Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 7Michael O’Brienon October 3, 2021 at 6:08 pm

Warren’s Aidan Lucero (9) hands off the ball to Maurice Edwards (6) against Maine South. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

Another wild shakeup after a week of crazy results.

Before sitting down and getting into all the usual rankings research I had a feeling that Lincoln-Way East, Naperville Central and Glenbard West were all likely to drop out this week. But they didn’t. All three hung on.

All three traditional powers lost to unranked teams this week. Here’s why they stayed in the Super 25.

Lincoln-Way East: The loss to Sandburg, which entered the game just 1-4, was definitely the worst of the upsets. But the Griffins resume is still better than plenty of ranked teams. They beat Crete-Monee (a regular contender to break into the rankings this season) 35-20 in Week 1. Lincoln-Way East also has a 21-13 road win against No. 18 Bolingbrook.

Naperville Central: It’s been one heck of a schedule. The 3-3 record isn’t pretty but the Redhawks have beaten No. 20 Hinsdale Central and Lincoln-Way East. They lost in overtime on the road at No. 4 Neuqua Valley. Losing at home to rival Naperville North, which is also just 3-3, looks bad. But I don’t like penalizing teams for playing tough schedules. The Redhawks resume is just stronger than the unranked 6-0 and 5-1 teams that could have replaced them.

Glenbard West: The Hilltoppers were dumped in the first draft. They don’t have the strong resumes of Lincoln-Way East and Naperville Central. But there weren’t enough teams sitting outside the Super 25 that were convincing, so Glenbard West stuck at the bottom. One hiccup is definitely allowed this season and York is undefeated.

Week 7’s Super 25

With record and last week’s ranking

1. Loyola (6-0) 1

Saturday vs. Providence

2. Brother Rice (5-1) 2

Friday vs. No. 3 Joliet Catholic

3. Joliet Catholic (6-0) 3

Friday at No. 2 Brother Rice

4. Neuqua Valley (6-0) 4

Friday at Waubonsie Valley

5. Cary-Grove (6-0) 8

Friday vs. Jacobs

6. Maine South (5-1) 9

Friday at Niles West

7. Warren (5-1) 10

Friday at Mundelein

8. Batavia (6-0) 11

Friday at Geneva

9. Wheaton North (5-1) 12

Friday at Wheaton Warrenville South

10. St. Ignatius (6-0) 13

Friday vs. St. Viator

11. Mount Carmel (4-2) 14

Friday at St. Laurence

12. Marist (4-2) 15

Friday vs. Montini

13. St. Rita (4-2) 16

Friday at Marian Central

14. Hersey (6-0) 17

Friday at Wheeling

15. Lockport (6-0) 15

Friday at No. 18 Bolingbrook

16. Naperville Central (3-3) 6

Friday vs. DeKalb

17. Lincoln-Way East (4-2) 7

Friday vs. Homewood-Flossmoor

18. Bolingbrook (5-1) 19

Friday vs. No. 15 Lockport

19. Lemont (6-0) 21

Friday at Tinley Park

20. Hinsdale Central (5-1) 22

Friday at No. 22 York

21. South Elgin (6-0) 25

Friday vs. Elgin

22. York (6-0) NR

Friday vs. No. 20 Hinsdale Central

23. Glenbard North (4-2) 24

Friday vs. Lake Park

24. Fenwick (4-2) NR

Friday vs. St. Patrick

25. Glenbard West (5-1) 5

Friday at Downers Grove North

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