Every week a panel of voters participate in The News' large and small school football polls.
Here's our shot after one week of action.
For reference: Week One; the preseason poll.
LARGE SCHOOLS
1. Orchard Park (2-0) [last week: 1] -- Another very solid win, something we saw a lot of this week. I continue to believe there are six contenders for this spot.
2. St. Joe's (1-1) [2] -- Impressive win out of town, Part I. Yes, I'm keeping them here. I know St. Francis and perhaps Canisius had just as big a wins against probably better opponents, but when you get to see things on the field, like this Saturday, I'll wait until after then.
The writing is on the wall: Canisius and St. Francis may be bigger, may be able to run on St. Joe's with their standout backs. I hear that. Will that overcome St. Joe's quarterback play? Like I said, we'll see on Saturday. Definitely a Bart Scott, "CAN'T WAIT!" game.
3. St. Francis (2-0) [3] -- Impressive win out of town, Part II. Maybe the most impressive. Lynch again puts on a show (and does it in front of an impressed Mike Quick of MSG, who tweeted, "Can see why St. Francis of Buf RB Akell Lynch is #1 in NYS. The BC recruit scores 52 yard TD on 2nd carry of game.").
4. Canisius (2-0) [6] -- Impressive win out of town, Part III. Ran away from the new combined Elmira Class AA team that had started its season with a 70-20 win over Horseheads (but that shouldn't mean much because Horseheads won one game the last two seasons).
5. Sweet Home (2-0) [5] -- We win 42 straight against WNY and we're fifth?!?!?!!??!
6. Clarence (2-0) [4] -- Rout of Riverside doesn't look as good after Lockport throttled the Frontiers, and rout at Frontier doesn't show us a whole lot since Lancaster won big over the Falcons as well. I just liked what I saw from Sweet Home, I liked the value of the wins by the MMA teams. This top six situation is definitely in flux.
7. Williamsville South (2-0) [7] -- They keep going like they're going, and this will be a top seven.
8. Amherst (2-0) [8] -- Fine display against Lake Shore, although West Seneca East's win at Iroquois really has us looking forward to Friday's 6 p.m. kickoff.
9. McKinley (1-1) [9] -- I suggest taking in the (Reyzon) Jordan & (Stephon) Johnson show for the Macks. Two juniors who could be among the top all-around playmakers in Western New York. Exciting when they've got the ball, and they have the ball a lot.
10. Lancaster (2-0) [10] -- Not the most impressive win over West Seneca West (23-9), but being in 2-0 in AA South is good enough for me right now. A team like Jamestown might be better. We'll see. Bishop Timon-St. Jude might be the mythical 11th after two huge wins. Kenmore West seemed to have an Orchard Park hangover until the third quarter against a team you would think it would have had routed before a 20-point fourth quarter (41-6 final at home over Hutch-Tech). NT has a close loss to McKinley and a monster win over Will North.
SMALL SCHOOLS
1. Alden (2-0) [1] -- Man that was a rout they put on St. Mary's.
2. Depew (2-0) [2] -- Not the biggest win over Newfane, but I suppose we like their well-rounded-ness just a tad more than ...
3. Lackawanna (2-0) [3] -- ... the Steelers, who just rolled out a freshman QB and in his first game he sets a record for TDs in a game (four). Shaquille Brooks is a serious playmaker at receiver, good punter as well. Fun to watch, and speaking of fun to watch, they host Cheektowaga Friday night. Very top-heavy with these B's.
4. Southwestern (2-0) [4] -- Maybe not the "same 'ol Southwestern," which I wrote last week, after a 21-14 win over Westfield. Might have caused a slide, but after two weeks I can't really see a reason to move anyone past them.
5. Pioneer (2-0) [5] -- Thorough win over East Aurora after beating Burgard. Very tough to gauge the poll after the top three.
6. Cleveland Hill (2-0) [6] -- Does Cleveland Hill score a gazillion points early every season (96 so far) or is it just me?
7. Silver Creek (2-0) [7] -- Two big wins, opener over Dunkirk looks even better after Marauders beat Eden.
8. Randolph (2-0) [10] -- We'll bop the Cardinals up after a strong win, and also to make room for ...
9. Maple Grove (2-0) [NR] -- ... their good buddies, who continue to have one of Western New York's best team websites. Three D teams in the top 10! The D folks in the chat room must be getting to this pollster. :-)
10. Olean (2-0) [8] -- Didn't expect 12-6 win over Springville, but maybe that's just a sign of progress by the Griffins. Fredonia gets bumped -- at this point, Maple Grove impressed while the Hillbillies were robbed of a game by Lafayette's forfeit.
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---Keith McShea
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Football | High school football | Poll
