Two Coast teams make the cut in first AP prep football poll of 2017 season
South Mississippi programs were hard to find in the first Associated Press prep poll of the 2017 season.
Fresh off of a 42-6 win over Pearl River Central, Poplarville (2-0) seems to be the class of the Coast. The Hornets picked up eight points in the state-wide Top 10, good enough for 14th. They were also picked atop Class 4A’s rankings, with 84 points. East Central (1-0) was fourth in 4A with 46 points, four back of No. 3 Noxubee County. St. Stanislaus (1-0) picked up seven points, which puts the Rockachaws in 12th.
Both Stone (1-0) and Picayune (1-1) picked up votes in the Class 5A poll. The Maroon Tide’s 21 points were good enough for sixth, 17 points back from No. 5 Olive Branch. The Tomcats earned six points.
Resurrection (0-2) was the only other South Mississippi program to earn recognition with seven points; good enough for eighth in Class 1A.
The overall Top 10 consisted of No. 1 Pearl, No. 2 West Point, No. 3 Tupelo, No. 4 Starkville, No. 5 Madison Central, No. 6 Oak Grove, No. 7 Northwest Rankin, No. 8 Hattiesburg, No. 9 Warren Central and No. 10 Brandon.
All members of the AP in Mississippi are eligible to vote in the poll. Publications that participated this week were the Sun Herald, Bolivar Commercial, Hattiesburg Post, Oxford Eagle, Starkville Daily News, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Vicksburg Post, WCBI-TV in Columbus and WTVA-TV in Tupelo.
Patrick Ochs: 228-896-2321, @PatrickOchs
Mississippi Prep Polls
Here are Mississippi’s top high school football teams in each class as selected by a panel of Associated Press state sports writers.
Class Overall
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Pearl (5) | (2-0) | 82 | - |
2. West Point (2) | (2-0) | 70 | - |
3. Tupelo | (2-0) | 68 | - |
4. Starkville (1) | (2-0) | 53 | - |
5. Madison Central | (2-0) | 46 | - |
6. Oak Grove | (2-0) | 31 | - |
7. Northwest Rankin (1) | (2-0) | 30 | - |
8. Hattiesburg | (2-0) | 27 | - |
9. Warren Central | (1-1) | 16 | - |
10. Brandon | (1-1) | 13 | - |
Others receiving votes: Olive Branch 12, Cleveland 11, Cleveland Central 11, Poplarville 8, South Panola 6, Meridian 4, Charleston 4, Greenwood 3, Jackson Prep 3, Oxford 2, Jefferson Davis County 2, Calhoun City 2, Simmons 1, Lake Cormorant 1.
Class 6A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Pearl (6) | (2-0) | 86 | - |
2. Tupelo (1) | (2-0) | 73 | - |
3. Starkville (1) | (2-0) | 64 | - |
4. Madison Central | (2-0) | 61 | - |
5. Oak Grove | (2-0) | 34 | - |
Others receiving votes: Northwest Rankin 16, Warren Central 7, South Panola 7, Meridian 6, Brandon 6.
Class 5A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. West Point (8) | (2-0) | 87 | - |
2. Hattiesburg | (2-0) | 68 | - |
3. Lake Cormorant | (1-0) | 51 | - |
4. Laurel | (1-1) | 44 | - |
5. Olive Branch | (2-0) | 38 | - |
Others receiving votes: Picayune 21, Wayne County 12, Cleveland Central 10, South Jones 8, Lewisburg 8, Lafayette 7, Stone 6.
Class 4A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Poplarville (4) | (2-0) | 84 | - |
2. Pontotoc (4) | (2-0) | 70 | - |
3. Noxubee County | (1-0) | 50 | - |
4. East Central | (1-0) | 46 | - |
5. Purvis | (1-1) | 20 | - |
Others receiving votes: Louisville 17, Clarksdale 13, Greenwood 9, Greene County 8, Florence 8, Itawamba AHS 8, St. Stanislaus 7, Leake Central 7. Northeast Lauderdale 7, Shannon 6.
Class 3A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Charleston (3) | (2-0) | 62 | - |
2. Hazlehurst (2) | (2-0) | 58 | - |
3. Jefferson Davis County (4) | (2-0) | 54 | - |
4. North Panola | (2-0) | 50 | - |
5. Houston | (1-1) | 33 | - |
Others receiving votes: Yazoo County 22, Raleigh 17, Aberdeen 16, Kossuth 14, Nettleton 13, Forest 8, Seminary 7, Columbia 6.
Class 2A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Philadelphia (4) | (2-0) | 82 | - |
2. Calhoun City (5) | (1-0) | 75 | - |
3. East Webster | (2-0) | 37 | - |
4. Perry Central | (2-0) | 35 | - |
5. Newton | (2-0) | 29 | - |
Others receiving votes: Pisgah 23, Bay Springs 22, Scott Central 14, Taylorsville 13, South Delta 9, Winona 8, Walnut 7, Heidelberg 6.
Class 1A
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Simmons (9) | (2-0) | 90 | - |
2. Nanih Waiya | (2-0) | 74 | - |
3. Lumberton | (2-0) | 67 | - |
4. Smithville | (2-0) | 60 | - |
5. Noxapater | (2-0) | 35 | - |
Others receiving votes: Shaw 18, H. W. Byers 9, Resurrection Catholic 7.
Class Private Schools
School | W-L | Pts | Prv |
1. Jackson Prep (9) | (2-0) | 90 | - |
2. Madison-Ridgeland Aca. | (2-0) | 68 | - |
3. Jackson Aca. | (2-0) | 54 | - |
4. Presbyterian Christian | (2-0) | 49 | - |
5. Parklane Aca. | (3-0) | 27 | - |
Others receiving votes: Indianola Aca. 21, Starkville Aca. 13, Oak Forest, La. 13, Prentiss Christian 7, Brookhaven Aca. 6, Bayou Aca. 6, Lamar School 6. ___
This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Two Coast teams make the cut in first AP prep football poll of 2017 season."