PALM BEACH COUNTY – With the Wellington Cup and District 7-8A secured this past week, it was quite clear that Palm Beach Central (8-0) would further solidify itself as our area’s No. 1-ranked team.

As the only remaining unbeaten team in Palm Beach County, the goals are now even higher for Palm Beach Central. There is a likelihood that our best overall team can officially claim the No. 1 seed in the Class 8A-Region 2 playoffs next week.

The ultimate goal for Palm Beach Central is to reach its first FHSAA state semifinal and beyond in school history. We will see how it will all turn out in the postseason.

Meanwhile, toward the bottom of this week’s Top 10, we have a familiar team making its return to the top tier.

Welcome back, American Heritage (Delray Beach).

While this move could be seen as quite questionable, the truth is that American Heritage (5-4; No. 9-ranked team this week) may have played the toughest schedule in all of Palm Beach County – save for Glades Central, another 5-4 team.

American Heritage’s four losses were all quality losses, as the combined records of Columbia (Lake City) (6A), Champagnat Catholic (2A), IMG White (Independent), and Benjamin (3A) are 26-9 this season (.742 winning percentage).

With the stout front-loaded schedule, American Heritage will qualify for the Class 4A – Region 3 playoffs next week. There is a chance that this team will be hosting its first round game as well.

We will see for sure when the final FHSAA RPI rankings are released sometime after all Week 11 games around the state have been completed.

NOTE: We considered Glades Central as a possible Top 10 team this week as well. But its combined records of its four losses – Atlantic (Delray Beach) (7A), Carol City (Miami) (4A), Booker T. Washington (Miami) (4A), and Vero Beach (8A) – are currently at 17-19 (.472 winning percentage).

With that said, there is one other thing to note in this week’s Top 10.

Atlantic (Delray Beach) has completely fallen out of our Top 10 for the first time this season. At 5-4, our former No. 1 team has been up-and-down all season, as its 30-19 home loss to Fort Lauderdale cost it the District 13-7A title.

And now Atlantic finds itself in danger of missing the Class 7A playoffs altogether.

We will see how that turns out in the coming days ahead.

For the rest of our Combined Top 10 and other two team rankings, you can take a look below right now.

COMBINED TOP 10: WEEK 10

1. Palm Beach Central (8-0) [PR: 1]
2. Pahokee (6-1) [PR: 2]
3. Seminole Ridge (8-1) [PR: 3]
4. Palm Beach Gardens (6-3) [PR: 5]
5. Forest Hill (6-2) [PR: 7]
6. Benjamin (6-3) [PR: 10]
7. Boca Raton (7-2) [PR: 4]
8. Cardinal Newman (7-3) [PR: 6]
9. American Heritage (Delray Beach) (5-4) [PR: NR]
10. Wellington (6-3) [PR: 9]

Dropped from Top 10: Former No. 8 Atlantic (Delray Beach) (5-4)

PUBLIC TOP 10: WEEK 10

1. Palm Beach Central (8-0) [PR: 1]
2. Pahokee (6-1) [PR: 2]
3. Seminole Ridge (8-1) [PR: 3]
4. Palm Beach Gardens (6-3) [PR: 5]
5. Forest Hill (6-2) [PR: 6]
6. Boca Raton (7-2) [PR: 4]
7. Wellington (6-3) [PR: 8]
8. Atlantic (Delray Beach) (5-4) [PR: 7]
9. Glades Central (5-4) [PR: 10]
10. Park Vista (6-2) [PR: 9]

PRIVATE TOP 5: WEEK 10

1. Benjamin (6-3) [PR: 2]
2. Cardinal Newman (7-3) [PR: 1]
3. American Heritage (Delray Beach) (5-4) [PR: 3]
4. Glades Day (8–1) [PR: 5]
5. King’s Academy (6-3) [PR: 4]

NEXT RANKINGS RELEASE: Monday, Nov. 8