Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:38 AM CDT
Casey ranked No. 10, Arcola No. 17 in high school football
CHICAGO -- Casey-Westfield, a team that finished 13-1 last football season, is tied for the No. 10 spot in the preseason Associated Press high school football rankings in Class 2A. It is the fifth straight season the Warriors have been in the preseason rankings. Casey has 16 lettermen back from last year’s team which finished as the Class 2A runner-up.
Casey is to travel to Marshall, the No. 19 team in Class 2A Friday for a Little Illini Conference contest. They are the only two LIC teams in the rankings.
“I am very happy that our program has the respect to be voted these last five years,” said Casey coach Keith Sinclair. “A lot of that has to do with the success of the prior years teams. Every team has to go out and be as good as they can possibly be. As we all know it is how you finish that counts and not the preseason rankings. I believe Marshall is an awfully good team and it is important to us that we play our very best Friday.”
For the first time since 2000 Arcola is in the preseason rankings. The Purple Riders, coached by Jarod Kiger, have 14 players back from a 7-4 team that reached the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.
“Awesome,” said Kiger when he was told the news. “It adds a little bit too each game. I am excited. Villa Grove, Cerro Gordo, Orion, Salt Fork and us are all teams ranked. Now the thing is we all know that preseason rankings are a guess on what you have coming back. The kids have been working hard to be recognized and now they need to take advantage. I am happy for the kids. We have not been ranked since I have been here (Kiger’s fourth year as the head coach and sixth overall). It is nice to be in that situation. Now the work begins.”
Arcola is to play host to the No. 5 team in Class 1A, Salt Fork.
Also in 1A Cerro Gordo-DeLand-Weldon, a member of the Little Okaw Valley Conference along with Arcola, Arthur-Lovington, Martinsville and Tri-County, is the No. 7 team and Villa Grove is No. 21.
In the Okaw Valley Conference Blue Division Tuscola is No. 6 in Class 1A, while Central A&M (assistant coach is Arcola grad Mike Conlin) is No. 14. In Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth is the No. 1 team, while in Class 3A two members of the Okaw Valley Conference Black Division are ranked as Tolono Unity is No. 4 and Decatur St. Teresa is No. 7. Area teams Shelbyville and Sullivan-Okaw Valley are in the Black Division.
Mattoon is in the Big 12 Conference and the 11-team conference has five teams ranked, including Normal, coached by Wes Temples, the son of former Green Wave coach Gerald Temples. Normal is tied with Danville, another Big 12 Conference team at No. 11 in Class 6A, while Bloomington is tied for No. 6 with Rock Island. Decatur MacArthur is No. 6 in Class 5A, while Champaign Central is tied for No. 15.
Charleston competes in the Apollo Conference and the only team ranked from that conference is Mount Zion. The Braves are No. 16 in Class 4A
Also in Class 4A Mendota is tied for No. 9 with Coal City. Former Okaw Valley boys’ basketball coach and assistant Arthur boys’ basketball coach Jan Thompson is an assistant coach at Mendota.
Brian Spooner, former Martinsville coach, has his Clifton Central team ranked No. 3 in Class 2A.
Here are the Preseason rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters (first place votes in parentheses):
Class 8A
School Points
1. Maine South (6) 78
2. Hinsdale Central (2) 69
3. Chicago Mt. Carmel 63
4. Bolingbrook 51
5. Naperville North 50
6. Fremd 36
7. Downers South 26
8. Lincoln-Way East 19
9. Gurnee Warren 14
10. Brother Rice 13
Others receiving votes: Belleville East 10, Naperville Central 5, Loyola 3, Lincoln-Way Central 2, Waubonsie Valley 1.
Class 7A
School Points
1. Wheaton Warrenville South (7) 74
2. St. Rita 70
3. Glenbard West (1) 66
4. Carmel 47
5. Prospect 46
6. Crystal Lake South 32
7. Belleville West 27
8. Geneva 21
9. Machesney Park Harlem 13
10. Rockford Boylan 10
Others receiving votes: Downers North 8, Huntley 7, Glenbrook North 6, Wheaton North 5, Lake Zurich 4, Rolling Meadows 3, Hononegah 1.
Class 6A
School Points
1. East St. Louis (10) 100
2. Providence 87
3. Lemont 75
4. Cary-Grove 60
5. Crete-Monee 56
T6. Bloomington 42
T6. Rock Island 42
8. Morgan Park 14
9. Oswego 13
10. St. Viator 12
Others receiving votes: Normal 11, Danville 11, Antioch 7, Hubbard 6, Richwoods 6, Glenbard South 5, Grant 2.
Class 5A
School Points
1. Metamora (2) 71
2. Joliet Catholic (2) 68
3. Cahokia 49
4. Morris 48
5. Nazareth 34
6. Decatur MacArthur 30
7. Montini 29
8. Kankakee 24
9. St. Francis (2) 21
10. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (1) 19
Others receiving votes: Washington 18, Pontiac 11, Springfield Lanphier 10, Sterling 8, Marion 2, Champaign Central 2.
Class 4A
School Points
1. Rochester (4) 101
2. Bloomington Central Catholic (6) 100
3. Geneseo 74
4. Quincy Notre Dame (2) 72
5. Richmond-Burton 66
6. Bishop McNamara 45
7. Breese Mater Dei 40
8. Rock Island Alleman 39
T9. Mendota 24
T9. Coal City 24
Others receiving votes: Mascoutah 23, Freeburg 18, Herrin 12, Pontiac 11, Mahomet-Seymour 9, Mt. Zion 7, Waterloo 1, Walther Lutheran 1, Prairie Central 1.
Class 3A
School Points
1. Illini West (Carthage) (6) 96
2. Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (4) 64
3. DuQuoin 61
4. Tolono Unity 49
5. Wilmington 47
6. Stillman Valley 46
7. Decatur St. Teresa 42
8. Pittsfield (2) 33
9. Columbia 29
T10. Greenville 28
T10. Breese Central 28
Others receiving votes: Nashville 22, Anna-Jonesboro 19, Carterville 17, Oregon 11, Hall 10, Macomb 5, West Carroll 5, Sterling Newman 3.
Class 2A
School Points
1. Maroa-Forsyth (3) 85
2. Bureau Valley (1) 82
3. Clifton Central (2) 63
T4. Auburn (1) 61
T4. Mercer County (2) 61
6. Westville 42
7. Stark County 36
8. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 35
9. Pittsfield (2) 33
T10. Lena-Winslow 29
T10. Casey-Westfield 29
Others receiving votes: Amboy 26, Bushnell-Prairie City 24, Morrison 23, Orion 18, Farmington 12, Chester 9, Eastland-Pearl City 6, Marshall 4, Momence 4, Johnston City 1.
Class 1A
School Points
1. Dakota (8) 101
2. Triopia-Meredosia-Chambersburg (3) 92
3. Brown County 72
4. Galena 50
5. Salt Fork 44
6. Tuscola 41
7. Cerro Gordo 39
8. Stark County 36
9. Greenfield-Northwestern 33
10. Lena-Winslow 29
Others receiving votes: Polo 12, Milledgeville 11, Jacksonville Routt 11, Central A&M 10, Alexis United 9, Mount Olive 7, Princeville 5, Arcola 5, North Fulton 4, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 2, East Dubuque 1, Villa Grove 1.
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