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Up and down the lists

Hematites rise, Miners fall, Hornets enter U.P. football rankings

By STEVE BROWNLEE 3 min read

MARQUETTE -- There was some movement by area teams in the second week of the Upper Peninsula high school football polls released on Tuesday by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

That shouldn't be unexpected as teams won't reach the halfway point of the regular season until they play this week.

Ishpeming had the biggest rise of any team in either eight-player or 11-player polls, moving up two spots from a tie for fifth to third place alone among eight-player teams.

That came after the Hematites traveled to Crystal Falls and handed Forest Park its first loss, a 38-22 decision on Friday that left both teams at 3-1.

The Trojans had been fourth and now have been pushed out of the top five, the only "also receiving votes" squad after getting two voting points.

In 11-player, Negaunee slipped to 2-2 after losing by less than a touchdown to a top-five team for the second straight week. After falling to Calumet 21-18 on Sept. 11, the Miners dropped a 21-16 decision at Kingsford on Friday.

Negaunee fell one spot from fourth to fifth.

L'Anse, also 2-2, received a vote for the first time despite losing to Iron Mountain 42-22 on Friday.

While the No. 1 teams remained the same this week, almost all of the other positions shifted.

In eight-player, Lake Linden-Hubbell cemented its position at the top with a 60-32 win on Saturday over previous No. 2 Norway, which fell two spots to fourth.

Last week, the positioning at the top was so scrambled that three teams received at least one of the five first-place votes. In fact, the Lakes had just one of those precious votes compared to two apiece for the two teams under them, Norway and Pickford.

Now, though, LL-H (4-0) has received four first-place votes with new No. 2 Pickford (4-0) getting the other one. Pickford, which had been No. 3, dropped St. Ignace 44-14 on Friday, but despite that, the Saints (3-1) remained fifth.

In 11-player, Menominee (4-0) actually lost a tiny bit of support at No. 1, despite posting a 22-8 victory over still-No. 3 Calumet. The Maroons were unanimous last week, but only earned four of the first first-place votes this week.

That other vote went to still-No. 2 Kingsford (4-0), while Bark River-Harris (4-0) leapfrogged Negaunee to take over the No. 4 position following a 32-14 win over Gladstone.

Games involving area teams this week, every one of them scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT Friday, are Bessemer/Gogebic at Ishpeming, Hancock at Negaunee, Gwinn at L'Anse, Escanaba at Marquette, Westwood at Gladstone, Ironwood at Munising, Superior Central at Pellston, Newberry at Pickford and Manistique at Iron Mountain.

Story contents based on an email received from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association and an examination of the Michigan High School Athletic Association website at mhsaa.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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