The Shepherd Mustangs will head out to square off against the Joliet J Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
As a matter of fact, Shepherd put up the most points they have all season on Friday. They never let Roundup get on the board and left with a 56-0 win. The Mustangs pushed the score to 48-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Panthers had no chance of recovering from.
| 09/26/25 vs Roundup | 3 |
| 09/13/24 @ Roundup | 2 |
| 09/06/24 @ Three Forks/Willow Creek | 2 |
| 08/29/25 vs Conrad | 1 |
| 10/25/24 vs Red Lodge/Belfry/Roberts | 1 |
Shepherd's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Ryder Neely, who rushed for 137 yards and one score on only eight carries, and Caleb Nicholson, who threw for 91 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. Those three passing touchdowns gave Nicholson a new career-high. Owen Schlotter also helped with two TDs in total.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Shepherd was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 271 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Shepherd's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Jaxon Fields refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Meanwhile, Joliet put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed past Colstrip to the tune of 42-0. The result was nothing new for the J Hawks, who have now won three matchups by 35 points or more so far this season.
Shepherd better keep an eye on Jake Cook. He was instrumental in Joliet's win, throwing for 239 yards and four touchdowns on only 15 passes, while also rushing for 39 yards and a pair of scores. Kasen Krook was Cook's top target, picking up 61 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
Joliet didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Gavin Thompson.
Joliet's record now sits at 5-0. As for Shepherd, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-4.
Shepherd might still be hurting after the 28-8 loss they got from Joliet when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Thankfully for the Mustangs, Kaden Juhnke (who threw for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also rushed for 36 yards and one score) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
