JCGridiron.com - Wild first week provides new No. 1 in Dirty 30

September 3, 2012

Brad Hoiseth
JCGridiron.com Publisher

Follow @BradHoiseth

After one of the wildest weekends ever, major shakeups occur in the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings as many fall and many rise. Arizona Western takes over the top spot after winning impressively in Colorado.

Holding on to the No. 1 spot is a very difficult task in the Dirty 30 rankings. In order to be the best, you also have to look like the best in the process to hold onto your No. 1 ranking. Having said that, previously top-ranked Mt. San Antonio dropped to No. 2 after an early-season escape at No. 15 Saddleback (51-48) on Saturday. The Mounties surrendered 39 first downs and gave up 521 yards, but still managed to eek out a win in week one with an excited No. 32 Bakersfield program coming to town on Saturday.

One team that didn't disappoint was Arizona Western, who swapped spots with Mt. SAC for the time being after a 49-14 win over Ellsworth College in the thin air of Colorado. The Matadors didn't do anything special on offense, but did hold Ellsworth to 245 yards of total offense in the win. They now get an extra week off before starting WSFL play on the 15th.

Don't look now, but No. 3 East Mississippi is just an eyelash behind both AZ Western and Mt. SAC. The Lions had to wait a couple of extra days before beating Pearl River 35-15 due to the weather, and a short week won't hurt them much as they travel to East Central on Thursday.

Maybe the most impressive win of the weekend was from No. 4 Butler, who moved up seven spots after stifling Blinn, 28-10. The Grizzlies once again served notice that they are the team to beat in the Jayhawk Conference and had a crowd of over 6,000 at their new $12-million home. Butler didn't disappoint the big crowd, holding Blinn to 40 yards and two first downs in the second half. They now host Ft. Scott on Saturday after the Greyhounds laid an egg in falling to Tyler (TX) on Saturday (7-35).

Iowa Western moved up three spots to No. 5 in the rankings and nearly needed an extra digit on the scoreboard this weekend in hammering New Mexico Military 83-22. The Reivers had over 500 yards of offense in the first half (yep, no lie) in making a mess of the Broncos. Jake Waters threw for a career-best 414 yards and four touchdowns in the win, finishing 34-of-45 in the game. His big target was Maryland commit Deon Long, who had a stunning 19 receptions for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, finishing with 20-for-246 and three touchdowns for the game. Another big trip to Texas this weekend with a showdown against No. 12 Trinity Valley could have them eyeballing the top spot with another impressive win.

One more worth mention in the top-10 was San Francisco, who dropped three spots after struggling for a 48-41 overtime win against Diablo Valley. The Rams now sit at No. 6 in the rankings and need to figure out the running game after averaging 1.1 yards-per-carry in the opener. Fortunately, they had 465 yards through the air in snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. They will travel to Laney on Friday, which suddenly has more meaning after the Eagles played gamely in falling to No. 11 San Mateo (13-22).

Premier games this weekend:

California
No. 32 Bakersfield at No. 2 Mt. San Antonio
No. 18 Palomar at No. 23 Riverside
No. 31 Golden West at No. 33 Los Angeles Harbor

NJCAA
No. 5 Iowa Western at No. 12 Trinity Valley
No. 28 Northwest Mississippi at No. 39 Copiah-Lincoln (Thursday)

For the complete Dirty 30 Rankings, click on the link in the above grey box.

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