AP ranks Avon Lake, Columbia in 1st state poll

Shoremen No. 3 in D-II, Raiders No. 7 in D-VI

Fresh off their Week 4 win over Avon, the Avon Lake football team earned a top-three ranking in the first Associated Press state football poll of the season.

The Shoremen came in ranked third in the Division II poll, six poll points behind the secondranked team Cincinnati La Salle. Benedictine ranked first in the poll with 164 poll points and six first-place votes. Avon Lake was the lone top-six team to not receive a first-place vote.

The rest of the top five included Kings Mills Kings and Medina Highland.

Avon Lake has previously ranked No. 1 in the state poll, with their most recent top ranking coming in 2005 — a year after its bid for two straight state championships fell short. The Shoremen sit atop The Morning Journal’s Top of the Crop rankings, a spot ahead of Avon.

Week 4 marked the first time Avon Lake beat its rival from the south since 2018. It puts the Shoremen in the driver’s seat for the Southwestern Conference championship, which they last won in 2018 when they split the title with Avon.

In Divison VI, Columbia ranked seventh after their 4-0 start to the year. The Raiders dominated Lorain County League opponent, Black River, in Week 4 riding a five-touchdown performance from quarterback Andrew Champagne.

Columbia finished six points behind sixth-ranked Ashland Crestview and was one of four teams to receive first-place votes. Others receiving first-place votes were top-ranked Coldwater, No. 2 Archbold and No. 3 Beverly Fort Frye.

The Raiders ranked third in the latest Top of the Crop, behind Avon Lake and No. 2 Avon. With a deep stable of runners and a strong defense, Columbia looks to be a legitimate contender for the LC8 title and more.

Also, receiving points were Avon (22 points) in D-II and Elyria Catholic (15 points) in Division V. The Panthers are 3-1 and have bounced back from a tough Week 1 loss to rival Elyria to win three straight.

The dangerous trio of

Brady Cook, Jack Kenneally and Levi Ellis on offense have catapulted Elyria Catholic to the sixth spot in the latest Top of the Crop. That ‘Big 3’ alongside an opportunistic defense — led by Tony Grasso — has the Panthers near the top of the Great Lakes Conference.

Avon dropped their first conference regular-season game since 2018 in Week

4. The Eagles played an uncharacteristically sloppy game, turning the ball over six times and committing a game-ending penalty.

Led by explosive runner Jakorion Caffey on offense, Avon nearly completed a 20-point comeback in the second half of their game against Avon Lake. Caffey caught touchdown passes of 66 and 6 yards in the second half, bringing the Eagles

to within six points before time ran out on their comeback attempt.

Avon is 2-2 for the first time since 2009 when they lost games to Aurora and Rocky River in Weeks 1 and 4.

That Eagles team finished 6-4 and was the last Avon team to miss the playoffs. Two years later, the Eagles finished as the state runners-up in D-II.

MARK KEMPTON — FOR THE MORNING JOURNAL Avon Lake celebrates during its victory over Avon on Sept. 10.