FB Top 5

Our panel of experts rank the top five high school football teams in the area:After Week 1

1. JACKSON (1-0, 39 points). Torrid second half, which included 26 points in the fourth quarter, sparked 47-13 win over North County on Friday. Rushed for 373 yards, threw for 113 more. Pretty impressive.

2. SIKESTON (1-0, 25 points). Methodical in a 24-6 win at Charleston on Friday, but the fact its defense gave up just 67 yards to the Bluejays raises our eyebrows.

3. POPLAR BLUFF (1-0, 19 points). Easily defeated Union 31-14 on Friday. Mules will be a team to be reckoned with.

4. CENTRAL (0-1, 17 points). Losing 28-7 to John Burroughs, the state's No. 2-ranked team in Class 3, impressed our voters. Keep an eye on the Tigers. We are.

5. CARUTHERSVILLE (0-1, 14 points). A lopsided 60-28 home loss to Mt. View-Liberty (No. 2 in Class 2) didn't drop the Tigers too far down in our rankings. Still, we expected more from a team ranked No. 3 in the same class. This Friday's game against a decent Malden squad will tell us more about these ‘Cats.