PALM BEACH COUNTY – Lakes on top?

Not quite – at least not this week.

After putting on perhaps the area’s most satisfying and dominating all-around performance of the year in Week 5, a 48-0 win over then-No. 10 Pahokee had our team considering Palm Beach Lakes for the No. 1 team ranking.

Then we quickly realized that despite a last-second 17-14 home loss to state powerhouse and two-time defending 3A state champion Chaminade-Madonna, Atlantic still deserves to be our No. 1 team.

The reasoning for this is pretty simple: Pahokee is not Chaminade-Madonna in any way, shape, or form.

Let that sink in for a moment.

We still value schedule strength over all else. We also value strength of record, strength of victory, and quality losses in high regard.

With that said, No. 1 Atlantic (2-1) can’t lose again. Another defeat, regardless of the opponent, will put the Eagles in danger of ceding the Palm Beach County throne to one of our two remaining unbeaten teams – the Rams (4-0) or even the Benjamin Buccaneers (4-0).

Speaking of Palm Beach Lakes and Benjamin, we’re going to make a swap this week and explain in a moment.

Also this week: two teams make a three-spot jump up our rankings, one team tumbles four spots down, and another makes a Top 10 return.

See the entire updated Top 10 rankings for yourself, plus the five other teams in consideration for a future upper tier appearance.

TOP 10: WEEK 5

1. Delray Beach Atlantic (7A; 2-1) [LW: 1]
2. Palm Beach Lakes (7A; 4-0) [LW: 3]
3. Benjamin (3A; 4-0) [LW: 2]
4. Palm Beach Central (8A; 4-1) [LW: 7]
5. Glades Central (4A; 3-2) [LW: 8]
6. Palm Beach Gardens (8A; 3-1) [LW: 5]
7. Delray Beach American Heritage (3A; 2-2) [LW: 6]
8. Cardinal Newman (3A; 2-1) [LW: 4]
9. Forest Hill (8A; 3-1) [LW: 9]
10. Jupiter (8A; 4-1) [LW: NR]

Dropped from rankings: Forrmer No. 10 Pahokee (1A; 1-3)

Teams on outside looking in: King’s Academy (3A; 3-2), Park Vista (8A; 3-2), Royal Palm Beach (7A; 3-1), Santaluces (8A; 2-1), Seminole Ridge (7A; 2–1)

HOW BENJAMIN DROPPED A SPOT

In all honesty, this is a timing situation more than anything else.

Had then-No. 2/now-No. 3 Benjamin played then-No. 4/now-No. 8 Cardinal Newman in Week 2 and won, we probably wouldn’t be having this situation right now. Yes, you can place the blame towards Hurricane Dorian’s effect on the early portion of this season’s outcomes.

You can also blame it on the fact that the rest of Benjamin’s early opponents are currently below .500. Match that with then-No. 3/now-No. 2 Palm Beach Lakes, a team that beat then/now-No. 5 Glades Central (3-2) by 31 points in Week 3 and then-No. 10/now unranked Pahokee (1-3) by 48.

Next week’s rankings are going to change again. No. 3 Benjamin will face off at home against then-No. 6/now-No. 7 American Heritage (2-2) in our Game of Week 6 on Friday, Sept. 27 (7 p.m. kickoff).

As for Palm Beach Lakes, our No. 2 will enjoy its bye in Week 6 and won’t play again until Week 7, when it will face off against then-No. 7/now-No. 4 Palm Beach Central (4-1) on Friday, Oct. 4 (6:30 p.m. kickoff).

TOP 10 SHAKEDOWN

Outside of our top three, Palm Beach Central and Glades Central are the two teams that rise up three spots from the previous week.

With a 29-21 win over Park Vista (3-2) in Week 5, the Broncos zoomed from No. 7 to No. 4. This is a big accomplishment, considering the fact that this team wasn’t even ranked two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Glades Central stormed back into the No. 5 spot by way of a spirited 34-33 homecoming win over then-No. 5/now-No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens (3-1) in Week 5.

Palm Beach Gardens dropped only one spot simply because it was a quality one-point loss. But another loss, regardless of the opponent, can produce a different result the next time around.

American Heritage suffered a 33-0 home loss in Week 5 to state powerhouse Cardinal Gibbons, a team that won the 5A state championship last year. That’s a high-quality loss in our collective view, and a good reason to drop the Stallions only one spot as well.

This does not apply to Cardinal Newman (2-1), a team that suffered a 28-7 loss to unranked Santaluces (2–1) on the road in Week 5. It was simply a bad loss for the Crusaders.

Forest Hill (3-1) stays put at No. 9 due to its Week 5 bye, while Jupiter (4-1) returns at No. 10 after posting a 23-13 win over Suncoast (2-2) at home.

ALMOST THERE

It was between Jupiter and Royal Palm Beach (3-1) for the No. 10 spot. We went with Jupiter over Royal Palm Beach because of its better strength of schedule, but this is no knock on the team we kept outside of the Top 10.

Royal Palm Beach just needs to keep winning. The Wildcats next game is on the road against fellow District 12-7A opponent Seminole Ridge (2-1) in Week 6 (Friday, Sept. 27; 6:30 p.m. kickoff).

If Royal Palm Beach wins and a current Top 10 team loses this week, then a Top 10 debut is very possible next week.

But the same could be said for Seminole Ridge, a team that suffered its only loss to No. 9 Forest Hill (20-14 home defeat) in Week 2.

Translation: The winner of this week’s Royal Palm Beach-Seminole Ridge district game could be in our Top 10 next week. We’ll be following this game very closely.

WEEK 6 SLATE

No. 1 Atlantic (2–1): Away at Olympic Heights (2-3) – Thursday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m. kickoff

No. 2 Palm Beach Lakes (4-0): BYE

No. 3 Benjamin: Home vs. No. 7 American Heritage (2-2) – Friday; Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

No. 4 Palm Beach Central (4-1): BYE

No. 5 Glades Central (3-2): Away at statewide powerhouse Cocoa (3-1) – Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens (3–1): Away at No. 10 Jupiter (4–1) – Friday, Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m. kickoff

No. 7 American Heritage (2-2): Away at No. 3 Benjamin (4-0) – Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

No. 8 Cardinal Newman (2-1): Away at Melbourne Central Catholic (1-2) – Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

No. 9 Forest Hill (3-1): Home vs. Wellington (1-4) – Thursday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m. kickoff

No. 10 Jupiter (4–1): Home vs. No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens (3–1) – Friday, Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m. kickoff

OTHER KEY WEEK 6 GAMES

Seminole Ridge (2-1) vs. Royal Palm Beach (3-1) – Friday, Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m.

Park Vista (3-2) at John I. Leonard (1-4) – Friday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. kickoff

King’s Academy (3-2) vs. Glades Day (1-2) – Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

Santaluces (2-1) at Lake Worth (1-2) – Friday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. kickoff

NEXT TEAM RANKINGS UPDATE: Monday, Sept. 30