Football Thoughts and Rankings Explanation.
Written Saturday September 21st at 9:55 AM
The Red had a shocking result, a tight game, and a blowout crossover game. West Bloomfield had no issues on their homecoming winning 44-0 over Southfield Arts and Tech. Adams rode their quarterback and stout defense which limited Clarkston’s possessions in a 28-10 Highlanders win over the Wolves. Oxford had a strong first half but Lake Orion had a strong second half but missed a 54 yard field goal as time expired as the Wildcats survived 21-18 over the Dragons. Overall this division has proven that all five teams can make the postseason.
The White had a blowout, a tight game, and a blowout crossover game. Southfield Arts and Tech fell 44-0 to West Bloomfield and have been outscored 125-14 in the last three weeks. Groves had no problem with Rochester winning 35-7. Harper Woods had to survive 28-21 over Stoney Creek winning with five seconds left in the game. Groves and Harper Woods should be a really interesting game. Stoney Creek and Rochester should battle for who finishes third while Southfield Arts and Tech is really struggling right now.
The Gold had a blowout, a tight game, and a huge non conference win on Friday night. Royal Oak earned their first win of the season by beating Livonia Clarenceville 26-7 behind a strong defensive performance. The Ravens haven’t been bad defensively with the exception of the Detroit Lincoln King and Ferndale games where they were outscored 73-13 in those games. Ferndale had to survive Berkley 30-20. The Bears have really gotten better offensively in the last two weeks. The Eagles have that proven experience on their side. Avondale had no troubles with Pontiac winning 41-0. The Yellow Jackets have played better outscoring both opponents 75-13 in the last two weeks. This should be a really interesting week in week five, the Battle of Woodward at Hurley, the likely Gold title game, and Pontiac has a great chance to get their second win of the year next week.
The Blue had an interesting week with three blowouts and a tight game in week four. Farmington blew out Troy Athens 36-10 looking like themselves after a tough 20-7 loss to North Farmington last week. North Farmington was very impressive in their 49-14 win over Bloomfield Hills. Troy had a tough 52-28 loss to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. Seaholm had to survive against Oak Park winning 28-18. Overall the Maples look to be the class of the division but the Farmington schools will have a strong say especially Farmington who Seaholm plays next week. North Farmington plays Troy Athens, Oak Park plays Troy, and Bloomfield Hills has a tough one with Pontiac in week five.
Rankings Explanation:
These are the rankings for the week.
Adams is clearly the top ranked team after a 28-10 win over Clarkston sending their record to 4-0 on the season. The Highlanders have relied on quarterback Ryland Watters and has really taken everyone with the exception of yours truly by storm with their performance. Adams is extremely talented especially in the veer offense which I went more in depth when I interviewed Adams Coach Tony Patritto after Media Day talking about the veer offense and what the offense brings. They have a really interesting matchup with Lake Orion looming.
Here is the interview with Coach Patritto on the podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbXDIDaYi8&t=87s
Groves is clearly ranked two with their impressive 35-7 win over Rochester keeping themselves unbeaten at 4-0. The Falcons have a ton of proven experience as mentioned. The schedule looks very winnable for Groves to possibly run the table. It will be a very interesting matchup with Harper Woods next week with the Pioneers still controlling their destiny in the White.
Seaholm checks in at three in this week’s poll. I know the Maples don’t matchup with anyone in the Red at all. The Maples started the season unranked but after their 28-18 win over Oak Park sending their record to 4-0 on the season. Maybe ranking them three was too high but they will have some big tests awaiting them with Farmington, North Farmington, and Groves are on the schedule and that’s not mentioning they have to go to the Swamp as well. It will be a tall task for Coach Jim DeWald and Seaholm going forward and if they can keep this up.
Four through seven was really tough to figure out between the rest of the Red. I thought putting West Bloomfield at four made a lot of sense despite their 2-2 record with losses to Groves and Adams. Oxford stays at five after their 21-18 win over Lake Orion because of their record at 2-2 with losses to Utica Eisenhower and Clarkston. Clarkston is also at 2-2 and has a 23-15 win over Oxford which made things complicated, I didn’t want to move Oxford down to six after their win over Lake Orion so moved the Wolves to six and kept the Wildcats at five. Lake Orion is 3-1 after the 21-18 loss to Oxford. Injuries is why the Dragons are at seven. The rankings will change weekly but that’s what I’m seeing right now but things can change really quickly.
Ferndale stands at eight after a hard earned 30-20 win over a much improved Berkley program. They have a big showdown for the division with Avondale looming. The Eagles have turned things around since their 27-18 loss to Madison Heights Lamphere and the 3-1 record looks to be strong but the game against the Yellow Jackets will say a lot for Coach Eric Royal’s team.
Farmington goes up to nine despite North Farmington entering the rankings at ten. The Raiders have turned things around since starting 0-2 on the season. North Farmington beat the Falcons 20-7 last week at Ron Holland Field but Farmington didn’t have their full team with the injury to quarterback Julian Johnson. What if Farmington had Johnson at quarterback in their game, would that have affected the outcome??? It’s kind of the same question in the Lake Orion/Oxford game, what if the Dragons had TR Hill would that have been a different outcome??? Farmington sits at nine after an impressive 36-10 win over Troy Athens but the Falcons have Seaholm, Troy, and Lake Orion still to play on the schedule.
Harper Woods, Rochester, Troy, Oak Park, and Avondale sit at 2-2 on the season while Stoney Creek, Southfield Arts and Tech, Troy Athens, Royal Oak, Berkley, Pontiac are at 1-3. Bloomfield Hills sits at 0-4 on the season.
Standings after Week Four
Red
1. Adams 2-0, 4-0
6. Clarkston 1-1, 2-2
5. Oxford 1-1, 2-2
7. Lake Orion 0-1, 3-1
4. West Bloomfield 0-1, 2-2
White
2. Groves 2-0, 4-0
Harper Woods 1-0, 2-2
Rochester 0-1, 2-2
Southfield Arts and Tech 0-1, 1-3
Stoney Creek 0-2, 1-3
Blue
3. Seaholm 3-0, 4-0
10. North Farmington 2-0, 2-2
Troy 1-0, 2-2
9. Farmington 2-1, 3-1
Oak Park 1-2, 2-2
Troy Athens 0-3, 1-3
Bloomfield Hills 0-3, 0-4
Gold
8. Ferndale 2-0, 3-1
Avondale 1-0, 2-2
Berkley 1-1, 1-3
Royal Oak 0-1, 1-3
Pontiac 0-2, 1-3