Football
Week 8 SAC Power Rankings: North Side, Snider Re-Enter Top Five
#1: Homestead
Record: 6-1
Last Week: #1
Week 8: at Wayne
After a record-setting performance against the #3 team in our rankings, Homestead is firmly set atop the SAC. Over the last three weeks QB Evan Orsmby has thrown for 1,030 yards, 16 TD, and been an incredibly efficient passer with a completion percentage of 74%. With those kinds of numbers, there are endless possibilities for Homestead on offense, especially if RB Braeden Hardwick can rush for over 200 yards like he did on Friday. This offense has followed up already great numbers with even more impressive ones, and continues to improve as the season goes along. The Spartans are currently two games away from back-to-back SAC titles.
#2: Bishop Dwenger
Record: 6-1
Last Week: #2
Week 8: vs Snider
While Homestead has been hot on offense, Dwenger’s been getting it done on defense. As the case normally is with the Saints, it’s been a collective effort. LB John Michael Fabini leads the conference in sacks by a wide margin, with an insane 9.5 through 7 games and leads Dwenger in tackles with 40, 13 of which are for a loss. Fellow linebacker Devon Tippmann has been his partner in crime, reaching the backfield for 4 sacks and 9 TFL, totaling 38 tackles. With these two running things on Dwenger’s defense, it’s no wonder that they’ve been able to hold teams to just 113 points and have only allowed three or more touchdowns twice this year, once in three overtimes at Homestead and the other at Carroll.
#3: Carroll
Record: 5-2
Last Week: #3
Week 8: vs Concordia
A 5-2 record in the SAC is never anything to scoff at, but Carroll isn’t going to be satisfied with that this year, not while their offense has been averaging nearly 50 points a game. If things go the way they should in the remaining weeks, Carroll will finish behind Dwenger and Homestead in the standings for the 3 year in a row. However, they shouldn’t be disappointed in the way their quarterback has played. Jeff Becker has now made it to 2,000 yards on the year, a terrific milestone for the junior. Along with this, he’s thrown 26 touchdown passes, come up with another 5 on the ground, and has completed 61% of his passes. As long as Becker stays healthy, Carroll will have a shot at winning every game that they play, including a possible rematch with Homestead in sectionals.
#4: North Side
Record: 3-4
Last Week: #6
Week 8: at Northrop
We welcome North Side back into the top five this week after going through a difficult stretch of games. After their win over South Side, the Legends find themselves back where they started the year at #4. But it wasn’t that they won on Friday, it’s how they won. Their 49-6 victory in the Totem Pole game was the largest margin of victory for either team in the rivalry in over a decade. Along with that, only Carroll beat the Archers by more this year. All that this means is that Duce Taylor and the North Side offense is a well-oiled machine that will continue to cause problems for teams, with Northrop up next.
#5: Snider
Record: 4-3
Last Week: #7
Week 8: at Dwenger
Snider also returns into the top five after having their two best wins come in the last two weeks. RB Tyrese Brown went over 100 yards again and had 2 touchdowns in Snider’s win over Northrop. The defense was also tremendous and held Northrop scoreless and only allowed 199 yards of total offense. Snider now ranks as the third best team in points allowed, only behind Concordia and Dwenger. The Panthers face Dwenger this week and there may not be a better time for Snider to face the Saints. There’s plenty of talent on Snider’s roster and now that they have some momentum, they could keep that game close.
#6: Concordia
Record: 4-3
Last Week: #4
Week 8: at Carroll
Though Concordia didn’t lose this week, they dropped in our rankings. The Cadets haven’t looked great over their past few games and played Wayne a little too close in the fourth quarter. The offense has struggled with under 250 total yards in each of their last two games. RB Amir Drew has only averaged 5.4 yards a carry and QB Brandon Davis has only been able to complete 50% of his passes this year. The defense was thought to be able to carry this team, but cracks have started to show. Still, this is a very solid team, but this defense will be pushed to their limit against Carroll and North Side to finish out their year.
#7: Northrop
Record: 3-4
Last Week: #5
Week 8: vs North Side
Northrop’s blowout loss to Snider was a little shocking, but Damarius Cowen really couldn’t get anything going on the ground against a really good Panther front. Things don’t get any easier for this team, as they have North Side and Dwenger remaining, but if Cowen can find room to run, they could be right in either of those games. It may sound repetitive, but he’s been the key in every game, rushing for more than 200 yards in all their wins, and less than 200 in their losses.
#8: Bishop Luers
Record: 2-5
Last Week: #8
Week 8: at South Side
It’s been another ugly season for the Knights, but they’ve learned a lot about who their playmakers are. Juniors Carson Clark and Sir Hale have been two of them, with Clark’s 1,421 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air and Hale’s 6.9 yard average and 4 touchdowns on the ground. The Knights are certainly happy to have these two on their team for another year and they’ll try to get a third win for Luers this season.
#9: South Side
Record: 1-6
Last Week: #9
Week 8: vs Luers
The worst loss they’d ever had to their rival under Coach Norfleet was probably not what the Archers had in mind last week. They’ll try to refocus and take down Luers this week, with Trevor Hapner being a huge weapon for South Side with his 45 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, and 3 forced turnovers this year on defense.
#10: Wayne
Record: 1-6
Last Week: #10
Week 8: vs Homestead
Though the Generals came up short again this week, they can tack on another great game by RB Chris Thomas. Thomas netted 188 yards and punched in 2 touchdowns, giving him 955 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. The problem now is that Wayne has Homestead and Carroll on tap to finish out the regular season, a tall task especially having just faced Snider and Concordia.
