GAMES
RANKINGS
THE POWER RANKINGS: Lake Travis back on top; bottom half jumbled up
Remember that part where the Power Rankings are supposed to get clearer the further into the season we go? We were wrong. The Rankings are as clear as a ref announcing a penalty in Swahili as we pass through the halfway mark of the regular season.
Let’s start at the top where Lake Travis’ very impressive rout of a good Bowie squad was enough to allow the Cavs to slip back in front of an idle Westlake. (Let’s be honest; Lake Travis, Westlake and #3 ranked Dripping Springs are gonna settle this on the field in district play, with Vandegrift ready to pounce.)
Next, you could pretty much throw a blanket over Teams #4-8, all of whom notched impressive wins to hold serve. Vista Ridge also stayed put at #9 after battling Vandegrift to a close loss while surging Liberty Hill climbs into the Top 10, helped by Rouse’s upset defeat. (Yes, we know #11 Rouse beat the Panthers, but that was a month ago.)
Whie the top half of the Rankings is (relatively) stable, the bottom half is a jumbled mess. Hutto moved up after their Bye, along with McNeil and Pflugerville after wins; LBJ, Bowie, and Hendrickson all slid down after losses. And note that Cedar Park and a suddenly resurgent Round Rock have reappeared in this week’s rankings. (And again, we know Round Rock handily defeated McNeil just last week – but they also have three losses overall. We’ll check back in a week or two.)
With the district races heating up, the matchups become more intriguing. In theory, that should bring some clarity to our Power Rankings next weeks.
But don’t bet on it.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (2) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) – 5-0 (W 63-21 vs. #13 Bowie)
2. (1) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) – 3-1 (BYE)
3. (3) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 5-0 (W 63-0 vs. # 20 Akins)
4. (4) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) - 3-1 (W 21-10 @ #9 Vista Ridge)
5. (5) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 5-0 (W 69-7 vs. McCallum)
6. (6) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 4-0 (W 42-40, 6-OT @ A&M Consolidated)
7. (7) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) – 4-1 (W 41-21 @ #16 Hendrickson)
8. (8) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 3-1 (W 58-27 vs. Leander)
9. (9) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 4-1 (L 21-10 vs. #4 Vandegrift)
10. (11) Liberty Hill (5A-2) – 3-2 (W 64-0 vs. Navarro)
11. (10) Rouse (5A-1) – 2-2 (L 49-38 @ Lake Belton)
12. (14) Hutto Hippos (6A) – 3-1 (BYE)
13. (15) McNeil Mavericks (6A) – 3-2 (W 56-21 vs. Stony Point)
14. (12) LBJ Austin Jaguars (4A-1) - 2-2 (L 37-21 @ Cornerstone Christian)
15. (13) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) – 3-2 (L 63-21 @ #2 Lake Travis)
16. (17) Pflugerville (5A-1) – 4-1 (W 55-20 vs. Elgin)
17. (16) Hendrickson Hawks (5A-2) – 3-2 (L 41-21 @ #7 Weiss)
18. (NR) Round Rock (6A) – 2-3 (W 40-12 @ #18 Cedar Ridge)
19. (NR) Cedar Park (5A-1) – 2-2 (W 57-14 vs. Killeen Chaparral)
20. (19) Hays Hawks (5A-1) – 3-1 (BYE)
THE POWER RANKINGS: Lake Travis clings to top spot in Austin area
Westlake kept up the pressure with another tough road win over powerful Atascocita; Lake Travis cruised to an easy win over Midland Legacy in response and Dripping Springs edged a dangerous Harker Heights squad to maintain the 26-6A podium sweep for another week.
Vandegrift seems to have settled into its groove with a shutout over Stony Point and Bastrop outlasted Prestonwood Christian in one of the many Friday night track meets to round out our Top 5.
Anderson’s impressive win over College Station helped them leapfrog Weiss, who lost a tough one to league favorite A&M Consolidated. With Georgetown holding serve at #8, Vista Ridge edged Round Rock to step over Rouse who became the latest local team to come up short against the resurgent Waco Midway Panthers.
Liberty Hill travelled 5 hours each way to get Coach David Seaborn’s first win to remain #11 while Austin LBJ edged Wimberly in a battle of 4A powers to move up to #12.
McNeil flexed its offensive muscles with a 70-spot to surge past district rivals Stony Point and Cedar Ridge, The Hutto Hippos debut at #15 after outlasting Cedar Ridge. Sandwiched in-between is Bowie, who won impressively on the road at Bible Stadium over Glenn.
Hendrickson knocked Hays out of the Rankings with a wild 1-point road win over the Hawks; Pflugerville and Pflugerville Connally reappear after impressive non-district wins while Cedar Ridge and Stony Point hang on for now to close out this week’s Rankings.
Another batch of districts begin district play this week, which should bring things further into focus. For now, here’s this week’s Power Rankings comers and goers heading into Week Four.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) – 3-0 (W 59-13 vs. Midland Legacy)
2. (2) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) – 2-1 (W 35-28 @ Atascocita)
3. (3) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 3-0 (W 31-26 vs. Harker Heights)
4. (4) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) - 2-1 (W 24-0 vs. #14 Stony Point)
5. (5) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 3-0 (W 70-55 vs. Prestonwood Christian)
6. (7) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 3-0 (W 37-14 vs. College Station)
7. (6) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) -- 2-1 (L 48-40 @ A&M Consolidated)
8. (8) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 2-1 (W 35-32 vs. Copperas Cove)
9. (10) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 3-0 (W 30-29 vs. #17 Round Rock)
10. (9) Rouse (5A-1) – 2-1 (L 38-28 @ Waco Midway)
11. (11) Liberty Hill (5A-2) – 1-2 (W 33-20 @ El Paso Eastlake)
12. (13) LBJ Austin Jaguars (4A-1) -- 2-0 (W 34-33 @ #19 Wimberley)
13. (15) McNeil Mavericks (6A) – 2-1 (W 70-45 @ Westwood)
14. (16) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) – 2-1 (W 38-14 @ Glenn)
15. (NR) Hutto Hippos (6A) – 2-1 (W 63-49 @ #12 Cedar Ridge)
16. (20) Hendrickson Hawks (5A-2) – 2-1 (W 42-41 vs. #18 Hays)
17. (NR) Pflugerville (5A-1) – 2-1 (W 40-0 vs. Ft. Bend Christian)
18. (NR) Pflugerville Connally (5A-1) – 2-1 (W 35-24 vs. Bryan Rudder)
19. (12) Cedar Ridge Raiders (6A) – 1-2 (L 63-49 vs. Hutto)
20. (14) Stony Point Tigers (6A) – 2-1 (L 24-0 @ #4 Vandegrift