Five boards moved this week and only one of them moved because of anything that happened outside its own region. Southern California reordered itself because of a game played in Florida. Everywhere else, the football did the work.
Here is where all five stand after the games of Aug. 27 through 29, and why.
Utah Is Settled At The Top And Wide Open Behind It
Corner Canyon holds at No. 1 after a 49-0 win, and it is the only Utah team on our national board, at 14. Mountain Ridge holds second at 3-0.
The movement is in the middle. Skyridge and West of Salt Lake City each climb one, to third and fourth. American Fork drops two to fifth. Herriman is the biggest riser on the board, up three to seventh on the back of a 3-0 start that nobody outside the state has noticed yet.
Timpview comes on at 10 at 1-1. Davis comes off. Orem stays at sixth at 1-2, which will look strange next to two teams below it with better records, and it is deliberate. Orem plays a 5A schedule that has already sent it to two of the best teams in the state, and it had the ball down six against a top ten team in America. Records are not the whole argument in September.
| # | Team | Cls | Rec | Last wk | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corner Canyon | 6A | 3-0 | 1 | Hold |
| 2 | Mountain Ridge | 6A | 3-0 | 2 | Hold |
| 3 | Skyridge | 6A | 2-1 | 4 | Up 1 |
| 4 | West (SLC) | 5A | 3-0 | 5 | Up 1 |
| 5 | American Fork | 6A | 2-1 | 3 | Down 2 |
| 6 | Orem | 5A | 1-2 | 7 | Up 1 |
| 7 | Herriman | 6A | 3-0 | 10 | Up 3 |
| 8 | Lone Peak | 6A | 2-1 | 8 | Hold |
| 9 | Ridgeline | 4A | 3-0 | 9 | Hold |
| 10 | Timpview | 6A | 1-1 | New | New |
NorCal Adds Two From Clovis
De La Salle holds first, Folsom second, Serra of San Mateo third. That top three has not moved all season and none of the three has played more than one game.
Central East, Oak Ridge and Pittsburg each climb a spot. Archbishop Riordan falls three to seventh after losing its opener. St. Mary's of Stockton moves up one.
The news is at the bottom. Clovis West and Clovis North both enter, at 9 and 10, both 2-0. Grant Union and Central Catholic of Modesto come off. The Central Valley has been the least represented part of this board since we opened it, and two teams just made that indefensible.
| # | Team | Rec | Last wk | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De La Salle | 1-0 | 1 | Hold |
| 2 | Folsom | 1-0 | 2 | Hold |
| 3 | Serra (San Mateo) | 0-1 | 3 | Hold |
| 4 | Central East | 1-0 | 5 | Up 1 |
| 5 | Oak Ridge | 1-0 | 6 | Up 1 |
| 6 | Pittsburg | 1-0 | 7 | Up 1 |
| 7 | Archbishop Riordan | 0-1 | 4 | Down 3 |
| 8 | St. Mary's (Stockton) | 1-0 | 9 | Up 1 |
| 9 | Clovis West | 2-0 | New | New |
| 10 | Clovis North | 2-0 | New | New |
SoCal Reorders Because Of A Game In Florida
Same ten schools as last week. Different order, and one result caused most of it.
Sierra Canyon went to South Florida on a neutral field and beat a ranked Chaminade-Madonna 24-7, outscoring it 17-0 after halftime. That is the result the West almost never produces in August. It climbs three to second and passes Centennial of Corona, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco on the way.
Santa Margarita holds first on a 21-20 win at Centennial, which is the best win anybody in our national top ten owns. Centennial, Mater Dei and Bosco each slide one. Servite moves up one, Cathedral Catholic down one.
