The Carterville Lions defeated the Nashville Hornets in dominant fashion Friday night 28-7. That victory moves the Lions up to the #1 ranking in this week’s Little Egypt Football Coaches’ Poll.
The former #1 team, Mt. Vernon, won a thriller at Carbondale 42-35 and earned the most first place votes but was unable to beat the Lions in the polls.
The Centralia Orphans edged out the Marion Wildcats for the #3 ranking. Both teams were in the Metro East area this past Friday, Centralia beat Cahokia 14-0 while Marion dropped a heartbreaker 31-30 at Belleville Althoff.
Here’s a look at the Full Rankings:
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Points | Rank Last Week |
| 1 | Carterville (4) | 85 | 2 (+1) |
| 2 | Mt. Vernon (5) | 78 | 1 (-1) |
| 3 | Centralia | 58 | 4 (+1) |
| 4 | Marion | 57 | 3 (-1) |
| 5 | Murphysboro | 46 | 5 (-) |
| 6 | Benton | 42 | 7 (+1) |
| 7 | Nashville | 39 | 6 (-1) |
| 8 | Carmi-White County | 25 | 9 (+1) |
| 9 | Johnston City | 21 | 8 (-1) |
| – | Harrisburg | 21 | 9 (-) |
Also receiving votes: Fairfield 6, Sesser-Valier 2, Du Quoin 2, Carbondale 1
Southern Illinois Coaches interested in participating in the Coaches Poll can email mattv@riverradio.net to be included in the weekly poll.
