Breaking Down The Ballot, Week 7

After a week absence (I was on a little vacay), here's the latest edition of the posting where I unveil all my biases and contempt for area schools by not ranking them high enough in the previous week's LSWA Top 10 ballot.

Seriously, these rankings are nothing personal but wholly subjective. I remind you that, maybe, I've seen 5 of the 50 teams I've ranked here.

On with the show ...

Class 5A
1. Acadiana 2. West Monroe 3. Destrehan 4. Catholic-BR 5. St. Thomas More 6. Hahnville 7. Barbe 8. Rummel 9. Huntington 10. Carencro.
Comments: I'm seriously rethinking my ranking of West Monroe, which currently has them behind Acadiana. The Rebs' closest game this season was a 32-point victory over Ouachita. West Monroe is so good, a better test might be playing in the Southland Conference. ... Huntington deserves to finally crack into the Top 10. I still don't believe the Raiders are one of 5A's 10 best teams but their resume says they are. We'll learn a lot more about Huntington after Saturday's game against Byrd. If the Raiders win that game, another bump might be in order.

Class 4A
1. Bastrop 2. Shaw 3. Teurlings Catholic 4. Franklinton 5. Eunice 6. Neville 7. Vandebilt 8. Parkway 9. Benton 10. Breaux Bridge.
Comments: Wow. Having seen Bastrop up close and personal, I've got to say its the best team I've covered in almost two years here in Louisiana. The Rams have quite a set of receivers and all Randall Mackey has to do is get the ball down the field to them. Borrowing from Denny Green, I'm about ready to crown their A. ... Parkway still isn't getting a lot of props around the state, having failed to break into the official Top 10 poll this week. Being undefeated in district play is enough to put the Panthers over one-loss Benton, at least to me.

Class 3A
1. Notre Dame 2. Parkview Baptist 3. Redemptorist 4. Lutcher 5. Westlake 6. Rayville 7. Marksville 8. Cecilia 9. Bunkie 10. Jennings.
Comments: BTW pretty much played itself off my ballot after allowing 61 points to Richwood last week. Good to know the Lions can throw the ball if need be, though.

Class 2A
1. Calvary Baptist 2. John Curtis 3. Evangel 4. St. James 5. Donaldsonville 6. St. John-Plaquemine 7. Oakdale 8. Westminster Christian 9. Clinton 10. Ferriday.
Comments: The temptation is to bury Evangel for its lopsided loss at Bastrop. But I can't believe the Eagles are any worse than the third-best team in Class 2A. Evangel can still overwhelm people at the point of attack and Cerderrick Tyson is quite the hoss ... still, for now, Calvary is my No. 1 team. ... I just can't help but wonder how unlucky Springhill and Homer are for having been thrust into the same district as Calvary and Evangel. Really, those two could compete for a state title this year. As of now, they're just competing for third place in 1-2A.

Class 1A
1. Cedar Creek 2. Hamilton 3. Kentwood 4. South Plaquemines 5. Ouachita Christian 6. Oberlin 7. Delhi Charter 8. Catholic-PC 9. Oak Grove 10. St. Edmund.
Comments: Hopefully, Cedar Creek can handle being No. 1 better than LSU did.