East St. Louis moves up in Class 7A state football poll
The East St. Louis Flyers’ impressive win over Southwestern Conference rival Belleville West last week did not go unnoticed by those who vote in the Associated Press Illinois state high school football poll each week.
Fresh off its 57-33 victory over the previously undefeated Maroons, East St. Louis (5-1) moved up one spot from a week ago and is now ranked third in the Class 7A state poll.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Macon threw three touchdown passes to lead a huge offensive effort by the Flyers who finished with more than 700 yards of total offense in extending their winning streak to five games.
Undefeated Batavia (92 points) and Nazareth Academy (88) are the top two teams in Class 7A, followed by East St. Louis (79) and Chicago Brother Rice (75). Brother Rice was ranked third a week ago..
Belleville West (5-1), ranked eighth last week, dropped two spots and is now ranked 10th in Class 7A.
Also dropping in their respective classes were undefeated Highland and Columbia.
Highland (6-0), which has outscored its six opponents 264-56 and blew out Civic Memorial 47-0 a week ago, fell from fourth to fifth in the Class 5A poll. Columbia (6-0), which rallied in the final minute to defeat Freeburg (4-2) 38-34,, dropped from fourth to fifth in the Class 4A poll.
While Columbia dropped, Mater Dei and Cahokia both remain in the Class 4A poll after impressive wins. Mater Dei (6-0), which won at Quincy Notre Dame, 42-14, is ranked sixth. Cahokia, moving in on the South Seven Conference title, moved up two spots and is now ranked eighth in the Class 4A poll. The Comanches (5-1) defeated Centralia 53-0 a week ago.
Other teams local teams receiving votes but not cracking the top 10 were Freeburg (Class 4A), Nashville (Class 2A) and Madison (Class 1A)
Here are the latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters:
Class 8A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Lincoln-Way East (8) | 6-0 | 89 | 1 |
| 2. | Maine South (1) | 6-0 | 78 | 3 |
| 3. | Oswego | 6-0 | 63 | 4 |
| T-4. | Homewood-Flossmoor | 5-1 | 62 | 2 |
| T-4. | Marist | 5-1 | 62 | 5 |
| 6. | Glenbard West | 5-1 | 47 | 6 |
| 7. | Bolingbrook | 5-1 | 32 | 8 |
| 8. | Hinsdale Central | 5-1 | 30 | 9 |
| 9. | Naperville Central | 4-2 | 11 | NR |
| 10. | Oswego East | 6-0 | 10 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Stevenson 5, Neuqua Valley 4
Class 7A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Batavia (4) | 6-0 | 92 | 1 |
| 2. | Nazareth (3) | 6-0 | 88 | 2 |
| 3. | East St. Louis | 5-1 | 79 | 4 |
| 4. | Brother Rice | 6-0 | 75 | 3 |
| 5. | Mt. Carmel | 5-1 | 59 | 5 |
| 6. | Simeon | 6-0 | 54 | 6 |
| 7. | Hononegah | 6-0 | 39 | 7 |
| 8. | Normal Community | 5-1 | 26 | 9 |
| 9. | St. Charles North | 5-1 | 12 | NR |
| 10. | Belleville West | 5-1 | 10 | 8 |
Others receiving votes: Lincoln-Way West 7, Lake Zurich 4, Glenbard East 3, Hoffman Estates 1, Moline 1
Class 6A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Cary Grove (8) | 6-0 | 107 | 1 |
| 2. | Oak Lawn Richards (2) | 6-0 | 98 | 2 |
| 3. | Prairie Ridge | 5-1 | 72 | 4 |
