High School Football

Three local teams ranked in Illinois high school football poll

East St. Louis’ DeMonta Whitherspoon is upended by a Shreveport, La. tackler Saturday at the Gateway Scholars Classic. The Flyers’ 14-6 loos to Evangel Christian cost them the top spot in the Illinois AP Class 7A high school football poll.
East St. Louis’ DeMonta Whitherspoon is upended by a Shreveport, La. tackler Saturday at the Gateway Scholars Classic. The Flyers’ 14-6 loos to Evangel Christian cost them the top spot in the Illinois AP Class 7A high school football poll. Jimmy Simmons

Following a bruising loss to defending Louisiana state champion Evangel Christian Academy at the Gateway Scholars Classic on Saturday, the East St. Louis Flyers fell from the top spot in the Illinois Class 7A State Football Poll.

The defending state champs join Althoff at second place in their class. For the second week in a row, the Crusaders are ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, receiving one first-place vote for their win over Helias Catholic in Jefferson City, Missouri, last Friday.

Highland, after dominating 8A opponent Belleville East, moved up a spot to No. 3 in Class 5A. The only other metro-east teams mentioned in the poll were 2-0 Triad in 5A and 2-0 Mater Dei in 4A.

The Knights will play Althoff at Lindenwood University-Belleville at 7 p.m. Friday. Triad, 44-7 winner over Collinsville in Week 2, takes on 1-1 Mount Vernon.

East St. Louis will take on Southwestern Conference rival Edwardsville on Friday. Last year, the Tigers were staple in the middle of the 8A poll, but have started the 2017 season at 0-2 for the first time in 2012.

Highland, which has outscored its opponents 120-39 in two games, will be on the road at Marion on Friday.

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. Lincoln-Way East (12)

(2-0)

129

2

2. Maine South

(1-1)

112

1

3. Loyola

(1-1)

91

3

4. Homewood-Flossmoor

(2-0)

89

4

5. Lyons

(2-0)

72

5

6. Naperville Central

(2-0)

67

6

7. Marist (1)

(2-0)

64

7

8. St. Charles East

(2-0)

41

10

9. Naperville North

(2-0)

12

NR

10. Huntley

(1-1)

10

8

(tie) Barrington

(2-0)

10

8

Others receiving votes: Waubonsie Valley 5, Stevenson 4, Niles Notre Dame 3, Lake Park 3, Hinsdale Central 1, Oak Park River Forest 1, Oswego 1.

Class 7A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Lake Zurich (8)

(2-0)

120

2

2. East St. Louis (4)

(1-1)

107

1

3. Chicago Mt. Carmel (1)

(2-0)

105

3

4. Glenbard West

(1-1)

88

4

5. Normal Community

(2-0)

69

6

6. St. Rita

(2-0)

64

7

7. Fenwick

(2-0)

50

8

8. Batavia

(2-0)

43

10

9. Plainfield North

(2-0)

19

NR

10. Benet

(1-1)

16

5

Others receiving votes: Jacobs 9, Hoffman Estates 7, Rockford Auburn 7, Lincoln-Way Central 5, Wheaton North 3, Glenbrook North 2, Bradley-Bourbonnais 1.

Class 6A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Prairie Ridge (14)

(2-0)

140

1

2. Cary-Grove

(1-1)

120

4

3. Normal West

(2-0)

96

5

4. DeKalb

(2-0)

89

6

5. Nazareth

(2-0)

70

8

6. Sacred Heart-Griffin (Springfield)

(1-1)

68

2

7. Montini

(1-1)

51

3

8. Danville

(2-0)

37

9

8. Lake Forest

(2-0)

36

10

10. Crete-Monee

(1-1)

24

NR

Others receiving votes: Springfield 16, Rockford Boylan 8, St. Laurence 4, Oak Lawn Richards 4, Peoria Central 3, Lemont 2, Riverside-Brookfield 2.

Class 5A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Phillips (13)

(2-0)

139

1

2. Sterling (1)

(2-0)

125

3

3. Highland

(2-0)

104

4

4. Woodstock Marian

(2-0)

90

7

5. Dunlap

(2-0)

60

8

6. Decatur MacArthur

(2-0)

54

NR

7. Washington

(1-1)

47

2

8. Richwoods

(2-0)

33

NR

9. Morton

(2-0)

28

NR

10. Centralia

(1-1)

20

5

Others receiving votes: Hillcrest 16, Rochelle 15, Antioch 13, Joliet Catholic 11, Triad 7, Peoria Notre Dame 5, Rich Central 2, Chicago (Solorio Academy) 1.

Class 4A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Rochester (14)

(2-0)

149

1

2. Althoff Catholic (1)

(2-0)

122

2

3. Herscher

(2-0)

114

3

4. Canton

(2-0)

98

4

5. Johnsburg

(2-0)

89

5

6. Morris

(2-0)

71

7

7. Dixon

(2-0)

70

6

8. Rock Island Alleman

(2-0)

52

9

9. Geneseo

(2-0)

25

NR

10. Mt. Zion

(2-0)

10

NR

Others receiving votes: Effingham 9, Herrin 6, Taylorville 4, Coal City 3, Richmond-Burton 2, Breese Mater Dei 1.

Class 3A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Tolono Unity (5)

(2-0)

133

2

2. IC Catholic (8)

(1-1)

123

1

(tie) Monticello (1)

(2-0)

123

3

4. Byron (1)

(2-0)

102

4

5. Williamsville

(2-0)

97

5

6. Carlinville

(2-0)

64

6

7. Bloomington Central Catholic

(2-0)

62

7

8. Decatur St. Teresa

(2-0)

34

10

9. Vandalia

(2-0)

31

9

10. North-Mac

(2-0)

24

8

Others receiving votes: Elmwood-Brimfield 15, Peotone 13, Newton 3, Winnebago 1.

Class 2A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Sterling Newman (4)

(2-0)

129

2

2. Maroa-Forsyth (9)

(2-0)

127

1

3. Deer Creek-Mackinaw (1)

(2-0)

107

3

4. Hamilton West Hancock

(2-0)

88

6

5. Farmington

(2-0)

86

4

6. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

(2-0)

67

7

7. Westville

(2-0)

34

8

8. Chicago (Hope) Academy

(2-0)

26

NR

9. Downs Tri-Valley

(1-1)

21

9

10. Annawan-Wethersfield

(1-1)

19

5

Others receiving votes: Aurora Christian 14, Bismarck-Henning 14, Orion 10, Pana 10, Rockridge 9, Alton Marquette 3, Illini West (Carthage) 2, Eldorado 2, Rockford Christian 2.

Class 1A

School

W-L

Pts

Prv

1. Lena-Winslow (10)

(2-0)

133

3

2. Tuscola (4)

(2-0)

127

2

3. Forreston

(1-1)

103

1

4. Fulton

(2-0)

89

4

5. Eastland-Pearl City

(2-0)

78

5

6. Ottawa Marquette

(2-0)

63

7

7. Mt. Sterling (Brown County)

(2-0)

60

6

8. Athens

(2-0)

39

8

(tie)Shelbyville

(2-0)

39

9

10. Aquin

(2-0)

14

10

Others receiving votes: Dakota 9, Fithian Oakwood 6, Warrensburg-Latham 4, Stark County 3, Hardin (Calhoun) 2, Moweaqua Central A&M 1.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Three local teams ranked in Illinois high school football poll."

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