Poll Ballots 2020 - Week 5

(Westfield stayed undefeated with a win at Panama on Friday / Photo: Harry Scull)

 

Large Schools 

1. Canisius (A) - Trounced O'Hara and scored a double figure victory at St. Francis last week to remain unbeaten against WNY competition.  This Saturday they'll host Class AA favorite Niagara Falls.

2. Park (A) - Played some nationally ranked grown men in a Toronto on Friday without John Orogun and suffered their worst loss in years.  However, the following night they defeated Boys & Girls of NYC who came in ranked #12 in NYS Class AA, for their best NYS win of the season, in a game they led throughout.  Sunday afternoon the Pioneers fell to Brooklyn Collegiate, ranked #6 in NYS Class AA.

3. Health Sciences (A2) - One of two remaining undefeated teams in WNY at 11-0 after rolling past Maritime & West Seneca West last week.  I'm thinking BASCS is in big trouble on Saturday.

4. St. Joe's (A) - Picked up a second 40-point win in their last three games at St. Mary's on Tuesday night.  The busy week ahead holds three road trips to Timon, Nichols, & St. Francis.

5. Niagara Falls (AA) - The Wolverines have won their last two NFL games by an average margin of 44 points heading into a game at Ken East on Tuesday.  Saturday afternoon at Canisius will be a great test for the Wolverines.

6. Lew-Port (A2) - Wins over Ken West & Niagara Wheatfield made it four in a row for the Lancers.  This week they host fellow Top 10 large school North Tonawanda, along with the team who made a splash at the BSN Sports NFL/ECIC Challenge in Lockport.

7. Orchard Park (AA) - The Quakers registered a big win at Williamsville North last week and followed it up with a 33-point thumping of Frontier.  They'll take to the road twice this week - on Tuesday at Clarence and a Friday night battle in Jamestown.

8. North Tonawanda (A1) - Improved to 4-1 in NFL play with their lone loss coming narrowly to first place Niagara Falls.  A big one awaits on Tuesday night when the Jacks get their one shot at Lew-Port.

9. McKinley (A1) - A disappointing week for Williamsville North made room for the Macks to get back into the Top 10, on the strength of their comeback win at East High.  Staying there will likely hinge on the outcome of Saturday's matchup with Amherst in the MLK Classic.

10. East (A2) - The Panthers rolled past City Honors and South Park last week, before dropping one to Middle College on Friday night.  The rematch with the Kats is Wednesday and it's basically a must-win for East's hopes at a Yale Cup title.  Saturday night they play Northstar Christian in the finale of the MLK Classic.

 

Small Schools

1. Middle College (C1) - Two big wins at McKinley and at East have the Kats sitting all alone in first place of Yale Cup I and eyeing a three-peat.  The rematch with East is Wednesday night and it's the 'Game of the Week'!  At the MLK Classic on Saturday afternoon, Middle College faces Nichols.

2. Tapestry (C1) - Three more wins last week, including an exciting tilt with South Park, has Tapestry (currently ahead of Middle College in the state rankings) out to a 7-1 start.  Another Class C team with just one loss visits the Thunderdome on Wednesday when 8-1 Ellicottville makes the trip north.

3. Randolph (C2) - Speaking of one-loss teams in Class C, how about what these Cardinals are doing?  A 7-1 start that boasts a tournament title, a 40-point win over CSAT (who has wins against Ken West & Batavia), and now a six-point win over Cardinal O'Hara (Who has wins over East & Amherst).  And the loss was on the road against NYS Class A #5 Rochester East in a game they were within a point during the second half.

4. Allegany-Limestone (B2) - The Gators are alone in first place in CCAA I West, the league they just entered.  The league that boasts recent Section VI champions Olean, Fredonia, & Chautauqua Lake.  And they happen to be the last three wins for the Gators!  They face Dunkirk & Southwestern in league action this week and make the trip to Buffalo on Saturday, playing in the MLK Classic against Hutch-Tech.

5. Timon (B) - Defeated Hutch-Tech on Tuesday night, before going into Cardinal O'Hara and taking a leg up on the Hawks in the MMA Class B race.  They try to take another one in Class B at Nichols on Friday, after a date with St. Joe's at home on Monday.

6. Fredonia (B2) - The Hillbillies scored a big "first time in a long time" win at Olean last week, and did so by double digits.  They also won big over rival Dunkirk.  They could make it four straight wins this week against Chautauqua Lake and Southwestern.

7. Nichols (B) - The Vikings didn't like seeing St. Mary's in my Top 10 when they weren't, so after knocking off Bennett and St. Francis, they won at St. Mary's by 20.  Big week!  Another one coming up with St. Joe's and Timon visiting.  You already have my attention with three straight wins.  Imagine if...

8. Olean (B1) - The Huskies are coming off a tough week that saw them fall behind in the league standings to two teams (Allegany-Limestone & Fredonia).  It's a very unfamiliar spot for the program and the response will be interesting.

9. Cardinal O'Hara (B) - A pair of six-point losses to teams they were ranked ahead of (Randolph & Timon) has the Hawks at their lowest point since 2016.  They're at St. Francis and at St. Mary's this week, looking for a much needed victory.

10. Westfield (C2) - The Wolverines are now just one of two undefeated teams left in WNY after knocking off NYS Class D #1 Panama on the road, and it's no accident.  This is a good team with balance throughout its starting lineup and I expect to see the winning continue.

 

-centercourt

Comments

[Parkproud]

Park has the best wins of any team in WNY facing a much tougher schedule than any team in the area. Canisius football team constantly gets ranked #1 in football no matter how many losses, due to there schedule. Maybe if Park played the weak WNY teams and won by 30 they would bump up to #1 ,time to move on past the one questionable loss to start season.no team has played a tougher schedule and no team has as many quality wins.

[Anonymous]

Canisius has played good competition this year. Its disappointing that Park isn't in the MMA so we can see those teams compete head to head this season

[Reality]

Just remember this...Park not being in the MMA is not the reason Canisius isn't playing them. The reality is Canisius and all the MMA teams EXCEPT St. Joe's colluded and refused to play them. And reality is also no one cares about the small MMA teams playing them. So in the end Canisius and St. Francis refusing to play them makes them look like one of two things: cowards or babies! Cowards because they are afraid to keep on losing to Park or babies because they didn't like how Park handled this situation with the big guy. Either way it definitely doesn't make them look like forgiving Christians

[BD1]

Reality, there’s two sides to every story and I believe that the powers to be in MMA put a lot of pressure on the teams not to play Park. Did the schools have to cave to the pressure? Maybe, maybe not but who knows what was said to them. I would still love to see Canisius-Park.

[Wolverinestraditioncontinues]

Falls beats Canisius tomorrow, if no one has seen the Falls they have a great team.Team is coached better than it has been in previous years and they have great size. Losing players people, includingmyself thought they would take a step back. Calling it here first. NFHS will beat Canisius in a mathup of two of the best coaches in WNY.