After 19 years and nearly 2,000 votes cast, never before has the season ended with such a close race for State Poll No. 1.
River Hill got the nod over No. 2 Loyola and No. 3 Sherwood in a vote that saw, for the first time, more than two schools receive first-place votes in the final poll.
River Hill collected six first-place votes. Loyola and Sherwood each collected three. All three teams, all undefeated, were ranked No. 1, 2 or 3 on all 12 ballots.
On the local level, River Hill finishes as No. 1 in The Baltimore Sun, ahead of Loyola. The Washington Post jumped Sherwood, former No. 3, to the No. 1 spot locally while keeping River Hill at No. 2.
All three have legitimate claims to No. 1.
River Hill, led by a trio of NCAA Division I bound-players, rolled through a second straight 14-0 season. In the state final, with its top player nursing a hamstring injury and reduced to defensive action, River Hill pinned a 31-6 victory over Eastern Tech. Eastern Tech's lone score came on the final play of the game. Included in River Hill's 14-win season was a shutout victory over Class 3A state runner-up Wilde Lake.
Loyola, with UConn-bound Leon Kinnard and Division I prospect Terence Garvin, posted a perfect season in the Baltimore-based MIAA A Conference. The Greyhounds' run included wins over state-ranked Mount St. Joseph, along wih league wins over Gilman (which defeated DeMatha early in the year) and McDonogh, a pair of squads that spent time in the State Poll Top 25.
Sherwood, under the coaching of Al Thomas, had more wins over top 10 programs than River Hill and Loyola put together (a fact driven more by the team's playoff run than its regular-season schedule). The Warriors pinned the only losses on No. 6 Linganore and No. 8 Quince Orchard (twice).
Of course, the close race for No. 1 in Maryland was only possible when Good Counsel lost to DeMatha in the WCAC final. Until that point, Good Counsel was a near consensus state No. 1. DeMatha finishes No. 4, followed by Good Counsel at No. 5.
River Hill's No. 1 finish marks the first time in school history, and the first time a Howard County program has finished atop the state rankings since Wilde Lake in 1991.
Here are the past No. 1 teams:
2008 -- River Hill
2007 -- Quince Orchard
2006 -- DeMatha
2005 -- Gilman
2004 -- DeMatha
2003 -- DeMatha
2002 -- Gilman
2001 -- DeMatha
2000 -- Urbana
1999 -- Seneca Valley
1998 -- DeMatha
1997 -- Seneca Valley
1996 -- Sherwood
1995 -- DeMatha
1994 -- Seneca Valley
1993 -- Seneca Valley
1992 -- City Collegge
1991 -- Wilde Lake
1990 -- Randallstown
| MDVarsity.com High School Football Media State Poll | |||||||
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous | Last Week | Accomplishment | |
| 1 | River Hill (6) | 14-0 | 293 | 2 | def. Eastern Tech, 31-6 | Class 2A state champion | |
| 2 | Loyola (3) | 11-0 | 286 | 3 | did not play | MIAA A Conference champ | |
| 3 | Sherwood (3) | 14-0 | 285 | 4 | def. Linganore, 21-3 | Class 4A state champion | |
| 4 | DeMatha | 10-2 | 258 | 9 | did not play | WCAC champion | |
| 5 | Good Counsel | 11-1 | 250 | 1 | did not play | WCAC runner-up | |
| 6 | Linganore | 13-1 | 241 | 6 | lost to Sherwood, 21-3 | Class 4A state runner-up | |
| 7 | Westlake | 12-2 | 216 | NR | def. Wilde Lake, 13-0 | Class 3A state champion | |
| 8 | Quince Orchard | 10-2 | 214 | 8 | did not play | 4A region runner-up | |
| 9 | Seneca Valley | 12-1 | 207 | 7 | did not play | Class 3A state semifinalist | |
| 10 | Dunbar | 13-1 | 193 | 10 | def. Fort Hill, 20-19 | Class 1A state champion | |
| 11 | Wilde Lake | 12-2 | 173 | 19 | lost to Westlake, 13-0 | Class 3A state runner-up | |
| 12 | Arundel | 11-2 | 165 | 15 | did not play | Class 4A state semifinalist | |
| 13 | Fort Hill | 11-2 | 154 | 18 | lost to Dunbar, 20-19 | Class 1A state runner-up | |
| 14 | Wise | 9-4 | 127 | NR | did not play | Class 4A state semifinalist | |
| 15 | Eleanor Roosevelt | 10-1 | 120 | 5 | did not play | Class 4A region semifinalist | |
| 16 | Eastern Tech | 13-1 | 117 | 11 | lost to River Hill, 31-6 | Class 2A state runner-up | |
| 17 | Flowers | 10-2 | 101 | 12 | did not play | Class 4A region runner-up | |
| 18 | Douglass-PG | 9-3 | 98 | 23 | did not play | Class 2A region runner-up | |
| 19 | Century | 12-1 | 78 | 16 | did not play | Class 2A state semifinalist | |
| 20 | Allegany | 9-3 | 65 | 21 | did not play | Class 1A region runner-up | |
| 21 | Mount St. Joseph | 7-2 | 63 | 22 | did not play | MIAA A Conference runner-up | |
| 22 | Gwynn Park | 8-3 | 60 | 24 | did not play | Class 2A region semifinalist | |
| 23 | Landon | 9-1 | 45 | 20 | did not play | IAC champion | |
| 24 | Suitland | 8-3 | 28 | 13 | did not play | Class 4A region semifinalist | |
| 25 | Urbana | 8-4 | 22 | NR | did not play | Class 3A region runner-up | |
Severna Park (8-4, 10), Old Mill (9-2, 9), Gilman (6-4, 7), Queen Anne's (12-1, 6), Hereford (10-3, 4), Lackey (8-4, 3), Damascus (7-4, 1), Patuxent (8-2, 1).
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