The Observer’s Sweet 16 football poll: One new team, lots of changes after wild Week 2
Welcome, Cabarrus County’s JM Robinson High School to The Charlotte Observer’s Sweet 16 football poll.
Robinson, off to a 2-0 start, jumps into the ranking of the region’s top football teams at No. 13. After upsetting a Hickory Ridge team that was ranked in preseason, Robinson beat West Cabarrus 35-6 Friday and is averaging 41.5 points per game.
Elsewhere in the poll, the top four spots remained the same: No. 1 Providence Day, followed by Weddington, Mallard Creek and Rock Hill South Pointe. But lots of teams made jumps after that.
▪ East Lincoln (2-0), the reigning N.C. 3A state champ, is 2-0 and moved from No. 8 to fifth.
▪ Charlotte Catholic (2-0), which plays Providence Day on national television Friday, jumped from No. 10 to seventh. The Cougars have won their first two games by a combined score of 98-16.
▪ Charlotte Christian, which rallied to beat Catawba Ridge, is 2-0 and jumped from No. 14 to No. 8. It was the second straight big second-half rally for the Knights, who did the same thing to Myers Park in its opener.
▪ West Charlotte (2-0) had to rally three times to beat Monroe. The Lions’ reward? A bump into the top 10. West Charlotte jumps from 15th to No. 9.
Note: The Sweet 16 is compiled by Chris Hughes, 47, who has been going to N.C. high school football games since 1979. He began coaching high school football in 1998 and began covering the sport professionally in 2002 when he launched a statewide website. In 2007, he started CarolinaPreps.com, when he began to do football rankings. Hughes, who has also done color commentary for Shrine Bowl broadcasts, has visited every school stadium in North Carolina.
This story was originally published August 27, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
