Published: October 24, 2008 01:32 pm      

Prep Football Notebook

Oklahoma City — (AP) — No matter the class, Booker T. Washington has made a habit lately of reaching the top of the Oklahoma high school football rankings.

The Hornets returned to the top of the Class 5A rankings in The Associated Press' poll Monday for the first time since the 2005 preseason poll, but only because they spent the past two years in the state's highest class. For a brief time in 2006, Booker T. Washington was the No. 1 team in Class 6A.

Guthrie fell from the No. 1 ranking after its 16-13 loss to Carl Albert last week. That result bumped the Titans up two spots to No. 2 in this week's rankings. Guthrie landed at No. 3, followed by Bixby and Shawnee.

The No. 1 ranking hasn't been all that friendly to Booker T. Washington lately. The Hornets got off to a 1-2 start after getting top billing in the 2005 preseason, and their stay at the top of Class 6A lasted only two weeks.

Outside of Class 5A, the rest of the top-ranked teams in the state held steady this week. The No. 1 teams in the other seven classes are Union in Class 6A, Glenpool in 4A, Cascia Hall in 3A, Heritage Hall in 2A, Okeene in Class A, Garber in Class B and Shattuck in Class C.

Elsewhere in the poll:

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MOVING UP: Coweta got into the Class 5A rankings two weeks ago after an impressive 64-21 upset of then-No. 10 Ada and has continued to roll. Last week's 24-0 shutout of then-No. 3 Tulsa East Central lifted the Tigers to No. 6 in this week's poll.

In Class 3A, Checotah rose two spots to the No. 3 ranking after its 54-41 win against then-No. 4 Metro Christian, combined with No. 2 Tuttle's 33-2 defeat of then-No. 3 Newcastle.

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GOING DOWN: A week after beating Laverne in a meeting of ranked teams to climb to No. 3 Ringwood fell out of the top 5 in Class B following its 26-21 loss to Canton. Next up is a chance at redemption with a visit to Timberlake, the No. 2 team in Class C.

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WHO'S HOT: The top four teams in Class 4A asserted themselves last week in a series of games against ranked opponents: Glenpool downed No. 9 McLoud 38-0 for its sixth shutout in seven games, No. 2 Grove topped 10th-ranked Oologah 41-20, No. 3 Broken Bow edged No. 7 Wagoner 31-27 and fourth-ranked Bishop McGuinness got past crosstown rival Douglass 29-25.

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WHO'S NOT: After reaching the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history, Norman North promptly suffered its first two losses of the season. Mustang held off a Timberwolves rally in a 30-29 win two weeks ago, and unranked Del City pulled off a 25-21 upset last week. Norman North slipped another three spots to No. 8 in this week's poll.

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WHAT'S NEXT: No. 2 Tonkawa visits No. 3 Morrison in a meeting of two of the seven remaining undefeated teams in Class A, and there's a chance for another shuffle in the 5A rankings with two games pitting ranked teams against one another: No. 2 Carl Albert hosting No. 10 Ardmore, and No. 5 Shawnee visiting No. 3 Guthrie.

Other featured games include No. 4 Mustang putting its undefeated record on the line in a home game against No. 10 Putnam City North in Class 6A, top-ranked Cascia taking on No. 10 Dewey and No. 7 Bethany hosting No. 8 Purcell in 3A and No. 9 Davis visiting No. 5 Sulphur in 2A.