April 18, 2025
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Princeton takes No. 2 ranking into the postseason

By Kevin Hieronymus
Princeton's Noah LaPorte races down the sidelines Friday night at Monmouth. The Tigers won 40-0.

Noah LaPorte and the Princeton Tiger will take the No. 2 ranking in 3A into the postseason. (Mike Vaughn)

Princeton held on to the No. 2 ranking in Class 3A heading into postseason play.

Byron (9-0) received all 10 first-place votes cast and 100 points to remain No. 1 in this week’s final AP Class 3A poll. The Tigers of Princeton (8-1) claimed 86 points to stay at No. 2.

Rounding out the top 5 in 3A this week are No. 3 Roxana (9-0) with 68 points, No. 4 DuQuoin (9-0) with 61 points and No. 5 Lombard Montini Catholic (6-3) with 56 points.

Wilmington, previously ranked at No. 3 in 3A, was reclassified into 2A for the playoffs, ranked at No. 5.

The 1A rankings remain loaded with area teams behind No. 1 Lena-Winslow (9-0), which received all 10 first-place votes. Stark County (9-0) and Morrison (8-1) are tied at No. 5 and Annawan-Wethersfield (8-1) stands at No. 8.

Newman (7-2) received 12 points, but it is not ranked in the top 10 for 1A.

Other area ranked teams are Seneca (9-0) at No. 4 and Rockridge (8-1) at No. 6 in 2A with Dixon (8-1) at No. 8 and Kewanee (8-1) at No. 9 in 4A.

All of the remaining top-ranked teams stayed at No. 1, including Maroa-Forsyth (2A), Rochester (4A), Prairie Ridge (5A), East St. Louis (6A), Chicago Mt. Carmel (7A) and Loyola (8A).