Sports Line’s power rankings
Week two of the high school football season brought about some separation in Sports Line’s weekly power rankings. Some teams making the biggest improvements were Hillcrest with a big win over Century and Sugar-Salem after picking up win No. 1 over Bear Lake.
The power rankings measure all schools in districts 5 and 6, which play 11-man football. Points are gained or lost based on performance each week. The mathematical formula is designed to measure how each team plays against its competition, giving us a tool to measure smaller schools against larger schools. A plus or minus sign next to each school’s name indicates a gain or loss in their ranking from the previous week.
For the second week in a row, the Aberdeen Tigers come in at No. 1 in the rankings. Aberdeen went on the road again for its second-straight victory. That road-win multiplier has helped the Tigers earn another big point total in week two.
The Shelley Russets did themselves a major favor by winning big in Driggs. The victory over Teton not only put the Russets all alone in second place, but placed the Russets in first place in the conference standings. Travis Hobson and company now have five weeks until the next division game– plenty of time to work on anything the Russets need to, but don’t expect Big Red to let off the accelerator.
In at No. 3 on Sports Line’s power rankings are the Malad Dragons. Malad went on the road to Ririe for East Idaho Game Night on IdahoSports.com and rocked the Bulldogs 41-7. The big point differential combined with a road-win multiplier helped the Dragons jump up two spots and out of a four-way tie for fifth from week one.
The Snake River Panthers didn’t play a week two game, nor did the Panthers move up or down in our rankings. Their 110 power ranking points from week one were enough to keep them in fourth place. If the Panthers offense didn’t accumulate any rust in the week off, they could make a jump into the top three if Snake picks up a road victory over Sugar-Salem on Friday night. That game is this week’s featured East Idaho Game Night on IdahoSports.com.
Despite a one-point, comeback victory over Idaho Falls, the Rigby Trojans fall three spots into fifth place. The game could have gone either way, meaning the Trojans didn’t pick up nearly as many points in the point differential category as they did with the blowout win over Century the previous week. Rigby hosts Hillcrest Friday night, and the Knights should be rolling in confidence following their big win over the same Diamondbacks squad in week two.
Other notes: The Knights had the biggest jump in week two, gaining 10 spots in the rankings. Teton’s conference loss to Shelley cost the Redskins eight spots, the biggest slide of the week. The Preston Indians scored the most power ranking points in week two by going on the road and winning an out-of-state game against Star Valley. School District 91 teams Skyline and Idaho Falls had the lowest-scoring week with just 9 points apiece.
Remember, these rankings are based solely on math. As the season rolls along, the math will average out, and teams will improve or fall back to earth. But until we have state champions decided for each classification, it’s always fun to debate.
