Maroons, Lakes hold top spots in UP football polls
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MARQUETTE -- There was only one change in the top-five voting this week for the best Upper Peninsula high school football teams by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
And it was good news for Negaunee.
The Miners moved up a spot in the 11-player voting, flip-flopping with Bark River-Harris to become the No. 4 team this week as the Broncos slipped back to No. 5.
Otherwise, all the other top-five teams remained in place, though L’Anse stopped receiving votes in the 11-player balloting.
Negaunee blanked Hancock 40-0 on Friday to prompt its reconsideration while improving to 3-2, while BR-H (4-1) took a 59-14 drubbing against Lower Peninsula powerhouse Pewamo-Westphalia the same day.
P-W is 5-0 and has outscored its opposition 231-29 this season with the Broncos the first team to break into double-digits scoring vs. the Pirates. P-W was also ranked No. 2 in the state Associated Press poll in Division 7.
L’Anse (3-2) scored a 53-14 home win over Gwinn on Friday but couldn’t draw the single vote it received the week before.
At the top of the 11-player rankings is Menominee (5-0), which returned to being a unanimous No. 1 after a 45-16 home victory over Houghton. Menominee also stands atop the AP’s Division 7 poll.
Kingsford (5-0) lost its first-place vote but is still unanimous at No. 2 after posting a 37-19 triumph over No. 3 Calumet (3-2).
In eight-player, Ishpeming (4-1) remained third after a 46-0 shutout on Friday of Bessemer/Gogebic.
Like the Maroons in 11-player, No. 1 Lake Linden-Hubbell (5-0) returned to being a unanimous selection at the top after a 44-27 home victory over North Central on Saturday.
No. 2 Pickford (5-0) lost its first-place vote but is still unanimous at No. 2 after a 46-14 beating of Newberry.
Norway (4-1) held on to No. 4, but just a single vote behind Ishpeming, after a 40-16 win over Ontonagon.
And St. Ignace (4-1) kept its No. 5 rating after winning a low-scoring -- for eight-player football -- 24-8 decision at Indian River Inland Lakes.
Additionally, Forest Park (4-1) remained on the “others receiving votes” list after a much more high-scoring 59-52 home victory over North Dickinson.
In the AP poll, Kingsford was No. 6 in Division 5.
In eight-player, Pickford was No. 2, Ishpeming was No. 5, and Norway No. 9 in Division 1. Forest Park and Rudyard also received votes.
For Division 2, LL-H was No. 2 and St. Ignace No. 9, while North Dickinson also received a vote.
In games scheduled this week, Gwinn is at Iron Mountain, Kingsford goes to Hancock, Norway travels to Forest Park, North Dickinson is at Stephenson and North Central treks to Ironwood.
Another game, West Iron County at Manistique, was canceled after the Wykons suspended their season last week.
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The Daily News contributed.