Missouri Media Rankings, Sep. 30: St. Vincent closing gap with latest impressive win

Caruthersville's Jermonte Alexander weaves through traffic during a Friday, September 27, 2024 game between the Valle Catholic Warriors and the Caruthersville Tigers at Valle Catholic High School in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Valle Catholic defeated Caruthersville, 37-7.

Tom Davis ~ tdavis@semoball.com

The Week 5 cycle posed a big week for our top-ranked teams, with both St. Vincent and Dexter winning in primetime games among in-class teams looked to make the upset.

St. Vincent’s 35-0 win over Hayti, coming after being drawn up at zeroes at halftime, helped the Indians move up ever slightly, finally drawing a fourth first-place vote after receiving three every week for the past month.

The gap against Marionville has been closed to just one point, with the Indians’ 85 ever so close to the Comets’ 86, still with four regular-season weeks left to play.

Dexter, against a ranked Southern Boone squad, broke out of an early deficit and rallied to a 24-21 win to keep its claim of the No. 3 spot in Class 3 safe and sound.

Southern Boone slipped a few spots, clinging onto its ranked nature at No. 9 in the Class 3 ranks. Local powerhouse and reigning champion Park Hills Central stays in at the No. 7 position.

After ranking every week prior, the Caruthersville Tigers slipped out of the top-10 in Class 2 after losing 37-7 at No. 3 Valle Catholic on Friday night.

Caruthersville falls out of the Class 2 top-10 picture, but stays ranked above Scott City in the “receiving votes” category with four points to Scott City’s two.

In the Class 5 ranks, Cape Central has climbed all the way up to the No. 6 position, tied with Eureka for that spot. The Tigers defeated the Wildcats 32-29 in last year’s state tournament quarterfinals.

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Missouri Media football rankings

Statewide high school football rankings, as compiled by a 9-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. First-place votes in parenthesis. Panel is made up of Dion Clisso, PrepsKC; Cole Young, PrepsKC; Tom Rackers, Jefferson City News-Tribune; Chris Parker, Ozone Sports; Joe Andrews, Warrensburg Star-Journal; Anthony Crane, KQ2 St. Joseph; J.B. Connoley, NEMOPressbox.com; Cole Lee, semoball.com; Paul Halfacre, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

First-place votes in parenthesis.

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CLASS 6

Rank, team, Rec., Pts., LW

1. Rockhurst (6), 5-0, 85, 1

2. CBC (1), 4-1, 77, 2

3. Nixa (2), 5-0, 75, T3

4. Lee’s Summit North, 5-0, 69, T3

5. De Smet, 4-1, 48, 5

6. Blue Springs South, 4-1, 42, T6

7. Liberty, 4-1, 38, T6

8. Lee’s Summit, 4-1, 25, 8

9. Seckman, 5-0, 20, 9

10. Liberty North, 3-2, 11, 10

Also receiving votes: Columbia Rock Bridge (4-1), 5

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CLASS 5

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Cardinal Ritter (9), 5-0, 90, 1

2. Platte County, 5-0, 81, 2

3. St. Pius X, 4-1, 68, 4

4. Carthage, 4-1, 55, 5

5. Jefferson City Helias, 4-1, 45, 3

T6. Cape Central, 5-0, 42, 7

T6. Eureka, 5-0, 42, 6

8. Branson, 5-0, 23, T9

9. Capital City, 4-1, 20, 8

10. Hazelwood East, 5-0, 18, 10

Also receiving votes: Grain Valley (4-1) 10; Republic (4-1), 1

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CLASS 4

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Lutheran North (7), 4-1, 88, 1

2. Kearney (2), 5-0, 83, 2

3. Smithville, 4-1, 71, 3

4. Hannibal, 3-2, 63, 4

5. Kirksville, 5-0, 51, 6

6. Warrenton, 5-0, 38, 7

7. Nevada, 4-1, 31, 8

8. Warrensburg, 4-1, 19, 5

9. Carl Junction, 4-1, 18, NR

10. Savannah, 3-2, 13, 10

Dropped out: No. 9 Hillsboro

Also receiving votes: Parkway North (3-2), 7; Pleasant Hill (3-2), 6; Festus (5-0), 4; School of the Osage (4-1), 3

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CLASS 3

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Blair Oaks (7), 4-1, 88, 1

2. Seneca (2), 5-0, 82, 2

3. Dexter, 5-0, 63, 3

4. Maryville, 3-2, 58, 4

5. Mt. Vernon, 4-1, 52, 5

6. St. Francis Borgia, 5-0, 51, 6

7. Park Hills Central, 4-1, 34, 7

8. Strafford, 5-0, 28, 8

9. Southern Boone, 3-2, 14, 10

10. Boonville, 4-1, 10, 9

Also receiving votes: Knob Noster (4-1), 9: Lift for Life (2-3), 6

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CLASS 2

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Fair Grove (8), 5-0, 89, 1

2. Bowling Green (1), 5-0, 81, 2

3. Valle Catholic, 4-1, 67, 4

4. Warsaw, 5-0, 64, 5

5. Lafayette County, 4-1, 45, 7

6. South Shelby, 5-0, 44, 6

7. Lamar, 3-2, 38, 2

8. Mid-Buchanan, 5-0, 22, 9

9. Mountain View-Liberty, 4-1, 16, 10

10. South Harrison, 5-0, 10, NR

Dropped out: No. 8 Caruthersville

Also receiving votes: Ava (4-1), 9; Caruthersville (4-1), 4; Pembroke Hill (5-0), 3; Scott City (4-1), 2; Hermann (5-0), 1

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CLASS 1

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Marionville (5), 5-0, 86, 1

2. St. Vincent (4), 5-0, 85, 2

3. Adrian, 4-1, 72, 3

4. Tipton, 4-1, 60, 5

5. Van-Far, 5-0, 52, 6

6. Windsor, 4-1, 47, 7

T7. Ash Grove, 4-1, 22, 9

T7. Milan, 3-2, 22, 4

9. Marceline, 3-2, 19, 8

10. Salisbury, 4-1, 17, NR

Dropped out: No. 10 Scotland County

Also receiving votes: Scotland County (3-2), 8; Penney (3-2), 3; Cass-Midway (3-2), 2