High School Football

Final high school football rankings released just in time for playoffs

Highland quarterback Garrett Marti has led the Bulldogs to an 8-1 regular season record and a No. 2 state ranking in the final Class 5A poll.
Highland quarterback Garrett Marti has led the Bulldogs to an 8-1 regular season record and a No. 2 state ranking in the final Class 5A poll. BND File

Just in time for the first round of the IHSA state playoffs, some metro-east teams advanced in the Associated Press’ final high school football poll of 2016.

Althoff (9-0) and East St. Louis (9-0) hold onto their no. 1 rankings in Class 4A and 7A respectively and Columbia (9-0) is still ranked fifth in 4A.

But 8-1 Highland, winners of eight games straight, have steadily climbed the 5A ladder to its current No. 2 rank, up a spot from a week ago. Edwardsville, which has lost only to East St. Louis, also climbed a spot on the 8A poll from No. 7 to No. 6.

Mater Dei (5-4) and Central (7-2), Breese rivals and first-round playoff opponents, received 4A votes only to finish outside the top 10. Cahokia, which finished 4-5 after a promising start, received votes in 5A.

Loyola Catholic (9-0), first-round playoff opponent for O’Fallon, was the unanimous No. 1 pick in Class 8A. Normal Community (8-1) rose a spot to No. 6 in 7A and will play host to Belleville West (5-4) in a playoff game Saturday.

Geneseo, which will take on Triad Saturday, got votes in class 5A, but finished unranked.

Illinois High School Football Top 10 Poll

The Associated Press

Here are the latest 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. Loyola (10)

(9-0)

100

1

2. Homewood-Flossmoor

(9-0)

85

3

3. Palatine

(9-0)

75

T4

4. Brother Rice

(8-1)

72

2

5. Hinsdale Central

(9-0)

61

6

6. Edwardsville

(8-1)

40

7

7. Naperville North

(8-1)

25

9

8. St. Charles East

(9-0)

24

8

9. Marist

(8-1)

22

10

10. Naperville Neuqua Valley

(8-1)

16

T4

Others receiving votes: Oswego 12, Stevenson 9, Lincoln-Way East 4, Glenbard West 2, Barrington 2.

Class 7A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. East St. Louis (10)

(9-0)

109

1

2. Bradley-Bourbonnais (1)

(9-0)

97

2

3. Fenwick

(8-1)

86

3

4. St. Charles North

(8-1)

74

4

5. Rolling Meadows

(9-0)

60

5

(tie)Normal Community

(8-1)

60

T6

7. Benet

(7-2)

35

8

8. Rockford Auburn

(8-1)

28

5

(6A)

9. Batavia

(7-2)

19

T6

10. Quincy

(8-1)

16

8

(6A)

Others receiving votes: Glenbard North 15, Glenbrook North 13, Lake Zurich 6, Highland Park 5, Lincoln Park 3, Lincoln-Way Central 2, Machesney Park Harlem 1, St. Rita 1.

Class 6A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Sacred Heart-Griffin (Spr) (7)

(9-0)

97

1

2. Prairie Ridge (3)

(9-0)

93

2

3. Cary-Grove

(8-1)

79

3

4. Lemont

(9-0)

71

4

5. Crete-Monee

(7-2)

48

7

6. Antioch

(9-0)

36

9

7. Rockford Boylan

(8-1)

28

10

8. Morgan Park

(8-1)

24

T8

(5A)

9. DeKalb

(7-2)

21

6

10. Oak Lawn Richards

(7-2)

14

NR

Others receiving votes: Montini 13, Galesburg 7, Danville 5, Riverside-Brookfield 3, St. Laurence 2, Rock Island 1, Marmion 1, Grayslake North 1.

Class 5A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Sterling (9)

(9-0)

108

2

2. Highland (1)

(8-1)

91

3

3. Peoria Central (1)

(8-1)

88

1

4. Washington

(7-2)

68

5

5. Morris

(7-2)

65

6

6. Centralia

(7-2)

46

7

7. Peoria Notre Dame

(6-3)

40

4

8. Chicago (Solorio Academy)

(7-2)

30

10

9. Hillcrest

(7-2)

9

NR

10. Vernon Hills

(6-3)

7

T8

Others receiving votes: Cahokia 5, Geneseo 4, Woodstock Marian 4, Nazareth 4, Kankakee 3, Metamora 3, Payton 3, Chicago (Goode) 3, Belvidere 2, Marion 1, Decatur Eisenhower 1, Rochelle 1, Woodstock North 1.

Class 4A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Althoff Catholic (8)

(9-0)

114

1

2. Phillips (1)

(8-1)

103

2

3. Rochester (1)

(8-1)

96

3

4. Johnsburg (1)

(9-0)

86

4

5. Columbia (1)

(9-0)

71

5

6. Herscher

(9-0)

63

5

(3A)

7. Genoa-Kingston

(9-0)

54

6

8. Mt. Zion

(8-1)

36

7

9. Aurora Central Catholic

(8-1)

19

9

10. Herrin

(8-1)

11

NR

Others receiving votes: Plano 10, Rockford Lutheran 5, Canton 4, Breese Central 3, Richmond-Burton 2, Breese Mater Dei 2.

Class 3A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. IC Catholic (12)

(9-0)

129

1

2. Wilmington

(9-0)

114

2

3. Monticello

(9-0)

99

3

4. Byron (1)

(9-0)

93

4

5. Newton

(9-0)

68

7

6. Mt. Carmel

(9-0)

55

8

7. Farmington

(9-0)

41

10

8. North-Mac

(8-1)

30

6

9. Westville

(9-0)

19

NR

10. Elmwood-Brimfield

(8-1)

15

NR

Others receiving votes: Williamsville 8, Bloomington Central Catholic 8, Pana 7, Tolono Unity 5, Carlinville 3, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 2.

Class 2A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Downs Tri-Valley (13)

(9-0)

130

1

2. Sterling Newman

(9-0)

113

3

3. Mendon Unity

(9-0)

96

4

4. Deer Creek-Mackinaw

(8-1)

86

2

5. Maroa-Forsyth

(8-1)

82

5

6. Hamilton West Hancock

(9-0)

62

6

7. Annawan-Wethersfield

(8-1)

43

8

8. Eastland-Pearl City

(8-1)

38

9

9. Fulton

(8-1)

25

7

10. DuQuoin

(7-2)

11

NR

Others receiving votes: Carmi White County 10, Red Bud 8, Eldorado 6, Bismarck-Henning 2, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 1, Westchester St. Joseph 1, St. Bede 1.

Class 1A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Forreston (12)

(9-0)

129

1

2. Tuscola (1)

(9-0)

117

2

3. Ottawa Marquette

(9-0)

96

3

4. Stockton

(9-0)

95

4

5. Decatur St. Teresa

(8-1)

79

5

6. Lena-Winslow

(7-2)

63

6

7. Decatur Lutheran (LSA)

(9-1)

44

7

8. Argenta-Oreana

(8-1)

26

10

9. Mt. Sterling (Brown County)

(7-2)

25

9

10. Aquin

(8-1)

20

NR

Others receiving votes: Athens 5, Arcola 4, Bureau Valley 4, Camp Point Central 3, Dakota 3, Stark County 1, LeRoy 1.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Final high school football rankings released just in time for playoffs."

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