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High school football media poll: Rogers, Middletown each move up ahead of postseason

scott barrett, newport daily news
·2 min read

As we head into the opening week of the postseason, Aquidneck Island teams have to be feeling pretty good.

First off, they all qualified for the playoffs — something that hasn't happened in quite a while. Secondly, they're all at their highest positions of the season in the statewide high school football media poll after victories a week ago.

Portsmouth, which stormed past Cranston East in the regular season finale, remained at No. 6 for a third straight week. Middletown earned the No. 1 seed in its Division II subdivision and vaulted three spots to No. 11. The only Division III team ranked higher than the Islanders is unbeaten Moses Brown at No. 10.

Rogers' offense continues to hum, evidenced by its 54-40 win over Ponaganset last week. That sent the Vikings up two places to No. 18 entering the playoffs.

Rank Team Points Last week

1. Hendricken (10) 200 1

2. La Salle 190 2

3. North Kingstown 180 3

4. Central 165 4

5. St. Raphael 159 5

6. Portsmouth 148 6

7. Cranston West 142 7

8. Westerly 132 8

9. Cumberland 114 10

10. Moses Brown 109 9

11. Middletown 83 14

12. Chariho 71 16

13. Woonsocket 64 11

14. West Warwick 58 13

15. Barrington 55 18

16. Shea 48 15

17. East Providence 44 17

18. Rogers 40 20

19. Lincoln 35 19

20. South Kingstown 26 12

Note: First-place votes in parentheses.

Also receiving votes: Smithfield (16), Ponaganset (8), Central Falls (4), Tolman (4), Mount Pleasant (3), Davies (2).

How The Daily News voted

1. Bishop Hendricken, 2. La Salle, 3. North Kingstown, 4. Central, 5. Portsmouth, 6. St. Raphael, 7. Cranston West, 8. Moses Brown, 9. Cumberland, 10. Westerly, 11. Middletown, 12. West Warwick, 13. Rogers, 14. Chariho, 15. Barrington, 16. Shea, 17. Woonsocket, 18. Smithfield, 19. South Kingstown, 20. East Providence.

As usual, I put a little more confidence in local teams than the rest of my media colleagues, especially Rogers.

The Vikings have by far the toughest matchup in the opening week of the playoffs — on the road against No. 12 Chariho — but if John Horsman's team can win this game (and I believe it can with mistake-free football), you're going to see a rematch with Moses Brown. Rogers has the Quakers on the ropes before falling by three points earlier this season in Providence.

Portsmouth continues to win games thanks to its supreme depth at a number of key positions and should cruise into next week's semifinals, setting up a likely game with No. 7 Cranston West.

With its dynamic offense and stout defense, I expect Middletown to be in the Division III Super Bowl, so it'll be interesting to see where the Islanders land in the next poll — which will come out after all the championship games are played.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: RI high school football media poll: Rogers, Middletown move up