Lenoir City win shows only poll movement
sports@thedailytimes.com
The local teams were largely still in the same spot as last week in the Assoicated Press Prep Football Rankings released Monday. Maryville remained No. 1 in Class 6A, Alcoa still trails CAK and is No. 2 in Class 3A while Greenback remains at No. 4 in Class 1A.
Greenback (7-1) goes into Friday’s game against Tri-Cities Christian as No. 4 behind top-ranked South Pittsburg (6-1). Gordonsville (6-1) is second and Moore County (8-0) No. 3. The first place votes are split by the quartet with Greenback receiving one vote, Moore County 4, Gordonsville 5 and South Pittsburg 12.
Undefeated Boyd Buchanon (7-0) remains first place in Class 2A with Grace Christian receving first-place votes but still in the No. 3 spot at 6-1 with its only loss coming to CAK.
Christian Academy of Knoxville maintained its season long perch atop the Class 3A rankings with Alcoa (6-1) one spot back. The Tornadoes added a few first-place votes, and only four total points separate the two who also top the District 4-AA standings. Alcoa has a meeting with Fulton before the end-of-season showdown for the district title and the potential better postseason seed that goes with it. Alcoa begins its stretch run out of last week’s bye taking on Stone Memorial at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. CDT) Friday in Crossville.
Fulton (6-1) picked up two first-place votes in Class 4A but remains No. 3 in the poll voting behind second-place Covington (7-0) and No. 1 Giles County (7-0) and its 18 first place votes. Greeneville (4-3) showed some signs of poll recovery from its shutout loss at Alcoa, moving from ninth to seventh after another 60-plus-point win in its district confines.
In Class 5A the most movement came after Lenoir City’s 42-27 win over previous No. 2 Knox West. Lenoir City (6-1) moved up one place to No. 3 and received one first-place vote this week as West (5-2) dropped to No. 5. Powell moved up one spot to No. 4 while Beech (8-0) remained No. 1, gathering in 21 of the 22 first-place votes cast by media members.
Maryville kept its seven-week long on No. 1 in Class 6A following a 38-6 win over Knox Catholic. The Rebels have won 36 straight going into Thursday’s game against Farragut in their second MyVLT2 prep game of the week. Five undefeateds stack up behind the Rebels with Siegel, Whitehaven and Dobyns-Bennett each receiving a single first-place vote. Science Hill, which plays D-B in the closing weeks, and Brentwood round out the undefeateds. Bearden (6-1) comes in at No. 8 and Oak Ridge at No. 9.
South-Doyle, which was just outside the 5A Top 10 receiving votes for No. 11, plays at Seymour Friday, while William Blount tries to knock Lenoir City back down the poll ladder and Heritage hosts Bearden.
