Power Rankings, Week 1: Abingdon-Avon on Top, and a 369-Yard Night Nobody Saw Coming
One week in, and the order we published in August is already wrong.
These rank all seven Galesburg-area programs together — Western Big 6 alongside Three Rivers alongside Lincoln Trail-Prairieland alongside eight-man. Nobody else compares them, and comparing them is the only way to answer the question people actually ask: who is the best football team around here?
Preseason position in parentheses.
1. Abingdon-Avon (1-0) — preseason 4th, up 3
Beat West Hancock 41-12, and that is the best win any area team recorded. West Hancock went 6-4 last season and made the playoffs; A-Town won by 29.
This is a team that lost four games by five points or fewer a year ago. Rick Quinn is back, four all-conference players are back, and the first result of his return was a rout of the toughest opponent on the local Week 1 slate.
2. ROWVA/Williamsfield (1-0) — preseason 6th, up 4
Fifty-four points, from a team that scored 214 across nine games last season.
The caveat is real: LCSRV went 0-9 last year and finished last in the Large division, so this was the softest opener in the area. But you can only beat what is in front of you, and the Cougars beat it 54-6. They have now won consecutive games spanning two seasons.
3. West Central (1-0) — preseason 2nd, down 1
The Heat had to wait a day for it. Up 24-12 on Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland when thunderstorms suspended play at halftime Friday, they finished the job Saturday afternoon and won the second half 8-0 for a 32-12 conference win.
Jason Kirby is 1-0 for a third straight season. The only thing keeping them from second is the opponent — FCW is not LCSRV, but it is not West Hancock either.
4. Monmouth-Roseville (0-1) — preseason 1st, down 3
Yes, a winless team at four. Power rankings measure how good you are, not what your record says after one Friday.
The Titans lost by two, on the road, after a two-hour weather delay, to a team that scored with eight seconds left in the half. Lars Bergren went for 246 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Two failed two-point conversions were the difference.
This is still the most talented roster in the area and the only local program to win a playoff game in the last five years. But the defensive rebuild Jeremy Adolphson warned about in July arrived on schedule, and Rockridge — 10-1 last season — visits Friday.
5. United (0-1) — preseason 7th, up 2
Read the box score before you read the record.
Kellen Boone threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a 47-yard score in a 36-27 loss at Bureau Valley — a game itself suspended by lightning at 8:24 p.m. and not finished until 11:55.
United won one game last season. It just put up 27 points and 369 passing yards on the road. The defense is the problem, and it is a real one. But this is not the same team.
6. Galesburg (0-1) — preseason 5th, down 1
Lost 48-21, and it counts as progress. The same fixture last August finished 44-0.
Grady Hickey threw two touchdowns and completed nearly 66 percent. Antwon Walker caught 158 yards. Prosper Aremu scored twice. Limestone, 0-9 last season, visits Friday, and that game will say a great deal.
7. Knoxville (0-1) — preseason 3rd, down 4
The steepest fall of the week, and the most forgivable. Macomb went 9-2 last season and won 42-14, with Drake May running for 125 yards, three touchdowns and adding 12 tackles.
Marty Turner has five returning offensive starters and six on defense, and none of it showed. Rushville-Industry visits this week. Knoxville needs it.
Biggest riser
ROWVA/Williamsfield, up four. A 48-point win moves you regardless of the opponent.
Biggest faller
Knoxville, down four. A 28-point loss with nothing visible to build on.
A note on our Player of the Week
We gave it to Lars Bergren on Saturday morning on the strength of 246 all-purpose yards. Kellen Boone’s 369-yard passing line was not published anywhere at that point.
Had we known, Boone would have had a strong case. We are leaving the award where it is rather than quietly rewriting Saturday’s post — but he deserves the mention, and it is a reminder of why we want stats from coaches directly rather than waiting on them.
Playoff watch
With 48 qualifiers per class instead of 32, the working target is roughly four or five wins rather than a hard five. After one week:
- In good shape: Abingdon-Avon, ROWVA/Williamsfield, West Central — all 1-0
- On the bubble: Monmouth-Roseville, United, Galesburg
- Need a run: Knoxville
Pairings are announced Saturday, October 17.
Disagree?
Almost certainly, and the ranking most likely to be wrong is Monmouth-Roseville at four with an 0-1 record. Tell us why — [email protected]. We publish the good arguments.
Rankings are our judgment, not a formula. Scores and stats from WMOI/WRAM, WRMJ, Shaw Local and MaxPreps. The West Central final is per MaxPreps and unconfirmed by any outlet at the time of writing. Full Week 1 recap →
