Area teams held their positions in Tuesday’s new Associated Press state high school football poll.
Twelve Mississippi media outlets, including The Commercial Dispatch and WCBI, were polled on the top five teams in each class and the top 10 overall.
Starkville (9-2), still the No. 1 team in Class 6A, beat out West Point (10-1), Class 5A’s top school, in the overall rankings again. The Yellow Jackets got six of 12 first-place votes, and the Green Wave got four.
Class 6A South Panola (10-1) and Class 5A Picayune (10-0) each got one first-place vote in the overall poll. South Panola was second in the Class 6A poll with one first-place vote, and Picayune was second in Class 5A with two.
Starkville will host Clinton (5-5) in the final game of the regular season Friday, and West Point will travel to face Center Hill (6-5).
In other polls
Heritage Academy (11-0), which hosts Leake Academy (7-4) in this week’s MAIS Class 5A second-round playoff game, remained in the No. 1 spot with 11 first-place votes. Greenville St. Joseph (10-0) was second, and third-place Madison-Ridgeland Academy (10-2) got the other first-place vote. The Patriots received one 10th-place vote in the overall poll.
West Lowndes (8-2) nearly cracked the top five in Class 1A, but the Panthers still came a little short. Fifth-place Lumberton (8-3) received 48 points in the poll, and West Lowndes got 43. The Panthers’ two losses this season have come to No. 1 Nanih Waiya (9-2) and No. 2 Noxapater (9-2). West Lowndes, which can be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in Class 1A, Region 2, will know its seed and its postseason opponent after Friday’s game at Tupelo Christian Prep (7-3).
Here’s the ballot The Dispatch’s Theo DeRosa submitted:
Overall
1. West Point (10-1)
2. Starkville (9-2)
3. South Panola (10-1)
4. Picayune (10-0)
5. Madison Central (8-2)
6. Petal (9-1)
7. West Jones (10-0)
8. Lafayette (8-2)
9. Oxford (9-1)
10. Greenwood (10-0)
Class 1A
1. Nanih Waiya (9-2)
2. Noxapater (9-2)
3. West Lowndes (8-2)
4. Biggersville (7-1)
5. Lumberton (8-3)
Class 2A
1. Philadelphia (10-1)
2. Taylorsville (10-1)
3. East Webster (9-1)
4. Bay Springs (9-2)
5. Scott Central (8-2)
Class 3A
1. Columbia (10-0)
2. West Marion (10-1)
3. Senatobia (8-2)
4. Winona (8-2)
5. Choctaw County (8-3)
Class 4A
1. Greenwood (10-0)
2. South Pike (11-0)
3. Louisville (9-2)
4. Corinth (9-1)
5. Itawamba AHS (11-0)
Class 5A
1. West Point (10-1)
2. Picayune (10-0)
3. West Jones (10-0)
4. Lafayette (8-2)
5. Laurel (8-2)
Class 6A
1. Starkville (9-2)
2. South Panola (10-1)
3. Madison Central (8-2)
4. Petal (9-1)
5. Oxford (9-1)
Private schools
1. Heritage Academy (11-0)
2. Greenville St. Joseph (10-0)
3. Madison-Ridgeland Academy (10-2)
4. Jackson Prep (9-2)
5. Pillow Academy (8-2)
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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