Schools

RIHS Football Poll – Week 6

The top seven remain unchanged, with Johnston staying at number 5 on a bye week, in the latest Rhode Island Sports Media Football Poll.

 

Inaction is the new action, as the top seven remain unchanged in the Rhode Island Sports Media Football Poll, after a weekend of mostly winning.

Johnston High School remained at number 5 during a bye week.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The undefeated Panthers face two straight games against Division II-A rivals.

Johnston travels to 1-3 Chariho for a Friday night contest, scheduled for 7 pm in Wood River Junction, then host Warwick Vets (2-2 as of Oct. 18) next Saturday, Oct. 27, in the JHS Homecoming contest.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No. 3 Cranston East lost to Hendricken, and while they lost a first place vote and about 25 points in the polls, it wasn’t enough to drop below No. 4 Portsmouth.

No. 7 Barrington lost to Tolman, which caused the Tigers to jump two spots in the polls, up into a tie at No. 10 with East Greenwich. However, the loss of 30 poll points for the Eagles weren’t enough for No. 8 West Warwick to overtake them.

All 20 teams from last week’s poll stayed in this week. The biggest mover was Westerly, which dropped four spots to No. 12 after a loss to Division I East Providence. East Providence moved up four spots, from No. 18 to No. 14, with the win.

Rank Team Points Last Week Patch # 1 La Salle 255 1 2 2 Hendricken 252 2 1 3 Cranston East 228 3 4 4 Portsmouth 222 4 3 5 Johnston 204 5 5 6 Cumberland 194 6 9 7 Barrington 164 7 14 8 West Warwick 158 10 6 9 Middletown 157 9 10 t-10 Tolman 138 12 7 t-10 East Greenwich 138 11 11 12 Westerly 108 8 12 13 Cranston West 78 13 8 14 East Providence 75 18 15 15 Woonsocket 56 14 13 16 St. Ray's 49 15 17 17 Mt. Pleasant 47 16 NR 18 Central 45 20 18 19 Moses Brown 41 19 16 20 Shea 39 17 NR

Note: One voter was unable to participate.

Dropped from the poll: None.

Also receiving votes: South Kingstown 24, Rogers 23, Hope 9, Narragansett 3, Classical 2, Mt. Hope 2, North Smithfield 2, Coventry 1 and Smithfield 1.

PATCH BALLOT

Rank Team Media Last Week 1 Hendricken 2 1 2 La Salle 1 2 3 Portsmouth 4 3 4 Cranston East 3 4 5 Johnston 5 5 6 West Warwick 8 7 7 Tolman t-10 8 8 Cranston West 13 9 9 Cumberland 6 11 10 Middletown 9 13 11 East Greenwich t-10 14 12 Westerly 12 6 13 Woonsocket 15 10 14 Barrington 7 12 15 East Providence 14 15 16 Moses Brown 19 17 17 St. Ray's 16 19 18 Central 18 20 19 Rogers NR 18 20 South Kingstown NR 16

Looking at the difference between my ballot and the results, the biggest gaps come with the Division I teams – I’m much more bullish on Cranston West, and not as into Barrington.

In hindsight, the two teams should be closer in the rankings, but I probably let their most recent game results – A loss for the Eagles, a win for the Falcons – color my perception. Regardless, I think both are clearly in the bottom tier, as the playoff teams look set to me – Hendricken and La Salle would need to collapse to not qualify, and Cranston East and Portsmouth have the inside track on the final two spots.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the playoffs are an option for the two local teams, South Kingstown and Narragansett. Even if the Rebels won out, that would leave that at 4-4. The Mariners have a better shot, with 2-2 Division III record, but they need to take at least three of their last four, and they still have to play the two best teams in the Division, Middletown and East Greenwich.

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