Updated:

The Massey Ratings went 22-6 (78.5%) for the games in Week 4, the best performance so far this season. That said, it thoroughly missed on a couple of games.

Original Post:

Here are projected scores for this week's high school football games, using the USA Today Massey Ratings projections. The projections have been running at about a 70% accuracy rate this season - much better than a coin flip.

Thursday

Biggersville 28, Houlka 21 (Biggersville, 52-50)

Falkner 26, Vardaman 20 (Vardaman won, 34-26)

Friday

Houston 27, Ackerman 14  (Houston, 17-13)

Mooreville 42, Alcorn Central 14 (Mooreville, 47-6)

Baldwyn 20, Belmont 14 (Belmont won, 39-20)

Benton County 13, Thrasher 12 (Thrasher won, 35-6) 

Corinth 41, Bolivar (Tenn.) Central 14 (Corinth, 43-12) 

Byhalia 32, Holly Springs 7 (Byhalia, 38-6)

Caledonia 28, East Webster 8 (Caledonia, 27-10)

Calhoun City 41, Velma Jackson 20 (Calhoun City, 26-21) 

Coldwater 42, Tupelo Christian 20 (Coldwater, 46-14)

Lafayette 42, Duval Charter (Fla.) 0 (Lafayette, 69-0)

Mantachie 36, East Union 28 (Mantachie, 41-6)

Hamilton 42, Hatley 14 (Hamilton, 52-8)

Amory 35, New Albany 28 (Amory, 30-21)

Immanuel Christian 42, New Site 18 (Immanuel 82-80 ... seriously, 82-80)

North Pontotoc 41, South Pontotoc 20 (North Pontotoc, 47-31)

Noxubee County 34, Aberdeen 6 (Noxubee, 45-0) 

Nettleton 21, Okolona 0 (Okolona won, 61-14)

Oxford 34, Senatobia 8 (Oxford, 34-14)

Pontotoc 20, Ripley 16 (Pontotoc, 34-27)

Potts Camp 14, Strayhorn 10 (Potts Camp, 18-7)

Saltillo 28, Booneville 14 (Saltillo, 34-33) 

Tupelo 35, Shannon 14 (Tupelo, 24-16)

Kossuth 28, Tishomingo County 22 (Tish County won, 15-12) 

Walnut 27, Middleton (Tenn.) 14 (Middleton won, 38-28)

Water Valley 27, Bruce 24 (Water Valley 17-16)

West Point 21, Starkville 14 (West Point, 47-22)

Notes: The rankings have Jackson Prep No. 1 and Meridian No. 2 in the state, which does give us pause. First time I can remember seeing a state academy school at No. 1. … The top-ranked school in the Journal's circulation area is Oxford at No. 8.

Update:

The Massey formula went 19-6 (.760) in Week 3, a bit better than the first two weeks. I have the impression that the formula gets better as the season goes along. We'll see.

Original post:

Each week, we take a look at the score projections by the Massey Ratings contained at the USA Today high school football site (link here). Over the first two weeks of the season, the projected scores have picked the winner in 37 of 52 games (.712).

There are a couple Thursday games this week, so we posted those first.

Thursday

Lafayette 28, Oxford 14 (Oxford won 19-0)

Saltillo 28, Baldwyn 13 (Saltillo 40-7)

Friday

Walnut 42, Alcorn Central 20 (Walnut, 21-14)

Amory 26, Aberdeen 20 (Aberdeen won 27-22)

Belmont 28, Tishomingo County 16 (Tish County won 23-21)

Falkner 14, Benton County 0 (Falkner, 50-0)

Bruce 48, Coffeeville 7 (Bruce, 49-12)

Corinth 20, Booneville 14 (Corinth, 22-16 ... correct margin)

North Pontotoc 42, East Oktibbeha 10 (North Pontotoc, 52-13)

East Union 41, Biggersville 14 (East Union, 52-50)

Mooreville 42, Hatley 14 (Mooreville, 40-20)

West Tallahatchie 22, Holly Springs 20 (game postponed)

Houston 36, Okolona 6 (Houston, 45-8)

Smithville 30, H.W. Byers 7 (Smithville 21-10)

Marshall Academy 42, Immanuel 7 (Marshall Academy 48-0)

Indianola Academy 24, Oak Hill 14 (Indianola, 36-20)

Hamilton 24, Kossuth 23 (Kossuth, 35-27)

Itawamba AHS 42, Nettleton 14 (Itawamba 35-9)

