FOOTBALL
Top of the Crop
1: Mentor
2: Lake Catholic
3: VASJ
4: Chardon
5: Perry
6: Kirtland
7: Hawken
8: Gilmour
9: Kenston
10: Riverside
Watch list: Benedictine, University, Geneva
Crop comments: What a loaded field we have this year if two defending state champions find themselves at No. 5 (Perry) and No. 6 (Kirtland), respectively. … Mentor, with its frightening offense, takes the top spot. The Cardinals should light up the scoreboard this year. … The same can be said for second-slotted Lake Catholic. The Cougars have a 3,000-yard quarterback returning, plus all of last year’s receivers. … VASJ has four Power Four recruits in its offensive lineup, led by Ohio State commit Bo Jackson at running back. Most years that would be good enough to be No. 1, but not this year (at least yet). … Chardon, with its big and powerful offensive line, takes the No. 4 slot. The Hilltoppers have a lot of holes to fill on a graduation-depleted defense, but when has that stopped them before? … Perry and Kirtland very well could be under-ranked here. Their opening slots just speak toward the talent on the teams ahead of them. The Pirates didn’t lose many seniors last year, but the ones they did were — in football speak — dudes. Kirtland is strong on the lines, but has a lot of new faces in skilled spots. The Week 3 bout between these two will be epic. … Hawken has its best team in a long, long time this season. Donovan Moorhead is a star in the making at QB and he has RB Jordan Johnson and a slew of talent around him. … Gilmour is loaded, too, with OSU recruit Brody Lennon and others. The Hawken-Gilmour game in Week 3 will be must-watch. … Kenston gets the nod over Riverside for the No. 9 slot because the Bombers have more returning than the Beavers. Both teams will be right in the thick of the WRC race. … Benedictine, University and Geneva open on the watch list. All are strong teams this year and could play their way into the Crop soon.
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