph Bears in its opener.

Marshall will struggle again tonight and this time the Vikings will finish the job.

Niles surprises the defending champions with a 20-10 victory.

Centreville at Brandywine

The Bobcats got off to a great start with a win over Lawrence, scoring 44 points in the process.

Centreville was a 28-12 winner over Marcellus in its season opener.

I expect the combination of Stone Hadley, Jacob Frazier and Dustin Sater to continue to put up big numbers and I see Brandywine rolling to its second straight victory.

The Bobcats take this one 35-21.

River Valley at Cass

It will be name your own score night for the Rangers against an overmatched squad of Mustangs.

River Valley will have no answers for the Cass running or passing game and the Rangers will post a 70-0 victory over the Mustangs.

White Pigeon at Edwardsburg

The Eddies are feeling pretty good about their 10-7 win over Hopkins last week, but it is going to take more than 10 points to win this game.

White Pigeon topped Union City 23-14 last week, but they won’t have enough to get past Edwardsburg again this season.

The Eddies squeak out another one 14-7.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.