Nobody came on. Nobody came off. This board is deep enough that the order is the only thing left to argue about.
| # | Team | Rec | Last wk | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Margarita | 2-0 | 1 | Hold |
| 2 | Sierra Canyon | 2-0 | 5 | Up 3 |
| 3 | Centennial, Corona | 1-1 | 2 | Down 1 |
| 4 | Mater Dei | 2-0 | 3 | Down 1 |
| 5 | St. John Bosco | 1-1 | 4 | Down 1 |
| 6 | Mission Viejo | 2-0 | 6 | Hold |
| 7 | Orange Lutheran | 1-1 | 7 | Hold |
| 8 | San Clemente | 2-0 | 8 | Hold |
| 9 | Servite | 1-1 | 10 | Up 1 |
| 10 | Cathedral Catholic | 0-1 | 9 | Down 1 |
Arizona Finally Has Games Behind It
We published the Arizona board on Aug. 18 with nobody having played a down. Every number on it was an argument about last season. The state opened this weekend and three of our ten are gone.
Basha and Hamilton hold the top two. Liberty of Peoria climbs to third and is now on the national board at 46. Chandler falls to fourth after losing its opener. Centennial of Peoria moves up one.
Desert Mountain, Pinnacle and Highland all enter. Brophy College Prep, ALA Queen Creek and Red Mountain all come off. Desert Edge takes the hardest fall, down three to eighth.
One week of football and thirty percent of the board turned over. That is what happens when a board is built on the previous November.
| # | Team | Rec | Last wk | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basha | 1-0 | 1 | Hold |
| 2 | Hamilton | 1-0 | 2 | Hold |
| 3 | Liberty (Peoria) | 1-0 | 4 | Up 1 |
| 4 | Chandler | 0-1 | 3 | Down 1 |
| 5 | Centennial (Peoria) | 1-0 | 6 | Up 1 |
| 6 | Desert Mountain | 1-0 | New | New |
| 7 | Mountain View (Mesa) | 1-0 | 7 | Hold |
| 8 | Desert Edge | 1-0 | 5 | Down 3 |
| 9 | Pinnacle | 1-0 | New | New |
| 10 | Highland | 1-0 | New | New |
Nevada Is Gorman And Then A Long Argument
Bishop Gorman holds first at 2-1. It is 10th nationally, it beat St. John Bosco 38-28, and it lost to Columbus of Miami. Nothing in Nevada is going to change that number.
Churchill County holds second at 3-0. Palo Verde climbs two to third at 3-0. Foothill of Henderson enters at sixth at 2-0 and Reed comes off.
The interesting one is Arbor View, which is 0-2 and climbed four spots to fifth. That is not a typo and it is the clearest example on any of these five boards of what a power ranking is for. Arbor View has played two of the best teams it could find and lost both. We think it beats most of the teams ranked below it on a neutral field. Spanish Springs, which is 1-1, falls six.
| # | Team | Rec | Last wk | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bishop Gorman | 2-1 | 1 | Hold |
| 2 | Churchill County | 3-0 | 2 | Hold |
| 3 | Palo Verde | 3-0 | 5 | Up 2 |
| 4 | Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon | 2-0 | 4 | Hold |
| 5 | Arbor View | 0-2 | 9 | Up 4 |
| 6 | Foothill (Henderson) | 2-0 | New | New |
| 7 | Mater Academy East Las Vegas | 2-0 | 6 | Down 1 |
| 8 | Liberty (Henderson) | 1-1 | 7 | Down 1 |
| 9 | Spanish Springs | 1-1 | 3 | Down 6 |
| 10 | Faith Lutheran | 1-2 | 8 | Down 2 |
How These Are Built
Every one of these is a power board. It starts from last week's SPIN board and moves on results, strength of schedule and a neutral field judgment about who beats whom. Film and the eye test are part of it and we say so, because in the first three weeks of a season the records are too thin to carry the argument alone. That is why Orem sits sixth in Utah at 1-2 and why Arbor View climbed at 0-2.
Where a regional board and the national board overlap, the regional board is built to agree with the national one. Sierra Canyon moving to second in SoCal is the direct consequence of it moving to eighth in the country.
Games run Thursday through Saturday. The boards are set Monday. Some of this will look wrong by Saturday night, and that is the job.
