Monday, September 21, 2009
WEEK 4 Rankings - Oakland County Top Ten
Top 10 Football Teams In Oakland County
1 Novi Detroit Catholic Central (4-0) -Shamrocks are in peak-form and
playing at an elite level. Head coach Tom Mach's tailback-unit is deep and diverse.
Mach can go four deep – Palazeti, Capatina, Savakus, and Herzog – and have very
little if any drop off in production. That's rare in high school football. The Shamrocks'
O-line play is top rate too. Throw in a battle-tested senior QB and a defense that
is spinning shutouts like an MLB ace and CC has to be the favorite to win the state
title in Division 1
2 Lake Orion (3-1) – The Dragons can hit you from so many angles offensively,
opponents are constantly on their toes – usually back-peddling. LO running-mates
Kim Bruce and Marques Stevenson can easily make an argument that they're as good
a backfield as CC's stable of ball-toters and it would be hard to dispute it. The
receiving corps of Mike Nelson, D aniel Ney, Alex Mayo, and Zach Zott, is one of
the 1 Novi Detroit Catholic Central (4-0) – Coming off a draught-breaking win over
Brother Rice, the best around. Sophomore QB Sean Charette makes the whole Dragons
ship sail, playing at a clip well beyond his years under center for head coach Chris
Bell.
3 Birmingham Brother Rice (3-1) – The Warriors are strong-willed and
mentally-tough and there's little doubt in my mind they will bounce back strong from
their defeat to CC. I'll even go a step further and say that Rice will rebound big
time by taking down De La Salle at home this Saturday.
4 Clarkston (4-0) – Everyone knows about the Wolves top-of-the-class
"O", but it's been the team's excellent play on the defensive side of the ball that's
the reason they're undefeated right now. Jeff Dean and Bryan Haslinger anchor things
up front, while the d-back unit of Chris Canada, Derek Booker, Andrew Schram, and
Dustin Gamble (also C-Town's top receiver) has been in shutdown mode since the start
of the season. Gamble's pick in the end zone in the closing sec onds of Week 3 preserved
a 25-21 comeback win over Troy and the entire unit stepped up big time in Week 4
by completely neutralizing West Bloomfield's prolific receiving corps in the team's
17-7 win over the Lakers last Thursday.
5 Farmington Hills Harrison (4-0) – Guess whose back? Herrington's Hawks
are all systems go, firing on all cylinders once again. Dominic Mencotti is headlining
a spirited defense and Vince "The Prince" Salatino, Steve Slobin, Aaron Burbridge
make Harrison's high-powered offense hum like a classic motor city muscle car. An
undefeated regular season is a distinct possibility right now!
6 Rochester Hills Adams (3-1) – Adams is hitting its stride and looks
to be primed for a playoff run with such a stout "D" and machine like-efficient "O".
Tony Partrito's Highlanders are built for the long haul and is just starting to pick
up steam.
7 Walled Lake Central (4-0) – Vikings Head Coach Bob Meyer has done
a superb job getting the Central program back in tip top shape following consecutive
down campaigns in '07 and '08. Senior QB Joe Diamond is the real deal. His expert-command
of the Vikings offense and on-the-field leadership makes Central ultra-formidable
and the front-runner for a KLAA crown.
8 Milford (3-1) – Junior riflemen Luke Johnson has the Mavericks thinking
big things. Johnson and his top weapons on offense Bryar Miller, Brandon Bell, and
Cody Beck are a scary group for opposing defenses to face. There looks to be no late-season
foibles in the cards this year for the upstart Mav Pack.
9 Birmingham Detroit Country Day (3-1) – Taken down to the canvas with
force by a fierce Highland Park squad last weekend, the next week or two will be
a true character test for coach MacLean's Yellowjackets. If I had to bet, I'd say
QB Josh Harris and team captains Jason Ray, Joe MacLean, and Chris Eddins, will make
sure the team is focused and ready to play.
10 a. Madison Heights Madison (3-0) – Tony Lowry and Jeremiah McQueen are
a sweet pitch=and-catch connection. Valdez Showers is a beast. Sophomore Danny
Larkins does it all for head coach Drake Wilkins' Eagles.
b. Southfield (3-1) – The Blue Jays "D" comes up huge against upset-minded
Stoney Creek on Friday night, picking up a fumble and returning it for a score that
proved the winner for Tim Conley's gridiron gladiators. Down 14-0 at the half to
SC, Daevon Robinson helped Southfield storm back in the second half, rumbling for
TD runs of 17 and 27 and showing why he is one of the best tailbacks in the area.
c. Pontiac (3-1) – Jonathon McKnight plays as smooth as Bryan McKnight
sings. Jabari Martin, Dominique Shaw, Martez Shelton, and Robert Dooley are all having
standout seasons for the su rprise of the year Phoenix. Network TV should give head
coach Greg Ganfield his own show and call it "The Reclimator", since he proves Parcell-like
everywhere he goes and turns things around in a hurry.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Next star at Harrison
As happy as Kosmo is to see that traditional power Farmington Hills Harrison appears
to be back on track (3-0 record) following a rare losing year last year, it's also
good to hear the Hawks are back to having top college prospects.
It may be a bit premature to say Aaron Burbridge is one of the state's top sophomores,
but the Harrison wideout could very well be fighting off major college programs by
the time he's a senior.
He's already tall, fast and armed with good hands. Add a few more pounds to that
frame, and college scouts will no doubt be drooling over him soon enough, if they
aren't already.
posted by Kosmo at 5:24 PM 0 Comments
