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Monday, September 23, 2013

Oakland County Football Rankings -- The First 15

1. Birmingham Brother Rice
You can't deny the heroics of Brother Rice's "Mr. Everything" Jason Alessi as he and Alex Malzone teamed up for one of the greatest finishes you'll see, but the Warriors still have plenty to work on after nearly losing to De La Salle in week 4.

2. Southfield
Picked up as big of a league win as you will find on Friday over Oak Park, which immediately puts the Blue Jays in the driver's seat in the OAA White. But Southfield can't overlook Farmington Hills Harrison on Friday, who has gotten off to a perfect start this season.

3. Novi Detroit Catholic Central
Once again back to its dominant, overpowering self, Catholic Central looks like it hasn't missed a beat so far this season and behind the likes of Dylan Roney, Zack Bock and Connor Holton, the Shamrocks once again have one of the best rushing attacks in the state.

4. Stoney Creek
There may not be a bigger, or better statement win to come out of Oakland County all season long than the one the Cougars put together over Lake Orion on Saturday. A 36-7 drubbing proved that the Cougars are the real deal and have as good of a shot as any at claiming the OAA Red this year.

5. Walled Lake Western
The Warriors passed their first true test on Friday night, pulling off a comeback victory over Walled Lake Northern and look like the team to beat in the KLAA North, as expected by many behind quarterback Kyle Bambard and one of the area's top defenses.

6. Clarkston
The Wolves look like they're back on track after a disappointing start to the season after 51-0 beatdown of Troy Athens with a squad that is at less than 100% due to injuries. As the Wolves get healthier throughout the year, they will continue to round into form.

7. Farmington Hills Harrison
While Harrison has been a perennial power in Oakland County over the years, the 4-0 start to the year for the Hawks still comes as a bit of a surprise to many. It was an expected down year for Harrison, but behind Lorenzo Collins and Jevon Shaw, the Hawks look like a legitimate contender in the OAA White once again.

8. Oak Park
Despite a narrow loss at the hands of Southfield on Friday, the Knights obviously still remain as one of the area's most dangerous teams behind star RB/CB John Kelly as well skill position players Ricardo Brown and Juan Fernandez going forward.

9. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Quite a statement was made on Friday night when the Irish took down perennial Division 5 power Flint Powers in convincing fashion, picking up a 28-2 win. The Irish can make another big time statement this week with a win over Loyola.

10. Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Mark Zanders might be the best running back in Oakland County that nobody knows about, but that could change in the very near future. One week after rushing for nearly 300 yards, Zanders rushed for 133 more in a blowout win over U-D Jesuit and has the Eaglet's vaunted ground attack back into top form.

11. (Tie) Birmingham Seaholm
For the first time this season, the Maples trailed in a game against Berkley in week four, but aside from that, Seaholm was dominant once again, picking up another convincing win to stay perfect on the season. There have been fewer units better than the Maple defense, which has surrendered just over 10 points per contest so far.

11. (Tie) Birmingham Groves
Ross Williams entered the 2013 season as one of the state's best kept secrets, but now, four weeks into the season, Williams is now one regarded as one of the state's best and highly regarded running backs after totaling 780 yards on the ground through four weeks and has led the Falcons to a 4-0.

13. Lake Orion
A disappointing and relatively surprising loss to Stoney Creek in week four, but the Dragons still remain as one of the OAA Red's top teams and you can expect a far better performance from the offense and defense next week against Troy.

14. Waterford Kettering
There might not be a team in the entire state that has been more of a pleasant surprise in the 2013 season than the Captains this year, who have proven that they are for real with impressive wins over Walled Lake Central and Lakeland in back-to-back weeks.

15. North Farmington
If Ross Williams is having the biggest breakout season so far this year, Chauncey Bridges might as well be listed as 1A. The North Farmington star running back has rushed for 784 yards so far this year and has helped the Raiders jump out to a 3-1 start on the year.

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