Chicago-area Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 5

Mount Carmel jumps to No. 2 after knocking off Loyola. Notre Dame joins the top 10 and a preseason-ranked team returns.

By Michael O’Brien

Mount Carmel’s Kenenna Odeluga runs the ball against Loyola.

No crazy jumps to justify this week, everything was fairly straightforward in rankings world. Notre Dame popped up 15 spots after knocking off Providence but it’s doubtful anyone has a big problem with that. The Dons knocked off Marist and Providence on the road the last two weeks.

Mount Carmel feels like a very solid No. 2 after beating Loyola and Montini. Frankly, the Caravan probably has a legitimate case for the top spot. Lincoln-Way East holds on for now though and will firmly earn the No. 1 if it can beat Homewood-Flossmoor on Friday.

There could be some serious discussion about Loyola remaining in the top five. It wasn’t a difficult decision though, based on the Ramblers’ track record the last few seasons. And just as a rankings philosophy, I generally don’t punish teams for losing close games to other good teams.

Dropping out

Cary-Grove (3-1): Things are up for grabs in the Fox Valley. The Trojans lost to Huntley 21-14 on Friday and drop out for now. It’s currently hard to figure out which Fox Valley team is Super 25 worthy. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are two or three that wind up in the Super 25, but it is going to take a few weeks to sort itself out.

New additions

Simeon (2-1): It’s been a strange start to the season for the Wolverines. They went on the road and were waxed by a great team in Baltimore and then didn’t have a game in Week 2. There is a lot of talent on this squad and they are back in the rankings after beating Lincoln Park and Solorio.