A
huge rushing night from David Simmons kept the
Bloomington High School football team in fourth place in
Class 6A in the first regular-season Associated Press
prep football poll, which was released Monday.
Simmons rushed 15 times for 235 yards and had
touchdown runs of 40 and 75 yards in the Purple Raiders'
54-24 Big 12 Conference win over Danville.
Also in 6A, Normal West moved up a spot to eighth
after rallying past Champaign Central 30-17 with the
help of three touchdown passes by quarterback Andy
Dicken.
LeRoy didn't have the same luck.
The Panthers, who were ranked fifth in Class 1A a
week ago, fell out of the poll after dropping a 12-7
decision to Bismarck-Henning.
Tri-Valley went the opposite direction, moving into
the 1A poll at ninth place with a 48-6 victory over
Danville Schlarman.
Also in 1A, Deer Creek-Mackinaw held onto its
second-place ranking with a 53-0 win over Tri-Point.
Prairie Central, which edged Mahomet-Seymour 13-12 in
Corn Belt Conference play contest, moved to seventh
(from eighth) in 4A.
Pontiac routed Herscher 48-0 and jumped up two spots
to fifth in the Class 5A poll.
GCMS entered the poll at No. 9 in Class 2A with a 7-6
nonconference win over Salt Fork, which was ranked No. 7
in 2A at the time.
Maine South got a scare in its opener, but the Hawks'
narrow victory over Bolingbrook was still good enough to
keep the No. 1 Class 8A ranking.
"That was a win and winning ugly," South quarterback
Tyler Knight said of the 23-20 win over Bolingbrook that
required a late scoring drive and then a fumble recovery
inside the 20.
Other top-ranked schools in their respective classes
were Wheaton North in 7A; powerhouse Joliet Catholic in
6A; Geneseo in 5A; Addison Driscoll in 4A; DuQuoin in
3A; Sterling Newman Catholic in 2A; and Alexis United in
1A.
Joliet Catholic, looking for a 13th state
championship, opened with a 26-0 victory over Marist.
Morris all-state running back John Dergo rushed 15
times for 200 yards with scoring runs of 63, 61 and 20
yards and an interception return of 100 yards to lead
his second-ranked team to a win over Geneva 41-19.
In one of the top matchups of the opening week and a
tough opener for both schools, Mount Carmel, ranked
fourth in 8A, beat Morgan Park, No. 4 in 7A, 26-6.
