Max Lescano, St. Thomas Aquinas
Photo by Joe Boyd
The MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week includes a national Top-10 matchup in South Florida as well as
some key grudge matches between conference rivals.
Through a quarter or so of a season's worth of Top 10 Games of the Week, we've already previewed plenty of games between powerhouse programs from non-adjoining parts of the country. But none have matched the magnitude or the anticipation surrounding Friday's nationally televised clash of No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hosting No. 10 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.). Aquinas has five games against non-Florida opponents since 2008 while DLS has struggled against out-of-state foes, losing three out of its last four.
Meanwhile, Ohio is the site of three of this week's Top 10 games. Moeller (Cincinnati) and St. Xavier (Cincinnati) meet in a Greater Catholic League opener while No. 12 St. Edward (Lakewood) and Elder (Cincinnati) are hosting games against defending state champions from the state of Florida.
Southern California powers meet up in a pair of interesting nonleague games. Long Beach Poly looks to break a two-game losing streak to Orange County power Mission Viejo, while St. Bonaventure (Ventura) takes on Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) in what could be a preview of the CIF-SS Northern Division championship game.
With an 8-2 week, Kevin Askeland extended his lead in our season-long prediction contest to three games over his nearest rival, Jamie DeMoney, who went 7-3 and is now 36-14 overall in his selections. Steve Montoya and Stephen Spiewak are tied for third place, six games behind Askeland. Mitch Stephens made up some ground on the field with a 7-3 effort last week, but remains eight games out of first place.
You can track our overall results and standings all season long by clicking
here.
Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games of the week along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Steve Montoya, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland and Jamie DeMoney.
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