New Albany 24, Pontotoc 20 (New Albany 21-14)

Ripley 41, South Pontotoc 19 (Ripley, 36-7)

Tupelo 19, Starkville 14 (Starkville won, 28-0)

Starkville Academy 21, Magnolia Heights 13 (Magnolia Heights won, 25-14)

Calhoun City 22, Water Valley 20 (Water Valley won, 38-21)

East Webster 34, Weir 7 (East Webster, 41-0)

West Point 26, Columbus 21 (West Point, 26-19 ... very close)

Shannon 42, West Lowndes 14 (Shannon, 55-0)

New Site (0-1) at Mantachie (0-2), no prediction (Mantachie, 47-26)

Marvell Academy (2-0) at Calhoun Academy (2-0), no prediction (Calhoun, 48-6)

Update: The Massey formula went 17-7 (.708) on the Week 2 games.

Original post:

You probably know the drill by now. We take a look at the score projections by the Massey Ratings contained at the USA Today high school football site (link here). Last week, the projections were about 70% accurate (20-8) on winners, with a few picks that were freakishly close and some that completely missed the boat.

It's likely that these will get more accurate as more games are played. As we say sometimes, this seems better than picking at random.

There are Thursday games this week, so we'll post these first. The Friday games will be added a little later tonight.

Thursday

Baldwyn 20, Booneville 16 (Booneville won 28-27)

Walnut 28, Falkner 21 (Falkner won 40-7)

Hamilton 35, Houlka 0 (Hamilton, 54-14)

Friday

Aberdeen 28, Shannon 20 (Aberdeen, 26-13)

Amory 44, Nettleton 14 (Amory, 56-20)

Belmont 28, Mantachie 20 (Belmont, 24-7)

Calhoun City 24, Houston 21 (Houston won 37-14)

Macon Central Academy at Calhoun Academy, too close to call (Calhoun won 46-6)

Tupelo 23, Center Hill 12 (Tupelo, 20-17)

Charleston 30, Oxford 21 (Oxford won 21-18)

Okolona 21, East Webster 17 (East Webster won, 14-6)

South Pontotoc 42, Ethel 27 (South Pontotoc 34-20)

Lafayette 35, Greenwood 7 (Lafayette, 41-0)

Hernando 26, Pontotoc 21 (Hernando, 30-21 ... close)

New Albany 20, Itawamba AHS 17 (Itawamba won 44-43, OT)

Corinth 20, Kossuth 14 (Corinth, 34-7)

Saltillo 28, Mooreville 21 (Saltillo, 35-0)

Mound Bayou JFK 31, Holly Springs 7 (Holly Springs won 20-7)

North Pontotoc 35, Ripley 28 (Ripley won 42-28)

Smithville 28, Hatley 20 (Smithville 44-6)

Madison Central 34, Starkville 21 (Madiscon Central, 24-8)

Strayhorn 26, H. W. Byers 24 (Strayhorn, 20-14)

Thrasher at New Site, ppd.

Tishomingo County 34, Alcorn Central 14 (Tish County 72-6)

Middleton (Tenn.) 22, Tupelo Christian 20 (Middleton, 37-9)

Bruce 41, Vardaman 7 (Bruce, 47-0)

Update: The  Houston Astros named their Triple-A manager, Tony DeFrancesco, as interim manager. It appears that Shannon's Dave Clark may remain as third-base coach.

Original post:

The last time the Houston Astros fired their manager, at the end of the 2009 season, former Shannon standout Dave Clark was named the team's interim manager.

Late Saturday, the struggling Astros pulled the in-season trigger again, firing Brad Mills along with the team's hitting coach (Mike Barnett) and first-base coach (Bobby Meacham). Notably, though, the purge did not include the 49-year-old Clark, who was Mills' third-base coach.

The Astros plan to announce an interim manager and other new coaches today (Sunday, Aug. 19) at a 10 a.m. news conference. There was some speculation in the Houston media that Clark would again be tabbed as the interim manager.

There are 41 games remaining in the regular season - Houston is a dreadful 39-82, the worst record in the major leagues - so it would be a more substantial period of time than Clark had as an interim manager last time, after Cecil Cooper was fired.

Clark went 4-9 at the tail end of the 2009 season and was interviewed for the "permanent" manager's job before Mills - Boston's bench coach - was hired. The Journal caught up with Clark in 2009 and talked about his stint as interim skipper.

Clark was a first-round draft pick by Cleveland in 1986 and went on to a 12-year big league career. He'll turn 50 on Sept. 3.