East St. Louis moves up to third in Associated Press Class 7A State Football Poll

Less than 48 hours away from a much-anticipated Southwestern Conference showdown, the Edwardsville Tigers and East St. Louis Flyers remain in the top five in The Associated Press Illinois high school state football polls, which were released on Wednesday.

Edwardsville (1-1), ranked fourth in the Class 8A poll a week ago, fell to fifth after a 58-45 loss at St. Louis-area power Christian Brothers College Prep (CBC) last week. The Tigers were led by senior quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman, who ran for 225 yards and four touchdowns while adding a pair of touchdown passes.

Edwardsville, which will host East St. Louis (1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m., will take on a Flyers team that moved up from fifth to third in the Class 7A poll. East St. Louis defeated the St. Louis Trinity Catholic Titans 32-26 in three overtimes in the finale of the Gateway Scholars Football Classic on Saturday.

The Highland Bulldogs and Columbia Eagles also remain ranked among the state’s elite programs after scoring impressive wins last week.

Highland remained fifth in the Class 5A poll after thumping Belleville East 35-7 last week. The Bulldogs (2-0), who have allowed only seven points the first two weeks of the season, host Marion in their home opener on Friday at 7 p.m.

Columbia (2-0), which won its Monroe County showdown with Waterloo (48-20) a week ago, is now tied with Morris (1-1) for the fifth spot in the Class 4A poll. Ranked sixth a week ago, the Eagles travel to Salem to take on the Wildcats in a Cahokia Conference game.

Other local teams earning votes but not cracking the top 10 were Cahokia and Althoff (Class 4A) and Red Bud and Wesclin in Class 2A.

Following are rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters:

Class 8A

School W-L Pts Prv

1. Lincoln-Way East (8) (2-0) 98 1

2. Loyola (1) (2-0) 90 2

3. Maine South (1) (2-0) 81 3

4. Homewood-Flossmoor (2-0) 66 5

5. Edwardsville (1-1) 58 4

6. Bolingbrook (2-0) 52 7

7. Marist (1-1) 30 8

8. Oswego (2-0) 23 9

9. Hinsdale Central (2-0) 15 6

10. Glenbard West (2-0) 14 10

Others receiving votes: Barrington 9, Stevenson 5, Oswego East 4, St. Charles East 3, Huntley 2.

Class 7A

School W-L Pts Prv

1. Batavia (8) (2-0) 107 1

2. Nazareth (3) (2-0) 100 2

3. East St. Louis (1-1) 76 5

4. Brother Rice (2-0) 75 6

5. Normal (2-0) 54 9

6. Mount Carmel (1-1) 49 4

7. Lake Zurich (1-1) 43 3

8. Benet (2-0) 39 10

9. Hononegah (2-0) 20 NR

10. Simeon (2-0) 13 NR

Others receiving votes: Lincoln-Way West 10, St. Charles North 9, Lincoln-Way Central 7, Wheaton-Warrenville South 2, Moline 1.

Class 6A

School W-L Pts Prv

1. Prairie Ridge (3) (2-0) 107 2

2. Phillips (9) (1-1) 106 1

3. Cary-Grove (2-0) 94 4

4. Richards (2-0) 80 5

5. Willowbrook (2-0) 75 9

6. DeKalb (2-0) 62 8

7. Sacred Heart-Griffin (1-1) 41 3

8. Providence (2-0) 31 NR

9. Chatham Glenwood (2-0) 29 NR

10. Normal West (1-1) 20 6

Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 8, Bloomington 3, Crete-Monee 3, Lemont 1.

Class 5A

School W-L Pts Prv

1. Washington (11) (2-0) 119 1

2. Dunlap (2-0) 104 2

3. Montini (1) (2-0) 101 3

4. Hillcrest (2-0) 82 4

5. Highland (2-0) 61 5

6. Sterling (2-0) 57 6

7. Peoria Central (2-0) 51 8

8. Woodstock Marian (2-0) 41 9

9. Antioch (2-0) 17 10

10. Marion (2-0) 6 NR

(tie) St. Laurence (2-0) 6 NR

Others receiving votes: Woodstock 5, Joliet Catholic 4, Decatur MacArthur 3, Rich Central 2, Carbondale 1.

This story was originally published September 6, 2018 at 3:15 PM.