Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.), the No. 1 team in this week's
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard, will be tested when it hosts Central (Miami) Friday night. The Hurricanes may need to not only win but also win big to hold on to the top spot in the rankings over No. 2 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), which beat Central two weeks ago, 35-3.
The lone matchup in the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week between two nationally ranked teams will occur in Las Vegas, where 10th-ranked Bishop Gorman hosts No. 11 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) in a nationally televised matchup. Gorman has won 16 of the 24 games it has played against non-Nevada opponents since 2004.
The Beehive State hosts the rivalry game of the week as Utah's top two large-school teams do battle when Alta (Sandy) travels to Jordan (Sandy). Alta has won the last six meetings of the series.
Leland Gordon has opened a narrow one-game lead over his nearest competitor in our season-long predictions contest. Leland has chosen the winner in 25 of 30 games, one better than Jamie DeMoney and two ahead of the rest of the pack.
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, Leland Gordon and Jamie DeMoney.
MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week
Bergen Catholic will trek all the way to Nevada this week in yet another Las Vegas-based national thriller. Bishop Gorman has already played host to Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Photos by Jann Hendry/Vincent Carchietta. Graphic by Bryce Escobar
Bergen
Catholic looked sharp in its 59-21 blowout last week of Long Island
power St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), snapping the Friars' 30-game
winning streak. Quarterback
Jonathan Germano completed 16 of 20 passes
for 318 yards with four touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior also
ran for 56 yards and another score.
Read National Football Editor Stephen Spiewak's game previewIt's the third of four
consecutive games against out-of-state teams for Bishop Gorman, which
was off last week after beating Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) and St. Louis
(Honolulu) to open the year 2-0. The Gaels feature fourth-year starting
quarterback
Anu Solomon. The Arizona recruit has thrown six touchdown
passes this season and 110 for his career.
Mitch Stephens: Bishop Gorman 35, Bergen Catholic 31
Steve Montoya: Bishop Gorman 42, Bergen Catholic 21
Stephen Spiewak: Bergen Catholic 24, Bishop Gorman 21
Kevin Askeland: Bishop Gorman 35, Bergen Catholic 24
Leland Gordon: Bergen Catholic 31, Bishop Gorman 27
Jamie DeMoney: Bishop Gorman 34, Bergen Catholic 28
