Boy am I dumb.

I didn't even realize or take the time to find out that Naperville Central played St. Edward (OH) last year. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Oh, well, now I know why this blog hasn't gone viral.

But at least I got the point spread right, without peeking at last year's result. And I was also right that the Redhawks would give the Eagles a game and make them work for the victory. In fact, the contest was much closer than the score would indicate. Central was even up, 24-20, in the fourth quarter and could have conceivably won or at least tied it in the last few minutes. Rather than calling a timeout on fourth and one with the ball at about midfield, the Redhawks ended up hurrying the snap and falling short of a first down on a quarterback keeper. (Lots of quarterback keepers in this game. What's up with that?) The Eagles then took over on downs and went on to score the go-ahead touchdown. (The last seven points were just icing on the cake.)

I'd say that the visiting team was clearly better, but Central quarterback Payton Thorne (above) provided enough big plays to keep the home team competitive. If St. Edward is really the third best team in Ohio and No. 41 in the country as a whole, then Illinois can't be too far off the pace. I still think the quality of high school football around here has declined somewhat, but I came away encouraged nonetheless.

On to the rankings. Not a lot changed this week, except that Lyons was dropped from both the Tribune's and the Sun-Times's top ten for losing to Glenbard West, 35-3. And Naperville Central also fell in both polls for the unpardonable sin of losing to a team that probably no one else in the state of Illinois could have beaten either. Finally, Nazareth was elevated to the No. 10 spot in Beth Long's poll, which is convenient as the Roadrunners travel to No. 6 Marist on Friday.

WEEK SEVEN (All teams undefeated unless otherwise noted.)

Tribune:

1. Lincoln-Way East
2. Maine South (5-1)
3. Prairie Ridge
4. Phillips
5. Loyola (5-1)
6. Glenbard West (5-1)
7. Marist
8. Naperville Central (5-1)
9. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-1)
10. Lake Zurich

Sun-Times:

1. Lincoln-Way East
2. Prairie Ridge
3. Maine South (5-1)
4. Phillips
5. Loyola (5-1)
6. Marist
7. Glenbard West (5-1)
8. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-1)
9. Lake Zurich
10. Nazareth

MaxPreps:

1. Lincoln-Way East
2. Prairie Ridge
3. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-1)
4. Maine South (5-1)
5. Naperville Central (5-1)
6. Huntley (5-1)
7. Barrington
8. East St. Louis (5-1)
9. Phillips
10. Rochester