Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Troy Marks catches the ball, before being tackeld by Novi Detroit Catholic Central’s Chyle Johnson during the first half at Catholic Central in Novi on Oct. 9, 2015.
The predetermined divisions we devised in August held up remarkably well as we head into the state playoffs.
The only ranked team to wind up in a playoff division different than it was ranked in during the season is Fenton, which was ranked in Division 3 and is now the second smallest school in the Division 2 playoffs.
As we predicted weeks ago, defending Division 6 champ Ithaca is in the Division 5 playoffs, along with Clare. They are the second and third smallest schools in the Division 5 field.
Bloomfield Hills, which defeated Lake Orion in a crossover game, makes its first appearance in the rankings for the first time in school history.
Saline moved up a spot after its impressive 38-3 victory over previously unbeaten Birmingham Groves, which earned Saline a bundle of playoff points.
Birmingham Brother Rice rejoined the Division 2 rankings at No. 10 and the Warriors will be a tough out in this division.
The only four-loss ranked team in any division is two-time defending Division 3 champ Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. The Eaglets played Detroit Catholic Central infinitely tougher in Saturday’s Prep Bowl than it did earlier this season, something few teams in this division could duplicate.
Allendale, which knocked off Division 5 defending champ Grand Rapids West Catholic, earned the No. 10 spot in the Division 4 rankings this week. Grosse Ile also reentered the rankings.
West Catholic’s loss shuffled the D-5 rankings with Portland taking over the No. 1 spot and Freeland, which was No. 6 last week before beating No. 2 Frankenmuth, slides into the No. 2 slot.
Lansing Catholic and Menominee, which both posted impressive wins last week, are D-5’s No. 3 and No. 4 teams, just ahead of Ithaca.
All of last week’s ranked Division 6 teams won last week so those rankings remain the same except for Jackson Lumen Christi moving to No. 4 and Calumet dropping one spot to No. 5.
Detroit Loyola is no longer the No. 1 team in Division 7 and it has been a few years since anyone else held that spot. Loyola drops to No. 3 after losing to Dearborn Divine Child in the Prep Bowl. That moved Traverse City St. Francis to No. 1 and Pewamo-Westphalia to No. 2.
The top 6 teams in Division 8 all won last week, but there was some movement. Breckenridge moved up a spot to No. 9 after becoming the first team in the playoff era to go from 0-9 to 9-0 in 11-man football.
Super 10
RANK, SCHOOL, RECORD, DIVISION
1. Detroit Cass Tech, 9-0, 1
An even more impressive win over King
2. Walled Lake Western, 8-1, 2
A decisive win for 4th straight KLAA title
3. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 9-0, 1
A close Prep Bowl for 2nd win over OL St. Mary’s
4. Muskegon, 8-1, 3
The Big Reds haven’t been challenged in weeks
5. Detroit King, 7-2, 2
Won’t have to worry about Cass Tech in Division 2
6. Lowell, 9-0, 2
A decisive win after two comeback victories
7. Utica Eisenhower, 9-0, 1
No one is playing better in Macomb County
8. River Rouge, 8-1, 4
Closer games are on the horizon in Division 4
9. Saline, 9-0, 1
Nobody saw a 35-point victory margin against Groves coming
10. Davison, 9-0, 1
Tougher competition is ahead in Division 1 playoffs
Division 1
1. Detroit Cass Tech, 9-0
2. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 9-0
3. Utica Eisenhower, 9-0
4. Saline, 9-0
5. Davison, 9-0
6. Grandville, 8-1
7. Bloomfield Hills, 9-0
8. Clarkston, 7-2
9. Dearborn, 8-1
10. Dearborn Fordson, 8-1
Division 2
1. Walled Lake Western, 8-1
2. Detroit King, 7-2
3. Lowell, 9-0
4. Portage Central, 8-1
5. Midland Dow, 8-1
6. Warren Cousino, 8-1
7. Birmingham Groves, 8-1
8. Temperance Bedford, 7-2
9. Fenton, 7-2
10. Birmingham Brother Rice, 6-3
Division 3
1. Muskegon, 8-1
2. Chelsea, 9-0
3. Allen Park, 9-0
4. Edwardsburg, 9-0
5. DeWitt, 8-1
6. Byron Center, 8-1
7. East Grand Rapids, 7-2
8. Orchard Lake St. Mary, 5-4
9. Fenton, 7-2
10. Grand Rapids Christian, 8-1
Division 4
1. River Rouge, 8-1
2. Birmingham Det. Country Day, 9-0
3. Benton Harbor, 9-0
4. Marysville, 9-0
5. Hudsonville Unity Christian, 7-2
6. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 8-1
7. Milan, 8-1
8. Alma, 8-1
9. Grosse Ile, 8-1
10. Allendale, 7-2
Division 5
1. Portland, 9-0
2. Freeland, 9-0
3. Lansing Catholic, 8-1
4. Menominee, 8-1
5. Ithaca, 9-0
6. Frankenmuth, 8-1
7. Clare, 8-1
8. Grand Rapids West Catholic, 7-2
9. Muskegon Oakridge, 8-1
10. Reed City, 9-0
Division 6
1. Negaunee, 9-0
2. Schoolcraft, 9-0
3. Millington, 8-1
4. Jackson Lumen Christi, 7-2
5. Calumet, 8-1
6. Roscommon, 8-1
7. Maple City Glen Lake, 7-2
8. Ravenna, 7-2
9. Grass Lake, 8-1
10. Warren Michigan Collegiate, 8-1
Division 7
1. Traverse City St. Francis, 9-0
2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 9-0
3. Detroit Loyola, 7-2
4. Saugatuck, 9-0
5. New Lothrop, 8-1
6. Ubly, 9-0
7. Unionville-Sebewaing, 8-1
8. Hudson, 7-1
9. Homer, 7-2
10. Sand Creek, 8-1
Division 8
1. Muskegon Catholic Central, 9-0
2. Climax-Scotts, 9-0
3. Frankfort, 9-0
4. St. Ignace, 8-1
5. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 9-0
6. Lake Linden-Hubbell, 9-0
7. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran. 7-2
8. Mendon, 7-2
9. Breckenridge, 9-0
10. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, 8-1