Justin Rodriguez's Top 10 high school football rankings

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Published: 2:00 AM - 10/15/12

Justin Rodriguez's Top 10 rankings

1. Cornwall (7-0): The Green Dragons are the new No. 1. They are unbeaten and, yes, I think they can play with Monroe-Woodbury.

2. Monroe-Woodbury (6-1): M-W backs into the Class AA playoffs after Friday's loss to NFA, but the defeat may serve as a rallying point for the Crusaders.

3. Pine Bush (6-1): Already looking forward to Pine Bush's Class AA semifinal against Minisink Valley next week ? two hard-hitting teams looking to pound the ball on offense.

4. Newburgh Free Academy (5-2): The Goldbacks will return just about their entire starting lineup next year, which should translate into a return to the Class AA playoffs. NFA is the only local team to beat M-W since the start of 2004, doing the job on Friday and in 2011.

5. Minisink Valley (5-2): Minisink Valley, still on a roll, has been at No. 5 for a few weeks. A win over Monroe-Woodbury would shoot the Warriors up the rankings.

6. Warwick (5-2): The Wildcats have been waiting for the Washingtonville game for a long time. The Wizards pulled a shocking come-from-behind win in the last week of the season in 2011 to take the Class AA Division II regular-season title from Warwick.

7. Washingtonville (5-2): The winner of Warwick at "The Ville" game on Friday qualifies for the Class AA playoffs and will play Monroe-Woodbury in the semifinals. Francesco Pichardo has 1,149 rushing yards for Washingtonville.

8. Marlboro (7-0): Marlboro expects to get back star RB/DB Ryan Cary, out for two weeks with a leg injury, for its showdown at New Paltz for the Class B regular-season title on Friday.

9. Wallkill (4-3): The Panthers are a little beat up with quarterback Joe Pillitteri and running back Josh Villafane both battling injuries. Still, Wallkill will be at full strength to give Cornwall all it can handle in Class A championship game.

10. New Paltz (6-1): Better running back combo ? New Paltz's Khariff Laboy and Darryl Clark or Marlboro's Austin Beck and Devin Pierre? The teams' hard-hitting offensive lines will help answer that question on Friday night.

Top 5 small-school rankings

(Classes C and D)

1. James I. O'Neill (6-1): The loss to Burke Catholic two weeks ago was, seemingly, just a speed bump en route to the Class C championship.

2. Sullivan West (6-1): Coming off a win at Spackenkill, Sullivan West can clinch the Class C Division II regular-season title with a win on Friday at Millbrook. It is the top contender to take out O'Neill.

3. Liberty (5-2): Liberty is really coming on, playing its best ball at the right time of the season.

4. Chester (4-3): You know beating its Class D rival, Eldred, 42-0 on Friday had to feel good. And Chester will do it again in the Class D championship.

5. Dover (5-2): Dover's late-season slump eliminated the Dutchess County school from the Class C playoffs.

Source: http://recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121015/SPORTS31/210150312/-1/rss02

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