St. Louis inched closer to the top of the National Prep Football Poll this week, moving from No. 5 to No. 4. Saints keep on
By Pat Bigold
marching on
Star-BulletinThe poll, which has input from 35 sportswriters nationwide, is carried by the Sporting News, Associated Press and ESPN.
Ahead of the Crusaders are No. 1 Hampton, Va., No. 2 De LaSalle of Concord, Calif., and No. 3 Carol City of Miami, Fla.
"We just keep on playing as well as we can -- if we win and we move up, fine," said St. Louis head coach Cal Lee.
"It will be interesting to see where we are at the end of the year. If we do what we need to do, we'll be alright."
The No. 5 team is McKinley of Canton, Ohio. McKinley happens to be ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Super 25 rankings.
USA Today ranks St. Louis at No. 20 and No. 3 in the Western Region. The national prep poll displayed on the Dick Butkus football website has St. Louis at No. 5.
Asked why the Crusaders moved up, Wheeling (W.Va.) Intelligencer sports editor Doug Huff, who compiles the National Prep Football Poll, said it was because Judson High of Converse, Texas, suffered an upset last weekend.
Converse was dropped from the national poll altogether.
"I was surprised at who they lost to," said Huff, who pointed out that he ranks teams based upon who they beat and who beats them.
Judson was ranked No. 1 in Texas in the preseason.
Asked if St. Louis could move even higher in the poll, Huff said it was possible.
"They're going to need some help, obviously," he said, meaning that that Hampton, DeLaSalle and Carol City will have to stumble.
"But at least they're in position to move up.
"You don't bring teams out of the woodwork and move them up the way USA Today does.
DeRENNE HONORED: University of Arizona freshman Keoni DeRenne has been chosen by Collegiate Baseball newspaper as the top defensive prep player in the nation for his role at shortstop with 1997 state high school champion Iolani.
The award, sponsored by Collegiate Baseball and Easton Sports, goes to the best defensive players in high school, NAIA, NCAA Division I, II, III and junior college.
DeRenne made only three errors last season and batted .530 while helping the Raiders to a 20-2-1 record, a second straight state title and a national ranking.
Collegiate Baseball noted that a coach for a Japanese major league team said that DeRenne had more range and accuracy than most sophomore collegiate shortstops.