Tuesday, September 24, 1996

Eagles, Bulldogs ranked in latest high school football poll

By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press

LUBBOCK - When all five of the state's top-ranked high school football teams hold their ground, there's usually plenty of action going on beneath them.

Last weekend failed to disappoint.

The Grapevine Mustangs proved they're worth their No. 2 ranking in Class 4A with a 31-28 victory over Flower Mound Marcus, which dropped out of the Class 5A poll following the defeat.

It was sweet revenge for a 67-14 loss to Marcus last year, and the victory more than justified the loftiest poll position Grapevine has seen in years, if ever.

Abilene High received eight votes in the Class 5A poll, good for 13th in the state and Wylie earned four for 19th.

Other area schools that are ranked include No. 5 Sweetwater in Class 4A, No. 10 Ballinger in Class 3A and No. 5 Munday in Class A. Area schools receiving votes in the weekly poll included Stephenville, Goldthwaite, Winters, Bangs, Roscoe, Bronte, Rising Star and Bryson.

La Marque earned 19 of 20 first-place votes to easily hold the top ranking with a 31-0 victory over Baytown Sterling. That sets up one of the season's most awaited showdowns when La Marque, the defending 4A state champions, plays No. 5 Tyler John Tyler, a 5A state champion two seasons ago.
John Tyler devoured another perennial power, Dallas Carter, 22-12 as an appetizer to hold its poll position behind North Mesquite, Converse Judson, Houston Yates and Aldine among 5A teams.

North Mesquite showed no letdown from last week's drubbing of Odessa Permian with a 44-7 beating of Euless Trinity to retain its 19 first-place votes.

The top-ranked teams in the other classes held their polling leads as well, though none was unanimous. Class 3A Sealy and 2A Alto each gained 19 first-place votes. In 1A, Windthorst maintains a slight edge over No. 2 Granger.

Granger passed a tough 1A test Friday in a 14-6 victory over then-No. 6 Bremond, which fell just one place in the rankings despite a 1-2 record.

New to the poll this week are Austin Westlake and Richardson Lake Highlands, which landed Nos. 9 and 10 in 5A; Waco University, tied for eighth in 4A with Clear Brook; No. 10 Industrial in 2A and No. 10 Runge in 1A.

Along with Marcus, losses drove four other schools out of the rankings: Aldine Eisenhower in 5A, West Orange-Stark in 4A, Bangs in 2A and Muenster in 1A.