A thrilling Week 7 of RGV football brought major changes to the RGVSports.com Top 10 poll, with only one team retaining its position from last week.
Edinburg Vela retained the No. 1 spot, once again earning all six first-place votes following a 51-12 thrashing of PSJA High on Friday. The SaberCats (7-0, 5-0) look to take one step closer to securing the district title Friday, hosting the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies.
After the SaberCats, mayhem occurred, with new teams at each spot. The Harlingen South Hawks vaulted into the No. 2 spot following a 28-21 victory over last week’s No. 3 team, the San Benito Greyhounds.
The loss by the Greyhounds caused them to drop one spot to No. 4, while the Harlingen High Cardinals climbed to No. 3 after a huge bounce-back win over previously unbeaten Weslaco High on Friday.
All three teams return to action Friday, with the Hawks (6-0, 3-0) playing host to Donna North at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen, while the Cardinals (4-2, 2-1) and Greyhounds (5-1, 2-1) face off in the Battle of the Arroyo at Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito.
The Mercedes Tigers tumbled in the rankings from No. 2 to No. 5 after suffering their first loss of the season to the Sharyland High Rattlers. They’re joined by the PSJA North Raiders at No. 5, both receiving 34 points in this week’s votes. The Raiders are coming off a 42-0 drubbing of Edinburg High, their fourth shutout performance of the year.
The Tigers (6-1, 4-1) look to get back on the win column Thursday, taking on the PSJA Southwest Javelinas at PSJA Stadium in Pharr, while the Raiders (5-1, 3-1) prepare for a pivotal matchup against crosstown rival PSJA High (3-3, 2-2).
McAllen Memorial earned its fifth straight win Friday, taking down Brownsville Pace 34-20 to improve to 5-0 in district play. Still, the Mustangs (5-1, 5-0) drop two spots in the rankings, coming in at No. 7. McAllen Memorial takes on Donna High on Friday at Bennie La Prade Stadium in Donna.
Meanwhile, crosstown rival McAllen High jumped two spots to No. 8 after picking up its fourth straight win, improving to 4-1 in district play. The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-14 win over Weslaco East and will look to continue rolling Friday at home against Brownsville Pace.
Rounding out the top 10 is a pair of Mission schools making returns to the ranking. The Mission Veterans Patriots opened the season as the No. 9-ranked team but dropped out of the rankings following a Week 1 loss to the Mission High Eagles.
The Patriots (5-2, 5-0) are back in the poll at No. 9 after reeling off their fifth straight victory, while taking sole possession of first place in District 16-5A DII. They’ll get a week off before hitting the road for a marquee matchup against Mercedes on Friday, Oct. 22, at Tiger Stadium in Mercedes.
Meanwhile, the Eagles return to the poll following back-to-back wins to improve to 4-1 in district play, earning the No. 10 spot. Mission High (5-2, 4-1) takes on the Edinburg Economedes Jaguars on Friday.
Others receiving votes include La Feria (4-1, 1-0), Port Isabel (5-1, 2-1) and Sharyland High (4-2, 3-1).
RGVSPORTS.COM TOP 10
The following are the teams in the RGVSports.com top 10 poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through 1 point for a 10th-place vote. The six votes are the writers and editors who cover RGV high school football for AIM Media’s three newspapers: The Monitor, The Valley Morning Star, and The Brownsville Herald.
Team Records Points Prv.
1. Edinburg Vela (6) 7-0 60 1
2. Harlingen South 6-0 54 4
3. Harlingen High 4-2 38 6
4. San Benito 5-1 35 3
T5. Mercedes 6-1 34 2
T5. PSJA North 5-1 34 7
7. McAllen Memorial 5-1 29 5
8. McAllen High 5-1 16 10
9. Mission Veterans 5-2 11 NR
10. Mission High 5-2 6 NR
Others receiving votes: La Feria, Port Isabel, Sharyland High.