High School Sports

From Staff, Wire Reports

Two-time defending Class A Division I state champion Alto is atop the polls once again.

It was a close vote, but the Yellowjackets lead Class A in the Associated Press preseason football poll, which was released Sunday.

Alto got eight first-place votes and 177 points to seven first-place nods and 176 points for No. 2 Canadian, which is dropping down after winning last year's 2A Division II title. Maud is third with 143 points and four first-place votes.

Also, Cayuga is tied with Nazareth for seventh. Quinlan Boles, Tenaha and Mount Enterprise each received votes.

In Class 2A, Arp, coming off a 10-4 campaign, is ranked No. 6.

Cisco has never won a state title but was the most overwhelming No. 1 pick, with 17 first-place votes and 196 points in 2A. Cisco returns 13 starters from a 14-1 Division II semifinalist, the team's third trip to the semifinals in the past six years.

Elysian Fields is No. 9, while DeKalb, Caddo Mills, Winnsboro and Daingerfield also received votes.

Last year's 3A champs -- Liberty Hill and Celina -- hold the top two spots in 3A. Liberty Hill, with a 24-game winning streak and consecutive state titles, earned 13 first-place votes and 192 points to five and 172 for Celina, a seven-time champion.

Perennial contender Gilmer, 14-1 a year ago, is ranked No. 10.

Other East Texas teams receiving votes were Pleasant Grove, Crockett, Carthage and Diboll all received votes.

Lake Travis, the defending 4A Division II champion featuring Texas-bound quarterback Garrett Gilbert, edged Wichita Falls Rider by a point (179-178) for the top spot in 4A. The difference was first-place votes. Lake Travis had 13, Rider the other seven.

Longview, which drops from Class 5A to 4A, is ranked No. 8.

Texas High also received votes.

As far as Class 5A, Euless Trinity coach Steve Lineweaver talked like he knew the phone call was coming.

He probably did, since his defending Class 5A Division I champion Trojans were voted the top team in Texas, not long after they were ranked No. 1 in the nation by rivals.com.

In other words, they've replaced Southlake Carroll, at least for now, as the most-hyped high school football team in Texas. Lineweaver used to coach at Carroll and has talked to some of his compadres on a staff that includes his son, Aaron Lineweaver.

"Southlake's been encouraging to me about the whole thing," he said. "I think, by the way, they're pretty relieved. They're playing with a joy in their step because they've had that target on them for a while."

The Dragons aren't too far down the list, though. They're ranked fourth behind Plano and Katy after missing the championship round of the playoffs last year for the first time since 2001.

Carroll didn't get any first-place votes. After Trinity's 15, defending 5A Division II champ Katy was next with four. Plano got the other one.

Trinity returns 11 starters from a team that beat Converse Judson 13-10 in what amounted to a road game at San Antonio's Alamodome in the finals.

"We're taking (the ranking) as something that hopefully helps us work harder and take it in a positive way," said Lineweaver, whose team is ranked No. 2 nationally in the USA Today preseason poll. "At times at night by myself, I take it in a negative way when I think about how we're going to meet all those expectations."

Lufkin also received votes in the 5A poll.