Northwest Rankin is slowly putting the tragic death of star defensive player Mick Fullerton behind them as they play the early portion of the boys soccer season with the state’s No. 1 ranking in hand.

“It’s been tough, but the kids have handled this deal really well,” Northwest soccer coach Chris Gardner said after his Cougars defeated Vicksburg 3-0 at Memorial Stadium Thursday night.

Fullerton, and his younger sister, Kaitlyn, were killed in an automobile accident in Brandon two weeks ago. Fullerton was projected to be one of the top five recruits in the state this season.

Despite the tragedy, the Cougars are now 4-0 on the season.

“They’ve put us No. 1 in the state, so that means we have a big target on us,” Gardner said.

The Gators (1-3) can thank goal keeper Bowen Woodson for keeping them in Thursday’s contest until Pat Coates scored his second goal of the game in the 67th minute to make it 3-0. Woodson made four point-blank saves in the first half and added three more in the second.

(G) NWR 5, Vicksburg 0

The Lady Cougars outshot the Missy Gators 21-7 and kept Vicksburg (0-3-1) winless on the season.

“I hope we can beat somebody soon because if we don’t we might not win one before Christmas,” VHS coach Kevin Manton said. “I moved two young girls in there in the second half in Amelia Hyde and Kathy Allen and they played extremely well.”

Melanie Webb scored two goals for the Lady Cougars while Alli Coates, Serena Pendergast and Camille Dumas had one each.