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Sports

Patch's Football Rankings: Week 4

Highland Park has a rough go against New Trier and remains at the bottom of our latest poll.

Patch sports reporter Ross Jacobson ranks the North Shore’s best football teams.

We’re not yet to conference play, but some teams didn’t wait to make big statements. While the teams at the top won easily--as expected--New Trier, Glenbrook South and Evanston all had big victories over North Shore opponents to make moves up the rankings. Meanwhile, winless starts for Deerfield, Maine West and Highland Park put their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy among the Central Suburban League teams.

 is in parentheses.

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WEEK 4 RANKINGS

1. Loyola Academy (1) – Loyola blew past Lake Forest 48-13 last Saturday to move to 3-0 on the season. After trailing 7-0, the Ramblers easily converted on a number of scoring drives and pulled starting quarterback Malcolm Weaver out early from the game. At this point, Loyola Academy and Maine South are 1A and 1B, respectively, in the rankings.

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2.  (2) – Paul Preston and the Maine South defense were especially impressive in theHawks’ 48-7 thrashing of Deerfield. It was the kind of performance you would expect, and it shows the focus this team has after playing its second straight big-name opponent last week.

3.  (3) – North Shore keeps on rolling with a 39-0 victory over Rockford Christian. It may be the small school in our rankings, but the Raiders are playing big-time football to stay at No. 3

4. (5) – More than 300 yards of offense is what we should expect from talented QB Jack Nykaza. The senior quarterback used his feet when he needed to and found offensive weapons, such as Devin Boehm, in New Trier’s victory over Highland Park. The Trevians have the talent, but need to put it together every week.

5.  (6) – John Strickland who? Running back Kevin Schroeder ran for more than 200 yards against Glenbrook North,  He had two touchdowns to give Glenbrook South an important cross-over victory in the Central Suburban League.

6.  (8) – Even with the disappointing game in Week 1, Evanston looks like a talented team that could give opponents some trouble after its convincing win over Maine East. Ray Bahr is dangerous when he gets into the open field and Evanston has a chance to make some noise when it plays Glenbrook North at home on Sept. 23.

7.  (4) – Much like Notre Dame against the University of Michigan,  a victory in a big rivalry game. Curt Petty threw an interception and lost a fumble early and cramps forced the Spartan QB to miss most of the second half. They have a big game against Evanston, which is 2-1, next week.

8.  (9) – Coach Scott Baum said he was excited about the players he had at the skill positions coming into this season and it finally showed against Maine West. Jeremiah Jordan came up big and QB Mike McGivern did just enough to get Niles West a 14-6 win.

9. (7) – Niles North is comparable to the Northwestern University Wildcats in the way it seems to always play close, exciting games. But the Vikings have to start winning a majority of them if the playoffs are going to be a possibility. The Vikings let another one slip away in a 33-25 loss to Waukegan. A kickoff return for a touchdown and poor defense in the secondary were the major culprits this time.   

10. (11) – Maine West is taking a page out of Niles North’s book and not making anything on its opponent--or itself.  The Warriors gave Niles West a game in a 14-6 loss, but couldn’t take advantage of a defense that held the Wolves in check for most of the game.

11.  (10) – Deerfield still can’t seem to get on track without starting QB Brad Holway. While you can’t expect a win against Maine South, the 0-3 start puts a playoff berth in jeopardy in a nine-game season for the Warriors, who play Waukegan on Saturday.  

12.  (12) – Without a definitive starting quarterback, Highland Park seems lost and a 0-3 start is very tough to dig out of in the competitive Central Suburban North League. and things won’t get easier when the Giants face Niles West in Week 4.

(Covering the Patch communities of Skokie, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Niles, Highland Park, Glenview, Deerfield, Morton Grove, Des Plaines and Northbrook.)

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