Buoyed by a 42-8 victory over Greenville and losses by two teams that had been ranked above them, the West Point High School football team moved up from sixth to fourth in this week’s AP Mississippi Prep Football Poll.
The Green Wave (6-2) have not lost on the field this season and sit comfortably at No. 4, 13 points behind No. 3 Madison Central and 17 above No. 5 West Jones.
Oak Grove (6-2) slipped from No. 2 to No. 7 after a 24-17 loss to Brandon, which moved into the poll at No. 9. Also slipping was former No. 4 Starkville, which suffered its first loss of the season against Oxford, 42-35, and dropped to No. 8.
Also dropping from the Top 10 was Picayune, which had been tied for 10th with Madison-Ridgeland Academy but was leapfrogged by Brandon after the Bulldogs’ upset of Oak Grove.
West Point also remained atop the Class 5A ranking, getting seven first-place votes to stay six points ahead of West Jones, which received three first-place votes.
Heritage Academy held on to the No. 4 spot in the private school ranking after its 35-21 win over Pillow Academy. The Patriots earned the No. 2 seed in the MAIS Class 5A playoffs and will play the winner of Friday night’s game between Lamar School and Starkville Academy in the quarterfinals.
West Lowndes earned seven points in the Class 1A rankings, but the Panthers are well behind No. 5 Taylorsville’s 57 points.
AP Mississippi Top 10
1 Greenville Christian (11) (9-1) 110
2 Ocean Springs (8-0) 99
3 Madison Central (7-1) 81
4 West Point (6-2) 68
5 West Jones (7-1) 51
6 South Panola (7-2) 45
7 Oak Grove (6-2) 39
8 Starkville (8-1) 37
9 Brandon (6-2) 32
10 Madison-Ridgeland (8-3) 19
Others receiving votes: Neshoba Central 13, Picayune 7, Columbia 3, Oxford 1.
Class 6A
1 Ocean Springs (11) (8-0) 110
2 Madison Central (7-1) 95
3 Starkville (8-1) 63
4 Oak Grove (6-2) 61
5 Brandon (6-2) 56
Others receiving votes: South Panola 55.
Class 5A
1 West Point (7) (6-2) 106
2 West Jones (3) (7-1) 100
3 Neshoba Central (1) (9-0) 89
4 Picayune (8-1) 78
5 Lafayette (7-2) 61
Others receiving votes: Vicksburg 6.
Class 4A
1 Columbia (11) (8-1) 110
2 West Lauderdale (8-1) 96
3 Louisville (7-2) 84
4 Itawamba AHS (8-1) 69
5 Poplarville (7-2) 62
Others receiving votes: Senatobia 7, North Pike 6, Moss Point 6.
Class 3A
1 Tylertown (9) (9-0) 106
2 Winona (2) (8-1) 100
3 North Panola (6-1) 86
4 Magee (6-2) 53
5 Enterprise (9-0) 49
Others receiving votes: Raleigh 46.
Class 2A
1 Scott Central (11) (9-0) 110
2 Velma Jackson (7-1) 97
3 Kemper County (6-3) 80
4 Baldwyn (8-1) 64
5 Choctaw County (5-3) 63
Others receiving votes: Charleston 13, Loyd Star 7, Northside 6.
Class 1A
1 Simmons (10) (8-0) 109
2 Bay Springs (1) (6-3) 100
3 McEvans (7-2) 65
4 Biggersville (6-2) 61
5 Taylorsville (5-3) 57
Others receiving votes: South Delta 22, TCPS 13, West Lowndes 7, Smithville 6.
Private schools
1 Greenville Christian (11) (9-1) 110
2 Madison-Ridgeland (8-3) 99
3 Leake Academy (9-1) 85
4 Heritage Academy (9-1) 71
5 Jackson Academy (8-2) 37
Others receiving votes: Hartfield Academy 26, St. Joseph Greenville 6, Oak Forest 6.
All Associated Press members in Mississippi are eligible to participate in the high school football poll. Those who votes in this week’s poll are The Gazebo Gazette, Pass Christian; Delta Democrat-Times, Greenville; Greene County Herald, Leakesville; the Richton Dispatch; The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson; Laurel Impact, Laurel; PinebeltSPORTS, Hattiesburg; Enterprise-Journal, McComb; Starkville Daily News; Commercial Dispatch, Columbus; Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo; The Vicksburg Post.
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