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Five area teams crack state's first high school football poll

joey wright, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·5 min read

Aug. 23—Schools within The News-Gazette's coverage area are well-represented in the first Associated Press Illinois high school football poll of the 2023 season.

Centennial generated 10 points in the Class 6A poll on the heels of a 7-3 season that ended with a loss to Crete-Monee in the first round of the postseason; the Warriors enter the 2023 season as the top team in that class to not crack the top 10 with 21 points. Normal West, who the Chargers will face in the regular season finale on Oct. 20, enter the season at No. 10 in Class 6A.

Mahomet-Seymour is the lone area team represented in the Class 5A poll; the Bulldogs will enter the season at No. 7 after receiving 40 points.

Class 3A features Unity entering the season at No. 4 with 69 points after reaching the state semifinal round in 2022, bowing out to Williamsville who enters the season one spot higher with 83 points. Prairie Central lost to Unity in the quarterfinal round and enters the season ranked No. 5, while Monticello and St. Joseph-Ogden both received votes.

Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin received a first-place vote in the Class 2A poll and enters the season ranked No. 6 in that poll. Ridgeview-Lexington earned 15 points but didn't crack the top 10.

Tuscola enters the season ranked No. 6 in the Class 1A poll; the only other area team to earn representation in that poll was LeRoy with one vote.

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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 Pts

1. Lincoln-Way East (8) 116

2. Loyola (4) 111

3. York 78

4. Maine South 73

5. Gurnee Warren 60

6. Palatine 53

7. Glenbard West 52

8. Lyons 26

9. Chicago (Marist) 18

10. O'Fallon 12

Others receiving votes: Naperville Neuqua Valley 11, Naperville North 10, Bolingbrook 7, South Elgin 7, Plainfield North 6, Huntley 5, Minooka 4, Homewood-Flossmoor 4, New Trier 4, Naperville Central 3.

Class 7A

School Pts

1. Chicago Mt. Carmel (12) 120

2. Batavia 103

3. Hersey 69

4. Brother Rice 61

5. St. Charles North 53

6. Wheaton North 34

7. Normal Community 27

8. Yorkville 26

(tie) Edwardsville 26

10. Prospect 24

Others receiving votes: Jacobs 22, Kenwood 20, Quincy 20, Moline 19, Pekin 14, Bradley-Bourbonnais 9, McHenry 8, Hononegah 3, Willowbrook 2.

Class 6A

School Pts

1. East St. Louis (12) 120

2. Chicago (St. Rita) 78

3. Lemont 65

4. Providence 56

5. Kankakee 51

6. Lake Zurich 41

7. Chicago (Simeon) 36

8. Washington 33

9. Geneva 26

10. Normal West 25

Others receiving votes: Crete-Monee 21, Cary-Grove 19, Belvidere North 16, Niles Notre Dame 15, Crystal Lake Central 11, Champaign Centennial 10, Wauconda 8, Crystal Lake South 7, Chatham Glenwood 6, Machesney Park Harlem 5, Kaneland 4, Deerfield 2, Bremen 2, Dunlap 2, Oak Lawn Richards 1

Class 5A

School Pts

1. LaGrange Park (Nazareth) (10) 118

2. Peoria (2) 86

3. Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge 77

4. Sacred Heart-Griffin (Springfield) 74

5. Joliet Catholic 69

6. Sycamore 51

7. Mahomet-Seymour 40

8. Sterling 30

9. St. Francis Wheaton 26

10. Chicago (Morgan Park) 19

(tie) Highland 19

Others receiving votes: Mascoutah 14, Lisle (Benet) 8, Mount Vernon 7, Glenbard South 6, Oak Park (Fenwick) 5, Antioch 3, Chicago (St. Patrick) 3, Mundelein (Carmel) 2, Ottawa 1, Metamora 1, Triad 1.

Class 4A

School Pts

1. IC Catholic (6) 94

2. Rochester (3) 93

3. Richmond-Burton (2) 85

4. Morris 63

5. Rockford Boylan 54

6. Wheaton Academy 39

7. Carterville 37

8. Coal City 25

9. Mt. Zion 21

10. Rochelle 20

Others receiving votes: Murphysboro 16, Breese Central 14, Macomb 7, Geneseo 7, Normal University 5, St. Viator 5, Effingham 5, Columbia 4, Cahokia 3, Waterloo 3, Dixon 2, Plano 1, St. Laurence 1, Jacksonville 1.

Class 3A

School Pts

1. Byron (1) 100

2. Princeton (5) 91

3. Williamsville (1) 83

4. Tolono Unity (2) 69

5. Wilmington (3) 66

6. Fairbury Prairie Central 50

7. Montini 45

8. Stillman Valley 41

9. Reed-Custer 27

10. Stanford Olympia 19

Others receiving votes: Mt. Carmel 17, Eureka 17, Benton 11, Genoa-Kingston 9, Durand-Pecatonica 7, Monticello 5, St. Joseph-Ogden 3.

Class 2A

School Pts

1. Decatur St. Teresa (6) 95

2. Maroa-Forsyth (3) 78

3. Rockridge (1) 73

4. Downs Tri-Valley 60

5. Athens 47

6. Bismarck-Henning (1) 46

7. Woodstock Marian 37

8. Seneca 36

9. Nashville 19

10. Bloomington Central Catholic 18

Others receiving votes: El Paso-Gridley 15, Johnston City 15, Colfax Ridgeview 15, Knoxville 11, Shelbyville 9, Orion 6, Pana 6, Quincy Notre Dame 5, North-Mac 4, Dwight 3, Newman Central Catholic 2, Clifton Central 1, Farmington 1, Carmi White County 1, Bishop McNamara 1, Breese Mater Dei 1.

Class 1A

School Pts

1. Lena-Winslow (10) 115

2. Camp Point Central (2) 104

3. Fulton 76

4. Forreston 75

5. Greenfield-Northwestern 53

6. Tuscola 44

7. Althoff Catholic 33

8. Kewanee -Annawan-Wethersfield 30

9. Ottawa Marquette 25

10. Dakota 20

Others receiving votes: Hope Academy 19, St. Bede 8, Mt. Sterling (Brown County) 8, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 7, Galena 6, Aurora Christian 6, Stockton 6, Jacksonville Routt 5, Rockford Lutheran 4, Moweaqua Central A&M 4, Hardin (Calhoun) 4, Carrollton 3, Sterling Newman 2, Red Hill 1, Madison 1, LeRoy 1.