By Staff
From staff, wire reports
Sept. 10, 2002
Wayne County jumped past Brandon and into the No. 1 spot in The Mississippi Associated Press Top 20.
With last week's top two teams flip-flopping, there has now been a different No. 1 in each of the first three polls this season.
Two other area schools also climbed in the polls. Noxubee County, fresh off a thumping of Heidelberg High School, moved to No. 10, while Newton County is at No. 16.
Meanwhile, in the Little 10, Eupora was No. 1 for the third straight week in the polls released Monday.
Last week, Brandon held a two-point lead over Wayne County. This week the places were reversed and Wayne County holds a two-point edge on the Bulldogs.
Wayne County received six first-place votes and 131 points, while Brandon had 129 points and three first-place votes.
Wayne County defeated Mendenhall 35-14 on Friday night. Brandon downed Clinton 20-7.
No. 3 and No. 4 also exchanged places in the new rankings.
No. 3 Clarksdale received two first-place votes and 125 points and No. 4 Jackson Provine received three first-place votes and 122 points.
No. 5 South Panola received two first-place votes.
No. 6 Starkville, the defending state champions, improved to 2-0 this week with a 13-0 win over Meridian.
No. 7 Vicksburg, which was No. 1 in the preseason poll before beginning the season with a loss to Wayne County, beat Brookhaven 32-14 Friday to even its record.
No. 8 Collins moved up a spot, and No. 8 South Pike and No. 9 Noxubee County moved into the top 10 this week.
No. 12 Moss Point dropped four spots after losing 13-9 to John Ehret, La., and falling to 0-2 on the season.
Eupora's 41-14 victory over Kossuth, combined with losses by Ackerman, Pelahatchie and Mize, helped, Eupora take the Little 10 voting by a comfortable margin.
Eupora got 12 of 16 first-place and 72 points.
No. 2 Baldwyn, which jumped four spots, received a first-place vote and 29 points. No. 3 Ruleville Central and No. 4 Weir also got first-place votes, along with Clarksdale Lee Academy.