It was a chalky week for the Top 20, with an immaculate slate spoiled only by Episcopal’s loss to Richmond’s Trinity Episcopal on Sunday. As a result, these rankings include just a speck of movement. Episcopal drops four spots to No. 18, bumping each of Battlefield, Bishop McNamara, Georgetown Prep and Damascus up a spot.
St. John’s is the other beneficiary in the rankings, as it swaps spots with DeMatha after a commanding 39-17 victory in sloppy conditions over Mission Viejo (Calif.), which entered the game ranked by MaxPreps as the country’s 48th best team. The change is no slight on DeMatha, which won, 41-3, but instead recognition of the most impressive win for a local team yet. The road doesn’t get any easier for the Cadets, though, who will travel to Ohio this weekend to face MaxPreps’ national No. 20 Washington.
Still, after a month of football, the upper echelon of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference — Good Counsel, St. John’s and DeMatha — lacks a clear front-runner. That should crystallize in two weeks, when the No. 2 Falcons play the No. 3 Cadets, and the No. 4 Stags face No. 12 Gonzaga. If the Eagles, who host No. 9 Friendship Collegiate on Friday, win as well this week, that group should become even more crowded.
Elsewhere, an ascendant Walter Johnson program joins the bubble in place of Paint Branch after rallying past the Panthers on Thursday. Lake Braddock is the week’s other bubble entrant after a 4-1 start that includes wins over Colgan, Westfield, West Potomac and Fairfax.