August 13, 2009
MaxPreps refuses to give up. After a collossal whiff in their Top-25 rankings, gleaned via sifting through individual team-preview pages on their site, and another on their Top-10 rankings, published on the bottom of their homepage, the nationwide high school sports megasite has returned to the plate for a third attempt, this time with a finely crafted, purposefully published Top-5 rankings. Which once again happen to be astoundingly different from their previous attempts.
Interestingly enough, while their first and second rankings had six and seven West Michigan teams in the Top-10 respectively, only one West Michigan team made the cut for these third rankings.
Once again, a disclaimer: Rankings at this point in the preseason are pointless, and invariably wrong. It’s especially risky trying to analyze and rank the teams in an individual state accurately when your coverage area is the entire country, as MaxPreps intends to do.
This process might be easier if you had a writer assigned to each state, but Dave Krider, the journalist responsible for these rankings, was also responsible for ranking the Top-5 teams in Tennessee three days earlier.
That’s a hefty plane ticket.
But you’ve got to give MaxPreps their due for tenacity and good old American stick-to-it-iveness. Even if it is a bit masochistic.
In any event, here are your Top-5 high school football teams in Michigan, as determined by MaxPreps:
1. Stevenson (Sterling Heights)
The Titans return 12 starters from a 10-2 team which finished strong with many key juniors. The leader is 5-foot-9, 180-pound QB Jason Fracassa – grandson of legendary Birmingham Brother Rice coach Al Fracassa – who passed for 3,357 yards and 34 touchdowns last year. D.J. Mershman (5-11, 175), who runs a 4.5 40, snared 67 passes for 1,446 yards and 21 touchdowns. RB Justice Wright (5-11, 180), another 4.5 speedster, amassed 1,358 yards and 14 touchdowns in combined rushing and receiving. LB Charlie Walker (6-3, 210) made 94 tackles, while Carl Davis (6-5, 295) anchors the defensive line.
2. Warren De La Salle
The Detroit Catholic League is loaded again and the Pilots lead the way with 14 returning starters from a 13-1 team. TB De’Angelo Parris (5-10, 170), who runs a 4.4 40, led last year’s team with 586 yards on 78 carries and eight touchdowns. Slotback Tim Zabawa (6-1, 187) was the No. 1 receiver with 28 catches for 410 yards and four touchdowns, carried 43 times for 310 yards and as a safety had 42 tackles and four interceptions. Premier linemen include Steve O’Shell (6-1, 225), Matt Privett (6-0, 255), Eric Smith (6-4, 245) and Joe Biernat (6-4, 225).
3. Inkster
The Vikings will be in the state-title hunt with one of the nation’s premier quarterbacks, Devin Gardner. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound University of Michigan recruit completed 97-of-177 passes last year for 1,711 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran 102 times for 876 yards and another 19 touchdowns. WR Jonathan Taylor, a Central Michigan recruit, made 17 catches for 406 yards and nine touchdowns last year. Jaurhar Jackson (6-5, 265) will star at offensive tackle and defensive end. Adding strength are the senior Lindsey twins, who transferred from Taylor Truman. Daniel (5-11, 195) ran for 502 yards and had 208 yards receiving for a combined nine touchdowns. Nathan (5-11, 190) gained a combined 301 yards. Both run a 4.4 40.
4. Catholic Central (Novi)
The Shamrocks return 12 starters, including their leading rusher and tackler. Tailback Anthony Capatina (5-8, 170) was the top rusher with 787 yards on 146 carries and five touchdowns. Fullback Niko Palazeti (6-1, 230) gained 551 yards on 104 carries and scored 11 times. Linebacker Mike Kinville (6-3, 210) was the pacesetter with 76 tackles, while another linebacker, Butch Herzog (6-0, 185), was close behind with 65 tackles. Quarterback Sam Landry (6-2, 200) passed for 880 yards and nine touchdowns.
5. Muskegon
The Big Red return four starters on each side of the ball and will be under a new head coach, former assistant Matt Koziak. They will be strong, quick and very athletic. Coach Koziak calls WR JeVonta Hunter (6-0, 185) his best athlete. He had 14 catches for 196 yards and three touchdowns and is deadly on punt returns (14.7 average). RB-CB Greg Wickliffe (5-8, 180) rushed for 137 yards and made 53 tackles and three interceptions. Key linemen include Alvin Fletcher (5-9, 245), Willie Coulter-Hill (5-8, 240), Dejuan Howland (6-1, 275) and Bowling Green recruit David Churchwell (6-1, 187), a safety who ranked No. 2 with 69 tackles even though not starting the first four games.
Agree? Disagree? Wondering where Rockford and East Grand Rapids are? Let me know in the comments.
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