High school football: Week 6 restores order in Palm Beach County power rankings
After a taste of the bad — last week's power rankings reflected the FHSAA's Top 10 Palm Beach County teams — I'm back to show how good you have it with my weekly rankings deciphering the wild wins and losses of Week 6.
I always write three takeaways from the sidelines, so here are three from Week 6: 1) Hurricanes suck 2) Friday nights without football are weird and 3) Nothing is real.
More Week 6: 3 takeaways from Wellington football's district rout of Forest Hill
More Top 10 Teams:Cardinal Newman football owns John Carroll with second half shutout
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If you kept up with the high school edition of Monday Night Football this week – especially if you saw West Boca Raton's upset over Deerfield Beach – you might agree.
Here's how local teams stack up now that I'm teeing them up again:
1. Cardinal Newman (6-0)
Two words headlined the Crusaders' 40-7 shutdown of John Carroll: undefeated and undeniable.
'Undisputed' was edited out, but I think that'll be the case this week at Glades Central as a new Palm Beach powerhouse goes for a Muck sweep.
(Not so) bold prediction: Newman blasts "All I Do Is Win" at No. 1 for the rest of the season.
This week: at Glades Central (1-5), Friday, 6:30p
2. Santaluces (5-0)
Life felt like a simulation Monday on Newman's sidelines when I hopped on Twitter and saw that an undefeated Santaluces was only up 16 points over a 2-3 Lake Worth.
The Chiefs were feeling the impact of some injuries as soon as Week 2. That was before a considerably laidback stretch of schedule that doesn't say much about the New Santa's playoff potential.
A week off will help Santaluces will find much needed recovery before taking on Boca Raton in Week 8.
This week: Bye
3. Atlantic (3-2)
I'm back in the driver's seat and that means I'm going to be reckless.
You're reading that No. 3 right. They may have had two weeks off from games, but that doesn't mean they've taken the time off.
The Eagles will be well-rested and hyped for a road trip to Anquan Boldin Stadium to face a scorned Pahokee.
This week: at Pahokee, Friday, 6:30p
4. Pahokee (4-2)
Monday's fever dream was a nightmare for Pahokee after suffering a two-point upset from Dwyer.
There's no question that the Blue Devils are going to make a deep postseason run. It's just a question of when everything will click.
Pahokee's defense held for a second half shutout performance, but the offense emulated the energy it had in the second half in a near-loss to Palm Beach Gardens.
A tie could've happened with successful extra point opportunities.
The Blue Devils' situation reminds me of a friend from middle school talking about her "boyfriend."
Pahokee has a kicker. He just doesn't go to school there.
This week: vs. Atlantic, 6:30 p.m.
5. Palm Beach Central (4-1)
Central had 18 days to sit on the loss to Pahokee and the Broncos stampeded back with a 58-20 victory over John I. Leonard on Monday.
Fluky points lit up the board for the Lancers, but in the few times we've seen the Broncos falter, it's typically the result of avoidable mistakes.
Midway through the season is the perfect time to clean things up and embark on a revenge tour to repeat region final appearances.
This week: vs. Boca Raton (4-2), Friday, 6:30p
6. Palm Beach Gardens (4-2)
The Gators' first shutout of the season comes by way of a still-scoreless Palm Beach Lakes.
We'll see who owns the last slot of the Top 5 after this week's results and a looming meeting with the Broncos towards the end of the month.
This week: Bye
7. Dwyer (4-2)
Yes, the Panthers took down Pahokee on the road and have won three in a row. But they couldn't beat Gardens in the Swamp, toppled by a 17-6 loss. The Gators fell to Pahokee, 38-30, as recently as Week 5.
By my calculations, that adds up to a two-slot promotion in the power rankings.
This week: vs. Forest Hill, Friday, 6:30p
8. Inlet Grove (3-1)
Hurricane Ian had different plans for the Hurricanes of Inlet Grove in Week 6.
It looks like Inlet still hasn't rescheduled one of the toughest games – and biggest benchmarks – on their docket, Benjamin, and we don't know if there are any plans to.
With no test from the Bucs, Inlet's win column will have a promising run for the remainder of the season.
This week: at Suncoast (1-4), Friday, 6:30p
9. Boynton Beach (4-2)
The Tigers took their first district win in a dominant 55-14 rout of Somerset Canyons.
Boynton will sit back and relax this weekend before a champion is likely determined in Week 8 between the Tigers and Saint Andrew's. Then, a strong three running backs for Boynton might meet their match against the rushing attack of dual-threat quarterback Jacob Cashion, Army running back commit Bill Young and the Scots.
This week: Bye
10. Saint Andrew's (4-1)
Saint Andrew's could be undefeated this year if not for their season opener against their toughest competition thus far, King's.
Luckily, Palm Beach County will get a better read on the Scots this week as they prepare for a common opponent, who the Lions defeated 28-6 in Week 5.
This week: vs. North Broward Prep (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: High school football: Palm Beach County power rankings after Week 6
