PALM BEACH COUNTY – The No. 2 vs. No. 1 matchup between Palm Beach Gardens and Atlantic lived up to its hype.
With the home team taking down a perennial Palm Beach County powerhouse in a close 20-17 win in the final seconds, it is quite clear who our new No. 1 team will be.
It is Palm Beach Gardens on top for the first time. It is just that simple.
But even though Atlantic suffered a three-point loss to Palm Beach Gardens, the longtime standard bearer of Palm Beach County will only drop one spot this week to No. 2.
After this week’s 1-2 swap are unchanged rankings from 3-6, as Palm Beach Central, Glades Central, Dwyer, and Benjamin won their respective Week 1 games.
But changes happen from 7-10, as Jupiter will be the other Palm Beach County team with a Week 1 loss that drops accordingly.
The biggest beneficiary from Jupiter’s 8-7 home loss to Dwyer is Pahokee, a 28-21 winner over Wellington. The Muck area team will move up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7.
The next spot goes to Cardinal Newman, a 55-0 winner over King’s Academy in Week 1. This team is the greatest gainer right now, as it moves up two spots from No. 10 to No. 8.
At No. 9 is our Top 10 debut of the season from Seminole Ridge, a 51-12 winner over Santaluces in Week 1. This team will slot in one spot ahead of Jupiter, which will slide down three spots from No. 7 to No. 10 this week.
Leaving our Top 10 this week is American Heritage (Delray Beach), which suffered a 46-23 blowout loss on the road to Columbia (Lake City) in Week 1. This team was formerly at No. 9.
Teams considered for this week’s Top 10 along with Seminole Ridge were Boca Raton and Inlet Grove, two teams that will need to win more games in order to crack the upper tier at some point in the season.
With that, here are our three team rankings from Week 1: Combined (Top 10) Public (Top 10), and Private (Top 5).
COMBINED
1. Palm Beach Gardens (1-0) [PR: 2]
2. Atlantic (Delray Beach) (0-1) [PR: 1]
3. Palm Beach Central (1-0) [PR: 3]
4. Glades Central (1-0) [PR: 4]
5. Dwyer (1-0) [PR: 5]
6. Benjamin (1-0) [PR: 6]
7. Pahokee (1-0) [PR: 8]
8. Cardinal Newman (1-0) [PR: 10]
9. Seminole Ridge (1-0) [PR: NR]
10. Jupiter (0–1) [PR: 7]
Dropped out: Former No. 9 American Heritage (Delray Beach) (0-1)
PUBLIC
1. Palm Beach Gardens (1-0) [PR: 2]
2. Atlantic (Delray Beach) (0-1) [PR: 1]
3. Palm Beach Central (1-0) [PR: 3]
4. Glades Central (1-0) [PR: 4]
5. Dwyer (1-0) [PR: 5]
6. Pahokee (1-0) [PR: 7]
7. Seminole Ridge (1-0) [PR: 10]
8. Jupiter (0-1) [PR: 6]
9. Boca Raton (1-0) [PR: NR]
10. Palm Beach Lakes (0-1) [PR: 8]
Dropped out: Former No. 9 Forest Hill (0-1)
PRIVATE
1. Benjamin (1-0) [PR: 1]
2. Cardinal Newman (1-0) [PR: 3]
3. Jupiter Christian (1-0) [PR: 5]
4. American Heritage (Delray Beach) (0-1) [PR: 2]
5. Glades Day (1-0) [PR: NR]
Dropped out: Former No. 4 King’s Academy (0-1)
NOTE: PR = Previous rank; NR = Not ranked
NEXT TOP 10 RANKINGS RELEASE: Tuesday, Sept. 7
PHOTO CREDIT: Keith Forde
