GAMES
RANKINGS
THE POWER RANKINGS: Top teams stay put; seismic shifts in the muddy middle
Nothing too dramatic in the top half of our poll this week as the top 9 teams won, most of them in a rout. The real action took place further down the standings where several key matchups shook things up considerably.
Austin High held off Bowie to make the playoffs for the first time since 2000; Bastrop bested Pflugerville and Vista Ridge surged late to defeat Hutto in matchups involving Top 20 teams. Good stuff!
And there’s more to come in this, the final week of the regular season. Vandegrift hosts nemesis Round Rock; Cedar Park faces their arch-rival Georgetown; Anderson hosts Weiss; and Hutto faces “#20A” McNeil in yet another game with huge playoff implications.
Meanwhile in the private schools, Regents travels to The Quarries at Hyde Park to take on the Panthers in a battle for the district title.
Happy November and here are this week’s rankings heading into Week 11.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) -- 8-1 (77-0 W v. Del Valle)
2. (2) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) -- 8-1 (51-0 W v. Akins)
3. (3) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) -- 8-1 (49-0 W v. Westwood)
4. (4) Round Rock Dragons (6A) – 8-1 (W 22-17 v. Stony Point)
5. (5) Liberty Hill (5A-2) – 8-1 (56-0 W v. Crockett)
6. (7) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 8-1 (65-21 W v. Lake Belton)
7. (6) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 7-2 (BYE)
8. (8) LBJ Austin Jaguars (4A-1) -- 9-0 (46-14 W v. Taylor)
9. (9) Buda Johnson Jaguars (6A) – 6-3 (38-36 W v. Judson)
10. (10) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) – 7-2 (44-38 L v. College Station)
11. (13) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 7-2 (57-14 W v. Lockhart)
12. (14) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 7-2 (38-28 W v. Pflugerville)
13. (15) Cedar Park (5A-1) – 6-3 (47-31 W v. Leander)
14. (11) Pflugerville Panthers (5A-1) – 6-3 (38-28 L v. Bastrop)
15. (20) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 6-3 (38-31 W v. Hutto)
16. (17) Austin High Maroons (6A) – 5-4 (35-32 W v. Bowie)
17. (12) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) – 6-4 (35-32 L v. Austin High)
18. (18) Wimberley Texans (4A-2) – 7-2 (56-0 W v. Smithville)
19. (19) Lago Vista Vikings (4A-2) – 7-2 (23-7 W v. Navarro)
20. (16) Hutto Hippos (6A) -- 4-5 (38-31 L v. Vista Ridge)
VYPE Austin Top 5 Private Schools
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Regents Knights (TAPPS) – 8-1 (BYE)
2. (2) St. Michael’s Warriors (TAPPS) – 8-1 (21-14 W v. St. Thomas Catholic)
3. (4) Hyde Park Panthers (TAPPS) – 6-3 (43-20 W vs. Brentwood Christian)
4. (3) Brentwood Christian Bears (TAPPS) – 5-4 (43-20 L v. Hyde Park)
5. (5) St. Andrew’s Highlanders (SPC) – 3-7 (64-35 W v. Ft. Worth Country Day)
THE POWER RANKINGS: Westlake win in “Battle of the Lakes” cements top spot
We’ve been saying all season that Westlake is the best high school football team in the Greater Austin area; this despite their one early loss (to state-ranked Atascocita) while Lake Travis was undefeated. The Chaparrals proved it – for now – with a 28-16 road win over the Cavaliers to further ensconce themselves atop this week’s Power Rankings. (Due to the enrollment number ramifications of what’s essentially an elimination game Friday between #12 Bowie vs. #17 Austin High, the frontrunners may meet again in the playoffs.)
Meanwhile Vandegrift kept pace, Round Rock had a Bye, and Liberty Hill’s fast break Slot-T offense kept the Panthers in the Top 5.
LBJ might be the most intriguing team in Austin. Like Liberty Hill, the Jaguars continue to post gaudy scores, but against lower-tiered 4A teams. We’d love to see what the Jags could do against better competition.
Other comers this week are Georgetown, Anderson, Bastrop and Wimberley while the Vista Ridge Rangers have popped back into the rankings.
Here are this week’s rankings heading into Week 10.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) -- 7-1 (28-16 W v. Lake Travis)
2. (2) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) -- 7-1 (28-16 L v. Westlake)
3. (3) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) -- 7-1 (38-13 W v. Hutto)
4. (4) Round Rock Dragons (6A) – 7-1 (BYE)
5. (5) Liberty Hill (5A-2) – 7-1 (78-57 W v. McCallum)
6. (6) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 7-2 (49-17 W v. Del Valle)
7. (8) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 7-1 (66-37 W v. Glenn)
8. (9) LBJ Austin Jaguars (4A-1) -- 8-0 (85-0 v. Northeast)
9. (7) Buda Johnson Jaguars (6A) – 5-3 (34-21 L v. East Central)
10. (10) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) – 7-1 (BYE)
11. (11) Pflugerville Panthers (5A-1) – 6-2 (69-0 W v. Crockett)
12. (12) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) – 6-3 (48-0 W v. Akins)
13. (15) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 6-2 (42-26 W v. Hays)
14. (16) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 6-2 (47-24 W v. Elgin)
15. (13) Cedar Park (5A-1) – 5-3 (28-21 L v. Lake Belton)
16. (14) Hutto Hippos (6A) -- 4-4 (38-13 L v. Vandegrift)
17. (17) Austin High Maroons (6A) – 4-4 (BYE)
18. (20) Wimberley Texans (4A-2) – 6-2 (59-10 W v. Gonzales)
19. (18) Lago Vista Vikings (4A-2) – 6-2 (BYE)
20. (NR) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 5-3 (31-14 v. Manor)
VYPE Austin Top 5 Private Schools
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Regents Knights (TAPPS) – 8-1 (51-7 W v. Grace Prep)
2. (2) St. Michael’s Warriors (TAPPS) – 7-1 (44-20 W v. Savio)
3. (3) Brentwood Christian Bears (TAPPS) – 5-3 (47-13 W v. Bishop Dunne)
4. (4) Hyde Park Panthers (TAPPS) – 5-3 (46-28 W vs. Grace Community)
5. (5) St. Andrew’s Highlanders (SPC) – 3-6 (63-27 W v. Austin LASA)