A one point victory at Stanberry High School last Friday night has sent the North Shelby Raiders upward trajectory into overdrive in the 8-man state poll, with the Raiders receiving three first-place votes and 63 points in the rankings for the eighth week of the season, announced on Monday.
North Shelby has three first-place votes, as does the #1 ranked team in the state, the Worth County Tigers, who have one more point than does North Shelby to earn the top status. Worth County faces a Grand River Conference test with North Andrew this week, while #8 ranked Orrick takes a 5-1 record to Shelbyville to take on 7-0 North Shelby on Friday night.
Drexel has one first-place vote, with the unbeaten Dragons ranked third. Former #1 Stanberry tumbles to #4, with another tough test for the Bulldogs looming on Friday night, with a trip to Tarkio to battle #5 ranked East Atchison, as the Wolves boast a perfect 7-0 mark.
King City is ranked sixth this week, with St. Paul Lutheran 7th. Archie and Orrick share 8th place, with Bishop LeBlond ranked 10th.
South Holt and Lockwood are among the schools receiving votes, but out of the top 10.
In games of note in 8-man football on Friday night, top matchups are : North Andrew (4-3) at #1 Worth County (7-0); #8 Orrick (5-1) at #2 North Shelby (7-0); Jasper (5-2) at #3 Drexel (6-0); #4 Stanberry (5-1) at #5 East Atchison (7-0); and #6 King City (5-2) at Albany (3-4).
