November 1, 2009

Dallas Jackson
Rivals High Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the high school sports expert for RivalsHigh.com. Send him a question or comment at DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him at twitter.com/rivalshigh.

The new RivalsHigh Top 100 rankings will be posted on Monday, but here's a sneak peak at some of the things we're looking at across the country:

Trading spaces

This week the RivalsHigh 100 will have an eight team turnover - the most in more than a month. Of those eight teams dropping out, seven will be replaced by teams from their own state.

The eight teams dropping out are former No. 38 Skyline (Washington), No. 59 Manatee (Florida), No. 65 Tyler (Texas), No. 82 Lowell (Michigan), No. 84 Irmo (South Carolina), No. 88 Bishop Amat (California), No. 94 West Jones (Mississippi), and No. 99 Brophy (Arizona).

The only team not being replaced from a team from their own state will be former No. 94 West Jones (Mississippi) who will be pushed out of the rankings for yet another Georgia team making their debut, Moultrie (Georgia) Colquitt County.

Colquitt County will be the eighth team from Georgia in the rankings, a record for the Peach State.

Cincinnati St. X wins GCL South

Playing the nation's toughest schedule certainly will harden a team as the season progresses.

The defensive-minded Bombers from Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier are the proof in the pudding this season as they have played the nation's most difficult schedule.

Eight of the teams 10 opponents were ranked in the RivalsHigh 100 this season, with their only two losses being to Top 20 teams: Ft. Thomas (Kentucky) Highlands and Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius.

The Bombers were able to overcome the schedule, stay relatively healthy, and win one of the nation's toughest divisions - the Greater Catholic League South - a league that includes Archbishop Moeller, Elder, and La Salle.

This week they powered past former No. 13 Archbishop Moeller, 13-10, to win the conference and earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Power outage

The Sammamish (Washington) Skyline Raiders will drop out of the rankings and not three-peat as state champs as the Bothell (Washington) High Cougars eliminated the Raiders from the 4A state playoffs, 25-20, on Friday.

The ripple effect will hit near and far.

Bothell, now 9-0, will jump into the RivalsHigh 100 as the new No. 1 team in Washington.

Down in California, however, the loss by Skyline will hurt the strength of schedule for the Lions of Oaks Christian.

The squad from Westlake Village was riding its victory over Skyline as the team's signature win - something it needed as a member of one of the state's weakest leagues.

Big wins boost teams stock

As the playoffs approach in most states, some teams are playing high-profile games to separate themselves from the pack.

This week was no different.

The Huntington Beach (California) Edison Chargers proved they belong in the discussion as one of the best teams in the country as they added to their resume with a big win over Los Alamitos, 27-10. The win will push Edison to No. 1 in the state.

In Pennsylvania, the Monroeville (Penn.) Gateway Gators got a huge win over McKeesport (Penn.) High, 35-14. It appears that coach Terry Smith was serious when he said last year's playoffs loss was the "worst of his career" and that he and the team would be "much better for it." The Gators look to be sticking to fundamentals this season and managing games much better.

Also in the Keystone State, Harrisburg (Penn.) Bishop McDevitt, will move up to No. 2 in the state after their best win of the season, defeating State College (Penn.) High Little Lions, 28-17.

Down in Florida, the biggest win came this week as Venice (Fla.) High downed Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee, 43-29. The win will push Venice into the rankings, as well as boost the strength of schedule for Chesapeake (Virginia) Oscar Smith, which defeated Venice in week one of the season.

Make your voice heard

If you have seen a team that you think should be moved higher or lower in the weekly rankings be sure to have your opinion heard.

The RivalsHigh message board is a great place to sound off on who, in your opinion, is among the nation's elite.

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