Lansing Catholic, Pewamo-Westphalia lead divisions in preseason football coaches rankings
They ended their seasons with the ultimate prize at Ford Field last November.
And now reigning state champions Lansing Catholic and Pewamo-Westphalia lead the teams from Greater Lansing featured in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association's preseason poll.
Lansing Catholic is ranked No. 1 in Division 6, while P-W is the top-ranked team in Division 7 in the first installment of a weekly poll voted on by coaches across the state.
Lansing Catholic and P-W are among 10 teams from the area who appear in the poll ahead of season-opening games next week.
CAAC Blue contender East Lansing opens the season ranked No. 8 in Division 2. DeWitt and Mason, which were among the final eight teams standing in Division 3 last fall, both are among the top 10 in Division 3. DeWitt is ranked No. 2, while Mason is No. 10.
Portland, which reached the semifinals last season, is No. 7 in Division 5. Ithaca joins P-W in the top 10 of Division 7 and is ranked No. 10. In Division 8, Carson City-Crystal is ranked No. 8.
Portland St. Patrick and Morrice were voted in the top 10 in 8-player Division 2. Portland St. Patrick is starting at No. 3 and Morrice is No. 5.
The MHSFCA will vote all season on a weekly poll. This marks the first season coaches will be doing their own set of rankings.
"We wanted to give all of our coaches a voice," MHSFCA executive director Andrew Pratley said in a released statement. "We really wanted to model it after the NCAA coaches poll model, ensuring all schools, no matter where they are in the state, are included."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
MHSFCA preseason poll
Division 1
1. Belleville
2. West Bloomfield
3. Rochester Adams
4. Saline
5. Macomb Dakota
6. Rockford
7. Detroit Cass Tech
8. Grand Blanc
9. Chippewa Valley
10. Detroit Catholic Central
Division 2
1. Warren De LaSalle Collegiate
2. Muskegon Mona Shores
3. Traverse City Central
4. South Lyon
5. Livonia Franklin
6. Dexter
7. Roseville
8. East Lansing
9. Waterford Mott
10. Grosse Pointe South
Division 3
1. Detroit Martin Luther King
2. DeWitt
3. Brother Rice
4. River Rouge
5. Muskegon
6. Mt. Pleasant
7. Cedar Springs
8. Walled Lake Western
9. Allen Park
10. Mason
Division 4
1. Chelsea
2. Hudsonville Unity Christian
3. Grand Rapids Christian
4. Orchard Lake St Mary’s
5. Edwardsburg
6. Freeland
7. Riverview
8. Redford Union
9. Lake Fenton
10. Croswell-Lexington
Division 5
1. Grand Rapids Catholic Central
2. Marine City
3. Detroit Country Day
4. Frankenmuth
5. Notre Dame Prep
6. Kingsley
7. Portland
8. Comstock Park
9. Muskegon Oakridge
10. Belding
Division 6
1. Lansing Catholic
2. Grand Rapids West Catholic
3. Millington
4. Warren Michigan Collegiate
5. Clinton
6. Montague
7. Almont
8. Ecorse
9. Michigan Center
10. Constantine
Division 7
1. Pewamo-Westphalia
2. Lawton
3. Traverse City St. Francis
4. Jackson Lumen Christi
5. New Lothrop
6. Monroe St. Mary Catholic
7. Hudson
8. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port
9. Detroit Loyola
10. Ithaca
Division 8
1. Ubly
2. Ottawa Lake Whiteford
3. Carson City Crystal
4. Beal City
5. Reading
6. Harbor Beach
7. White Pigeon
8. Clarkston Everest
9. Iron Mountain
10. Maple City Glen Lake
Division 8-M1
1. Adrian Lenawee Christian
2. Suttons Bay
3. Indian River Inland Lakes
4. Martin
5. Britton Deerfield
6, Merrill
7. Lawrence
8. Deckerville
9. Pickford
10. Newberry
Division 8-M2
1. Powers North Central
2. Colon
3. Portland St. Patrick
4. Crystal Falls Forest Park
5. Morrice
6. Lake Linden-Hubbell
7. Climax Scotts
8. Mendon
9. Marion
10. Gaylord St. Mary’s
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MHSFCA coaches poll: Lansing Catholic, Pewamo-Westphalia ranked No. 1
