Princeton moves to No. 1 in 3A

Princeton is ranked No. 1 in football for the first time in school history.

And St. Bede joins them in this week’s rankings.

Princeton (1-0) swapped places with Byron (1-0) in this week’s AP Class 3A Poll. Princeton, which opened with a 40-0 win at Monmouth-Roseville, received three of 10-first place votes and 89 points to edge Byron, which earned six first-place votes and 86 points.

Byron grabbed the No. 1 ranking in last week’s preseason poll despite receiving fewer first-place votes than Princeton. This week, Byron, which routed Rock Falls, 77-6, received more first-place votes than Princeton, but came in No. 2.

Princeton’s No. 1 ranking in football follows the Tigers’ basketball team receiving the No. 1 position for the first time a year ago.

The other first-place vote in 3A went to Tolono Unity, which tallied 70 points. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Williamsville (68 points), No. 5 Montini Catholic (56), No. 6 Reed-Custer (38), No. 7 Stanford Olympia (10), No. 8 Eureka (32), No. 9 Wilmington (29) and No. 10 St. Joseph-Ogden (12).

St. Bede moved into the Class 1A rankings at No. 9 after beating previously No. 6 ranked Tuscola, 34-25, which fell out of the top 10.

Lena-Winslow garnered all seven first-place votes to remain at No. 1 in 1A with 70 points. Forreston moved from No. 4 to No. 2 with 60 points. Other area teams ranked are Fulton at No. 6, Annawan-Wethersfield at No. 7 and Sterling Newman at No. 8.

Rockridge fell from No. 3 in 2A to No. 10 after falling to Newman. Maroa-Forsyth received five of seven first-place votes to take over the No. 1 spot. Decatur St. Teresa fell from No. 1 to No. 6 after a Week 1 loss.

Other No. 1 ranked teams are Rochester (4A), Joliet Catholic (5A), East St. Louis (6A), Chicago Mt. Carmel (7A) and Lincoln-Way East (8A).