| 4. | Willowbrook | 6-0 | 71 | 3 |
| 5. | Phillips | 4-2 | 70 | 5 |
| 6. | Chatham Glenwood | 6-0 | 54 | 6 |
| 7. | Niles Notre Dame | 5-1 | 46 | T-9 |
| 8. | Providence | 5-1 | 46 | 8 |
| 9. | DeKalb | 5-1 | 24 | T-9 |
| 10. | Normal West | 5-1 | 22 | 10 |
Others receiving votes: Sacred Heart-Griffin (5), Quincy 2, Kenwood 1, Springfield 1
Class 5A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Washington (10) | 6-0 | 109 | 1 |
| 2. | Montini (1) | 6-0 | 97 | 2 |
| 3. | Sterling | 6-0 | 86 | 3 |
| 4. | Hillcrest | 6-0 | 70 | 5 |
| 5. | Highland | 6-0 | 68 | 4 |
| 6. | Antioch | 6-0 | 55 | 6 |
| 7. | Metamora | 6-0 | 46 | 7 |
| 8. | Kaneland | 5-1 | 33 | T-9 |
| 9. | Decatur MacArthur | 4-2 | 18 | 8 |
| 10. | Cardbondale | 5-1 | 8 | NR |
Others receiving votes: St. Francis 4, Payton 4, Sycamore 3, Peoria Central 2, Joliet Catholic 1, Dunlap 1
Class 4A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | IC Catholic (12) | 6-0 | 147 | 1 |
| 2. | Rochester (3) | 5-1 | 135 | 2 |
| 3. | Taylorville | 6-0 | 103 | 3 |
| 4. | Rockford Boylan | 5-1 | 102 | 5 |
| 5. | Columbia | 6-0 | 92 | 4 |
| 6. | Breese Mater Dei | 6-0 | 67 | T-6 |
| 7. | Coal City | 5-1 | 53 | T-6 |
| 8. | Cahokia | 5-1 | 38 | 10 |
| 9. | Pontiac | 6-0 | 29 | NR |
| 10. | Richmond-Burton | 5-1 | 24 | 9 |
Others receiving votes: Herrin 16, Johnsburg 8, Morris 7, Fairbury Prairie Central 2, Raby 1, Freeburg 1
Class 3A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Byron (12) | 6-0 | 164 | 1 |
| 2. | Carlinville (1) | 6-0 | 129 | 2 |
| 3. | Monticello (1) | 6-0 | 126 | 3 |
| 4. | Bishop McNamara (3) | 5-1 | 117 | 5 |
| 5. | Farmington | 6-0 | 102 | 4 |
| 6. | Williamsville | 5-1 | 82 | 6 |
| 7. | Beardstown | 6-0 | 58 | 7 |
| 8. | Vandalia | 6-0 | 50 | 8 |
| 9. | DuQuoin | 6-0 | 41 | 9 |
| 10. | Elmwood-Brimfield | 6-0 | 36 | 10 |
Others receiving votes: Lisle 18, Monmouth-Roseville 5, Rock Island Alleman 3, Paris 2, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 1, Fairfield 1
Class 2A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Maroa-Forsyth (13) | 6-0 | 157 | 1 |
| 2. | Orion (3) | 6-0 | 140 | 2 |
| 3. | Decatur St. Teresa | 6-0 | 120 | 4 |
| 4. | Sterling Newman | 5-1 | 119 | 3 |
| 5. | Eastland-Pearl City | 6-0 | 94 | 5 |
| 6. | Illini West (Carthage) | 6-0 | 80 | 6 |
| 7. | Bismarck-Henning | 6-0 | 47 | 8 |
| 8. | Hope Academy | 4-2 | 46 | 7 |
| 9. | Pana | 5-1 | 41 | 9 |
| 10. | Mercer County | 4-2 | 24 | T-10 |
Others receiving votes: Nashville 7, Eldorado 2, Hamilton West Hancock 2, Rockridge 1
Class 1A
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Prv |
| 1. | Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (16) | 6-0 | 169 | 1 |
| 2. | Lena-Winslow | 5-1 | 144 | 2 |
| 3. | Ottawa Marquette (1) | 6-0 | 130 | 3 |
| 4. | Tuscola | 5-1 | 114 | 4 |
| 5. | Princeville | 6-0 | 100 | 5 |
| 6. | Camp Point Central | 5-1 | 77 | 6 |
| 7. | Argenta-Oreana | 6-0 | 69 | 7 |
| 8. | Milledgeville | 6-0 | 49 | 9 |
| 9. | Concord (Triopia) | 5-1 | 37 | 10 |
| 10. | Aurora Christian | 4-2 | 20 | 8 |
Others receiving votes: Athens 8, Carrollton 8, Fisher 4, Sesser-Valier 2, Forreston 2, Madison 1, Arcola 1