Northwest takes over Dirty 30 lead

Northwest has taken over the top spot in the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings after improving to 4-0 on Thursday night. The Rangers moved past East Mississippi, who dropped a spot to No. 2.

The battle with Northwest and East Mississippi is shaping up to be a clash of titans on October 15. Northwest made quick work of Delta this past week, leading 24-0 at the intermission before cruising to a 38-7 win. East Mississippi struggled with a solid Itawamba squad, but managed to hang on for a 44-42 win in a game that had 1,530 yards of offense. Northwest has a big battle this week when it hosts No. 11 Holmes on Thursday while East Mississippi has Delta in town.

Riverside and Arizona Western swapped spots and the Tigers come in at No. 5 after blasting previous top-10 Ventura, 52-27. RCC trailed early but responded with a resounding win over the final three quarters. The Tigers get Cerritos College at home this weekend while No. 13 Ventura has a tough turnaround at No. 4 Saddleback.

Tyler moved up two spots to No. 7 after decimating Cisco, 83-35. The Apaches are averaging 74 points-per-game through two games with No. 48 Blinn coming to town.

The Jayhawk took a few more twists and turns this week when Highland downed Hutchinson, 26-21. The Scotties now stand at No. 17 in the rankings, their highest ranking ever. Highland has the week off before traveling to Butler next weekend. Hutchinson dropped to No. 28 in the rankings and will travel to Iowa Central this weekend.

Things look completely up for grabs in Northern California. Santa Rosa is the highest ranked team at No. 8, but barely escaped with a 17-14 win at Sacramento City on Saturday. The Bear Cubs are the only undefeated team in the upper-tier up north, and it should stay that way with a trip to Sierra this weekend.

Southern California added another to the top-15 this week when Fullerton scored at will on previous top-10 Mt. San Antonio, 56-35. The Hornets come in at No. 12 and should continue their winning streak when they host Moorpark on Saturday.

Props go out to Phoenix, who makes its first-ever appearance in the Dirty 30 Rankings at No. 30. The Bears have won four straight, close games and this past weekend won a nail-biter against Scottsdale, 31-29. Phoenix has a week off before playing No. 31 Mesa and No. 6 Arizona Western.

BIG GAMES THIS WEEK:

#11 Holmes at #1 Northwest Mississippi (Th)
#13 Ventura at #4 Saddleback
#48 Blinn at #7 Tyler
#42 Butler at #10 Garden City
#35 Butte at #14 San Francisco
#34 San Mateo at #15 American River
#16 New Mexico Military at #23 Trinity Valley
#49 East Central Mississippi at #21 Copiah-Lincoln (Th)

The rest of the Dirty 30 Rankings follow. Just a reminder, the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings do not recognize games against Club Teams or Prep Schools.