JHS claims No. 4 spot in preseason poll

Four local high school football teams — including Jacksonville — appeared in the first Associated Press football rankings of the season released Wednesday.

The Crimsons claimed the No. 4 spot in the AP’s Class 5A poll, the highest ranking Jacksonville has ever had at any point in the season.

“You’re happy because it means somebody thinks you’re going to be good, but at the same time you’re always uneasy,” Jacksonville head coach Mark Grounds said. “You don’t want the kids to read the headlines and the press clippings before they do anything on the field.”

Getting that kind of respect still feels good, Grounds said.

“I’m not going to say it doesn’t mean anything, because it does. It means you’ve got some respect out there,” he said. “But to keep it, you’ve got to continue to earn it week after week.”

Greenfield-Northwestern is the area’s highest rated team, grabbing the No. 3 position in the Class 1A poll. Greenfield was followed in the small school poll by Routt, tied for No. 8, and Brown County, at No. 10.

“I think preseason polls are what they are. It’s usually a guide to where you were last year,” said Routt head coach Barry Creviston. “Not a lot of research is probably done — we’re honored to be in there, but it’s basically based on what’s happened in the past.”

Creviston, whose team has consistently been in the state’s top 10 since 2006, said making the rankings has meant different things to different Routt teams.

“Three years ago, it was like, ‘Hey we want to get there,’ then last year it was ‘How high can we climb?’” Creviston said. “Now this year it’s ‘Hey, let’s try to maintain it.’”

Pittsfield/Griggsville-Perry fell just short of cracking the Class 3A rankings, but the Saukees did get votes in the poll.

The biggest surprise was the team that wasn’t mentioned: Triopia-Meredosia. Triopia went 8-1 during the regular season last year, and won a playoff game over Brown County — the Trojans also beat the Hornets during the regular season — before bowing out in the second round to eventual runner-up Tuscola.

Triopia head coach Rich Thompson said his team’s omission was no big deal.

“Those things come out on a lot of speculation, I guess, and that’s fine,” he said. “We’re going to use it as a little bit of motivation and we’ll just have to earn our respect.”

The high school football season kicks off tomorrow night. Jacksonville travels to Jerseyville, Greenfield hosts West Central, Routt hosts North Greene and Brown County will head to Bunker Hill. Pittsfield will go to Athens, and Triopia will travel to Carrollton.

All games will begin at 7 p.m., with the exception of Greenfield-West Central, which is slated for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.