The Associated Press Illinois Preseason High School Football Rankings are out. The season opens across the state tonight with plenty of games on Saturday and a big one Sunday when 7A top dog Mount Carmel squares-off with St. Joseph’s Prep, which is the defending big school champ in Pennsylvania. The Hawks are ranked #10 in the High School Football America Top 25.
The game is part of the Catholic League Kickoff Classic that has been moved from Soldier Field to Toyota Park. The Mount Carmel-St. Joe’s game gets started at noon and is followed by St. Ignatius facing Water Payton Prep at 3 P.M. and St. Rita and Simeon at 6 P.M.
You can learn about the St. Joe’s team by listening to last night’s radio show interview with Dave Mika of EasternPAFootball.com, who talks about how deep and talented the Hawks are.
I attended the 2007 Kickoff Classic at Soldier Field in 2007 when our site was called the High School Football Huddle. You can watch those highlights from a very exciting 21-20 win by Mount Carmel over Joliet Catholic below.
Here are the latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters:
Class 8A
1. Loyola
2. Stevenson
3. Naperville Central
4. Bolingbrook
5. Edwardsville
6. Neuqua Valley
7. Homewood-Flossmoor
8. Glenbard West
9. Maine South
10. Marist
Others receiving votes: O’Fallon, Oswego, Barrington, Oak Park River Forest, Hinsdale Central, Waubonsie Valley, Glenbard North, Schaumburg, Metea Valley
Class 7A1. Chicago Mt. Carmel
2. Lincoln-Way East
3. Cary-Grove
4. Lake Zurich
5. St. Rita
6. Wheaton Warrenville South
7. Providence
8. Belleville West
9. Batavia
10. Wheaton North
Others receiving votes: Normal Community, Downers North, Quincy, St. Charles North, Geneva, Glenbrook North, Fenwick, Oak Lawn, Crystal Lake South
Class 6A
1. Sacred Heart-Griffin
2. Oak Lawn Richards
3. East St. Louis
4. Rockford Boylan
5. Nazareth
6. Champaign Centennial
T-7. Rock Island
T-7. Belvidere North
9. Crete-Monee
10. Kaneland
Others receiving votes: Normal West, Peoria Notre Dame, Prairie Ridge, Chatham Glenwood, Lake Forest, Harvey Thornton, Lincoln Way North, Lincoln-Way West, Crystal Lake Central, Lakes Community, Richwoods, Yorkville, Bloomington, Glenbard South
Class 5A
1. Montini
2. Joliet Catholic
3. Highland
4. Washington
5. Sycamore
6. Geneseo
7. Normal University
8. Mahomet-Seymour
9. Metamora
T-10. Woodstock Marian
T-10. Jacksonville
Others receiving votes: Rochelle, Morris, Burlington Central, Limestone, Lincoln, Peoria Central, Sterling, Centralia
Class 4A
1. Rochester
2. Rockford Lutheran
3. Rock Island Alleman
4. Althoff Catholic
5. Quincy Notre Dame
6. Bishop McNamara
7. Coal City
8. Stillman Valley
9. Herrin
10. Columbia
Others receiving votes: Plano, Phillips, Greenville, Evergreen Park, Harvard, Peotone, Bethalto Civic Memorial, Manteno, Breese Mater Dei, Bloomington Central Catholic, Carterville
Class 3A
1. St. Joseph-Ogden
2. Tolono Unity
3. Williamsville
4. Wilmington
5. Elmwood-Brimfield
6. Aurora Christian
7. Mt. Carmel
8. IC Catholic
9. Winnebago
10. Byron
Others receiving votes: Monticello, Erie-Prophetstown, Seneca, Decatur St. Teresa, Leo, Pana, New Berlin-Franklin, St. Bede, Robinson, Oregon, Champaign St. Thomas More, Marshall
Class 2A
1. Sterling Newman
2. Mercer County
3. Rockridge
4. Momence
5. Auburn
6. Maroa-Forsyth
7. Eastland-Pearl City
T-8. Clifton Central
T-8. Bismarck-Henning
10. Illini West (Carthage)
Others receiving votes: Staunton, Downs Tri-Valley, Fieldcrest, Cerro Gordo (Cerro Gordo-Bement Coop), Tuscola, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Gillespie, Argenta-Oreana, Annawan/Wethersfield, Carlyle, Hales Franciscan, Hall, Ottawa Marquette
Class 1A
1. Lena-Winslow
2. Stockton
3. Forreston
4. Casey-Westfield
5. Camp Point Central
6. Carrollton
7. Stark County
8. Galena
9. Aquin
10. Brown County
Others receiving votes: Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland (FCW), Abingdon, Arthur-Lovington, Sidell (Jamaica)-Salt Fork, Moweaqua Central A&M, Pawnee, Dakota, Rockford Christian Life, South Fork, Heyworth, Fisher, Milford, Hope Academy
