November 15, 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:

Miami Thrice

Who is the best team in Miami? Let the debate begin.

This weekend, the Booker T. Washington Tornadoes chance for a city title and a perfect season was foiled by Miami Central, 18-12.

Their loss is other schools' gain. There are now three teams - you have to include Miami Northwestern - looking to use a long playoff run to earn the designation. Here's the buildup.

On Oct. 3, Washington handed Northwestern a 35-28 loss giving the Tornadoes the early edge. The next week, however, Northwestern bettered Central on national television, 22-14. The three-way series is now even with each team at 1-1.

The edge in Monday's RivalsHigh 100 will go to Central. The Rockets have a better strength of schedule to their credit with a win over Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland under their belt.

Season over for several teams

The playoffs have now started in most every state with some top-level teams already making early exits.

Last week, it was Cincinnati (Ohio) Archbishop Moeller. This week there is a litter of other teams falling to the waste side.

Previously ranked No. 4 Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius fell to Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville, 30-13. The Wildcats will remain in the RivalsHigh 100 despite the early exit.

Former No. 40 Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier also had a tough loss to another good team, Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder, 17-14. With a 9-3 record and the toughest schedule in the nation St. X will remain in the rankings, but could be pushed out before all is said and done.

Other teams having their season come to an end this weekend were previously ranked No. 57 Rock Hill (South Carolina), No. 64 Nashville (TN) Ensworth, No. 66 Rockford (Michigan), No. 69 Detroit (MI) Southeastern, No. 71 Middletown (Ohio), and No. 88 Plymouth (MN) Wayzata.

Moving on up for Marquette

In one of the most impressive wins of the weekend, the previously No. 87 ranked Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Marquette University dismantled Hartland (WI) Arrowhead, 35-0.

The score alone would have been impressive but digging deeper to the box score reveals that Marquette held Arrowhead to just 55 yards of rushing and controlled every aspect of the game.

The Hilltoppers also played without star running back Brock Laface, leaving the load to fullback-turned-tailback John LoCoco, who ran all over Arrowhead.

Next week, Marquette will play Menomonee Falls (WI) for the state title. The game is a repeat matchup as Marquette University defeated Menomonee Falls 27-7 on Oct. 16.

The Hilltoppers will jump 20 spots with the win, moving up to No. 67.

Greatest state debate

Last week on the RivalsHigh message board a great thread was started discussing the top states for football this season.

It got us thinking that there should be a somewhat analytical way to answer the question.

So, on Tuesday, RivalsHigh will be releasing the Greatest State Debate pitting the top twelve states against one another.

For more details check out the full breakdown by clicking here.

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.

Registering is free (Just click here) and so is posting so log on today!