Heading into a critical week of high school football, I’m giving readers another two-for-one blog entry. Here is this week’s power poll as well as a high school fantasy football update.

Power Poll
Its weeks like these when I really regret starting a Galveston County power poll.

With the recent string of upsets and roller coaster performances of some squads, the power poll has become an absolute mess. The madness is especially high among the 4A teams, where Friendswood, Santa Fe, Texas City and La Marque are all beaten each other up.

What it basically means is that I am in a no-win situation with the poll. I doubt I could find a single person that will completely agree with my order. Heck, I’m not even sure if I’m comfortable with where the teams are ranked this week.

In past weeks, I’ve tried to put a premium on head-to-head results. However, for this week, I’m trying to look at the whole body of work heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Hopefully this week’s action will sort out a few things, making next week’s poll much easier. Until then, feel free to blast this week’s poll. I won’t blame you at all.

1. Ball High: 5-3, 4-1 (1) — This is the one team that I gave an advantage to in the poll due to its head-to-head victory over Springs. Currently, the Tors and Springs are the top two teams in the county. Until the Tors lose again, the top spot is theirs.

2. Clear Springs: 6-2, 4-1 (2) — The Chargers have certainly made an argument to be No. 1 after their performance the last two weeks. They have been dominant in nearly every phase of the game. If Ball falls at home to Dickinson this week, Springs will be there to claim the top spot.

3. Friendswood: 5-3, 3-2 (5) — There is definitely a big drop off from No. 2 to No. 3. Not saying that Friendswood isn’t a good team. With a healthy Andrew Cole, the Mustangs have a great shot at repeating as region champs. However, they still have some problems, as evident by last-place Manvel taking them to quadruple overtime last week.

4. Dickinson: 5-3, 3-2 (6) — Here is where things get a little controversial. I’m putting the Gators ahead of a Creek team that they lost to just a few weeks ago. Why? Well, because I think Dickinson is playing a little better defense right now. But it has a tough match-up this week against Ball. A loss, and the Gators could be eliminated from the postseason race and perhaps slip down to the bottom of the power poll.

5. Clear Creek: 4-4, 3-2 (4) — If this were an offensive power poll, Creek would probably be first or second. Unfortunately, defense counts. Creek’s has disappeared in recent weeks, resulting in two straight defeats. The Wildcats do catch a break this week, though, with last-place Alvin on the docket.

6. Santa Fe: 6-2, 3-2 (3) — If head-to-head was the ultimate basis this week, then the Indians may have fallen all the way to bottom of the poll. But that’s not fair to a Santa Fe squad, which is still in control of its own destiny for the playoffs. Of course, with Angleton on the schedule this week, the Indians aren’t in a great spot right now.

7. Texas City: 3-5, 2-3 (7) — Give the Stings credit – they played Angleton pretty tough on Friday. Tough enough to keep them from dropping down to the bottom of the poll this week. Texas City has a big game this week against Dawson. A win, and the Stings are in pretty good shape to make the playoffs.

8. La Marque: 4-4, 2-3 (8) — Yes, the Coogs just beat sixth-ranked Santa Fe on the road. But La Marque could have lost that game had there been a few more seconds on the clock. Plus, the Coogs still aren’t in control of their playoff destiny. They need another win this week to earn their way out of the power poll basement.

H.S. Fantasy Football
This year’s game continues to have record scoring, thanks to some jaw-dropping numbers being put up by the county’s offensive stars.

Last year, I won our fantasy game with a final total of 580 points in eight weeks due (we missed a couple weeks of action due to the hurricane.) The year before that, Corey won with a total of 791 points in 11 weeks.

This year, through eight weeks, it is possible that all five of us could surpass the winning total from season one.

Of course, I’m on the fast track for a repeat championship after another big week. I had the third-highest scoring team of the week, but was didn’t give up much room to Kevin and the Limey.

With three weeks to go in our game, here are the standings, as well as the scoring leaders at each position.

Keep in mind, there are several other players not on the leaderboard that are playing a key role in a game. Ball’s Rodney Artmore and Dominique Brown, Creek’s Marcus Mata and Hitchcock’s Scotty Williams have all been solid point scorers this year.

Standings
1. Joshua Buckley — 739 (118 last week)
2. Ian White — 667 (122)
3. Kevin Cox — 665 (130)
4. Corey Roepken — 622 (70)
5. Evan Mohl — 582 (83)

Quarterback
1. Phillip Miller, Springs — 250
2. Morris Tuck, Hitchcock — 233
3. Jarryd Garza, Creek — 198
4. Clay Honeycutt, Dickinson — 193
5. Emanuell Williams, La Marque — 159
6. Peter Maetzold, Friendswood — 157

Running back
1. Joseph Walton, Santa Fe — 212
2. Corey Thomas, Dickinson — 171
3. Andrew Cole, Friendswood — 149
4. Justin Branch, Texas City — 143
5. Tim Wright, La Marque — 126
6. Darius Dotson, Hitchcock — 105

Receiver
1. Deche Milburn, Springs — 152
2. C.J. McElroy, Creek — 143
3. Jonathan Johnson, Friendswood — 139
4. James Cunningham, Springs — 114
5. Michael Gilmore, La Marque — 96
6. Devante Provost, Hitchcock — 93

Defense
1. Santa Fe — 77
2. Springs — 68
3. Dickinson — 50
4. Friendswood — 40
5. Texas City — 33
6. La Marque — 31