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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Moving on.

PrepNation.com releases the National Prep Poll every week during the regular season, ranking the Top 25 high school football teams in the country, along with the Top-10 from each region.  Think of the NPP as equivalent to the AP poll in college football.

The National Prep Poll kicks off with the most comprehensive pre-season rankings available, including the top 101-teams in the nation.  Surprisingly, only one Michigan club made the cut.

65. Stevenson (Sterling Heights, Mich.)
Last season: 10-2, Division 1 state quarterfinalist
Coach: Rick Bye
Key players: QB Jason Fracassa (5-9, 170, Sr.), DL-OL Carl Davis (6-5, 300, Sr.), LB Jon Sulek (Sr.), WR D.J. Mershman (5-11, 175, Sr.), LB Charlie Walker (6-3, 195, Sr.), RB Justice Wright (5-10, 170, Sr.)
Outlook: The Titans, who return nearly all of their starting offensive skill players, are the early favorite to win a state title in Michigan’s largest classification. Fracassa, though undersized, is a tremendous high school player who enters his fourth year as a starting QB with nearly 6,000 career passing yards. He is the grandson of legendary Brother Rice head coach Al Fracassa. Wright averaged 8.5 yards per carry and earned all-county recognition as a junior. Division I prospects Davis and Walker bring excellent athleticism to the defense front.

PrepNation’s bridesmaid list of 101-Teams to Watch in 2009 was a little more kind.  Six teams from the mitten made the cut — three West, three East (in alphabetical order).

Canton (Mich.), 10-2 last season: The Chiefs will be a darkhorse contender for the Division 1 state championship. Watch out for the speed and change of direction of rising sophomore RB Kevin Buford.

East Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 13-1 last season: The three-time defending Division 3 champion has nine starters returning led by talented TE-DE Colin Voss (6-7, 225).

Inkster (Mich.), 12-2 last season: Last year’s Division 3 state runner-up has future Michigan Wolverine Devin Gardner returning at QB along with his top primary receiver and four starting linemen.

Lake Orion (Mich.), 12-2 last season: The Dragons should again contend for a state championship one year after reaching the Division 1 final under the leadership of then-freshman QB Sean Charette (5-9, 160). Joining him in the offensive backfield is senior RB Kim Bruce, who ran for more than 1,000 yards in ’08.

Muskegon (Mich.), 14-0 last season: Matt Koziak, who helped lead the Big Reds to two state championships the last three seasons as offensive coordinator, takes over as head coach. The team’s top rusher could end up being sophomore speedster Juwan Lewis (6-0, 180).

Rockford (Mich.), 13-1 last season: The Rams, who own three Division I state titles in five seasons, must be considered a strong contender for the championship again in 2009. Back to lead the defense is LB Joe Stefanski, last year’s state champion wrestler in the 215-pound division.

While this list is, again, only one man’s opinion, that man’s opinion was arrived at via a massive number of conversations with coaches, journalists, and others who theoretically should know what they’re talking about.

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