August 4, 2009

Dallas Jackson
Rivals High Managing Editor

Last Monday RivalsHigh.com began its 2009 countdown, ranking high school teams from first through No. 100.

We started at the bottom of the rankings and will release two groups of five per day; then we'll do a daily countdown from 10th to first, with our No. 1 team to be unveiled Aug. 10 - which will be two weeks from the start of the season.

After that, we will wait until September 1 for the next rankings, and then every Monday during the season.

The team rankings were compiled by high school sports managing editor Dallas Jackson, the Rivals AMP team, football recruiting analysts, and the entire RivalsHigh network of publishers.

Top 100 Countdown: 100-96 | 95-91 | 90-86 | 85-81 | 80-76 | 75-71 | 70-66 | 65-61 | 60-56 | 55-51
50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | Post your thoughts on the national message board

Top 100 countdown No. 35 Oak Grove, Mississippi

COACH: Nevill Barr LAST SEASON: 12-2 FINAL 2008 RIVALS.COM RANKING: No. 6 in Mississippi KEEP AN EYE ON: The inexperience. While Oak Grove brings back a lot of high end talent they are replacing plenty of players in important positions. Coach Barr will have to fill spots at all five offensive line positions as well as eight of 11 on the defensive side of the ball. Coach Barr plays a lot of underclassmen each year so many 2011 kids already have game experience which should help. STAR POWER: WR Robert Johnson is the 34th ranked WR in the country and leads the Warriors. He shares his catches with fellow WR Steve McNair, Jr. - son of the late NFL QB Steve McNair. McNair, Jr. is a three star player with several Division I offers. STRENGTHS: The skill players. Aside from McNair and Johnson Oak Grove also has a very good athlete in Jay Hughes who will play several spots on the field and can cause match-up problems for the opposition. YOUTH: "When dealing with young kids you want them to be hungry and take one game at a time," Coach Barr talks about his approach. "But we think there are some 'red-letter' or 'measuring stick' games on our schedule. If we can beat Petal, Meridian, and Hattiesburg then that will mean we have had a very good regular season."

Top 100 countdown No. 34 Lakewood, California

COACH: Thadd MacNeal LAST SEASON: 10-3 FINAL 2008 RIVALS.COM RANKING: No. 14 in California KEEP AN EYE ON: The offensive line. Coach MacNeal will have to replace four players along the front and will be breaking in two junior tackles. To be successful in their Section and make a run in the playoffs the line will have to come together quickly. STAR POWER: With at least five players from the Lancers going to sign Division I scholarship papers there are a lot of stars on the team. The one drawing the most attention right now is the QB, Jesse Scroggins. Scroggins is the No. 3 rated pro-style QB in the nation and will be headed to USC to play football. STRENGTHS: Athleticism. The Lancers are loaded with top end athletes at skill positions all over the field. Safety Dion Bailey will join Scroggins at USC next fall. WR Kevin Anderson is committed to Arizona State and Jerry Stone has the chance to play Division I football. PLAYING POLY: "We are getting a lot of attention and hype this offseason, but no one has beat Poly in what seems like 20 years out here," Coach Thadd MacNeal explains. "We have played them as well as anyone but we still need a break to get over on them. They seem to take advantage of our mistakes and that is what seperates good teams from great teams."

Top 100 countdown No. 33 Lowndes, Georgia

COACH: Randy McPherson LAST SEASON: 12-1 FINAL 2008 RIVALS.COM RANKING: No. 69 Nationally KEEP AN EYE ON: The secondary. The Vikings had three college football players patrol the secondary last year. This year coach McPherson will have to replace FSU bound Greg Reid and Gerald Demps as well as Marcus Solomon who chose to go to Alabama State. STAR POWER: The Florida State pipeline continues to flow out of Valdosta as the Vikings will send four star offensive lineman Ed Christian and three star linebacker Telvin Smith to the Seminoles next season. STRENGTHS: The offensive line. While last year Valdosta relied heavily on Greg Reid this year they will have to be more balanced. A good foundation can be built around the offensive line with Christian, Justin Browning , and Layne Grant. INTIMIDATION: "There is a tradition of winning at Valdosta," says rivals.com analyst Barry Every. "If you pay attention to high school football you know about Lowndes and Valdosta in Georgia. The kids know about and so do other teams. There is an intimidation factor that comes into play when you line up against them."

Top 100 countdown No. 32 Timpview, Utah

COACH: Louis Wong LAST SEASON: 13-0, Won Utah 4A State Title FINAL 2008 RIVALS.COM RANKING: No. 21 Nationally KEEP AN EYE ON: September 4th. Timpview will play up in class and go against Alta. There has been some scuttlebutt regarding the competition that Timpview has to play in 4A and that has gotten louder with Cottonwood moving up as well. A victory over Alta would help justify Timpview as the No. 1 team in state. STAR POWER: Four star defensive lineman Bronson Kaufusi is the highest rated player on the team. He will stay in state and head to BYU. STRENGTHS: Attitude. The Thunderbirds believe they are the best and it is starting to spill over to thier opponents thinking it as well. Timpview cruised through the season last year and look to do something similar in 2009. QUOTABLE: "Timpview lost a major opponenet when Cottonwood was reclassified up to 5A," Barry Every of Rivals.com explains. "But they made up for that by scheduling Alta in the regular season."

Top 100 countdown No. 31 S.A. Madison, Texas

COACH: Jim Streety LAST SEASON: 9-3 FINAL 2008 RIVALS.COM RANKING: No. 33 Texas 5A KEEP AN EYE ON: The experience. San Antonio Madison returns 12 starters and 28 letterman from last season. Seven of those starters on defense which should help the Mavericks advance in the playoffs. STAR POWER: 2011 runningback Aaron Green. Green who started his sophomore season for Madison is back and will play a major role in the offense. Coach Streety said they usually try to be a balanced team but with a player like Green on the field they may end up 65-35 running the football. STRENGTHS: The strength of the team will be the defense. The Mavericks return seven starters to their base 4-3 package. The leader of the unit, according to Coach Streety, is Kris Catlin. Catlin is the MLB and heart of the defense. Coach Streety had glowing reviews of his player who is commited to Oklahoma State. Aside from Catlin they have another Division I player patrolling the seconday as 6-foot-1 205 pound Tommie Saunders is back there to lay the boom. STEREOTYPE: "There is a reason why people generally think Houston and Dallas Metroplex is it for Texas football," Coach Streety talked candidly. "Not many teams outside of those areas, especially San Antonio, has been able to go up and win states in 5A. We think we have a great team and we sure would like to give it a go, but stereotypes exist for a reason."