TOP OF THE CROP

Football

1: (1) Kirtland 4-0 2: (2) Chardon 5-0 3: (3) Benedictine 5-0 4: (4) Mentor 3-2 5: (5) South 5-0 6: (6) Kenston 5-0 7: (7): VASJ 3-0 8: (8) Perry 4-1

(9) NDCL 3-2 10: (10) Riverside 3-2

Watch list: Gilmour 3-1, West Geauga 3-2

Crop comments: This might be considered a “boring” Crop this week in that it’s the same as last week. The only real conundrum was how to address Mentor. The Cardinals remain at No. 4this week even though they looked very strong in beating Clarkson, Canada, in Week 5. Freshman Scotty Fox has performed very well at quarterback the last two weeks; the Cardinals have

run the ball well and and have forced turnovers on defense. Mentor could jump in coming weeks. … No. 1 Kirtland (Division V) has a 45-game winning streak, No. 2Chardon (Division III) has a 17-game streak and Benedictine (Division II) has navigated a tough schedule. They are all three ranked first in the AP poll, so they stay atop the list here. … South stays at No. 5. The Rebels have some injury issues in the backfield, but are very deep and athletic there. … Kenston stays at No. 6, but the Bombers can make a jump with a win over No. 2

Chardon this week — that’s easily the game of the week this week. … VASJ remains at No. 7despite having both of its last two games canceled when opponents got COVID. … Perry remains at No. 8. The Pirates have run the ball very well this year, and their defense is among the best in the area. … NDCL clobbered Lutheran East on Sept. 18to stay at No. 9, while Riverside beat Madison convincingly to stay at 10. … Gilmour and West Geauga are just on the outside looking in at this point, but both are strong teams.