Marquette's Kyan Jenshak, center, carries the ball in the third quarter amidst a swarm of defenders during a high school football game played against Alpena at William R. Hart Stadium in Marquette on Sept. 5. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Area teams can only hope for some seismic movement the final week of the regular season that will allow them to re-enter the top five in the weekly Upper Peninsula high school football polls conducted by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

This week’s poll shows no area team in the top five, though Negaunee is as close as is humanly possible without making it.

Of course, if a team like the Miners is that close, they’re probably more worried about their MHSAA postseason prospects right about now.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association will make its announcements about both 11- and eight-player playoff fields at 5 p.m. Sunday, available to watch for free on the NFHS Network available by a link from the MHSAA website at www.mhsaa.com.

In the UPSSA poll, Negaunee (5-3) missed the 11-player top five by a single voting point with three points, since No. 5 Bark River-Harris (6-1) had four. The Miners blasted Houghton 42-6 on Friday.

No other area school received votes in either poll.

Menominee (7-0) all but locked up the No. 1 spot in the final 11-player poll, let alone this week, after knocking off No. 3 Kingsford (7-1) 49-14 on Friday. The Maroons were unanimous with all five first-place votes and 25 voting points, while the Flivvers didn’t move down and have 13 points.

No. 2 Escanaba (7-1) dropped Alpena 39-6 and has 20 points, No. 4 Calumet (6-2) zapped Gladstone 46-3 owning 10 points and No. 5 BR-H took out West Iron County 44-7, as none of this top five changed positions this week.

In contrast, there was a lot of movement other than at the top of the eight-player rankings.

Norway (8-0) solidified its hold on No. 1 with a 61-8 bludgeoning of Rudyard, with the Knights now a unanimous top pick with all five first-place votes and 25 poll points.

North Dickinson (8-0) improved one position to No. 2 with 17 points after a 42-14 stonewalling of Brimley, while Pickford (7-1) also popped up a spot to No. 3 with 12 points after outscoring St. Ignace 60-30.

Gogebic-Bessemer (7-1) took a tumble two spots to No. 4 after falling 38-34 to new No. 5 North Central (6-2). G-B has 11 voting points and NC nine.

The Jets took the place of Lake Linden-Hubbell (6-2), which fell into the “others” category with just one vote despite defeating Ironwood 64-28 on Saturday.

This week’s Associated Press state polls weren’t available by the time of the writing of this story.

In games involving area teams this week, Negaunee will host Iron Mountain at 7 p.m. Thursday, while at 7 p.m. Friday will be Kingsford at Marquette, Pickford at Ishpeming, Munising at Norway, Calumet at L’Anse, Rudyard at Newberry and Manistique at Menominee.

The Westwood at Gwinn game was called off in the preseason due to the Modeltowners not fielding a varsity team this season.

At noon Saturday, Superior Central entertains North Dickinson.

Story contents based on an email received from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.