Friday Night Drive’s Week 14 Power Rankings: Who ends up No. 1?

In the end, two candidates emerged for the crown

Mount Carmel celebrates winning the Class 7A state championship against Batavia on Saturday in Champaign.

It’s been a season marked by remarkable consistency.

So it shouldn’t be very surprising to discover that the final polls look a lot like the polls from the beginning of the season.

I know it will never happen, but I always long for some sort of tournament of champions, that would solve this riddle on the field. Partly because I like closure, but the real reason is that we won’t get a great answer no matter how much we talk in circles.

The state championship games provide some answers, and those that hoist the big trophies obviously have an argument to the top spot.

But with the results, ultimately two teams rose to the top: Mount Carmel and East St. Louis.

Mount Carmel essentially eliminates Class 8A state champion, Loyola, from the discussion since it defeated the Ramblers in in Week 9. And the Caravan showed exactly how dominate they can be in the first-half of the Class 7A championship against Batavia.

Eliminating the 8A champ from the No. 1 discussion might rankle some people, but you have to draw lines somewhere.

It also causes a bit of a conundrum in regards to East St. Louis, which lost two games early in the season to out-of-state opponents. The Flyers’ Week 1 loss to Baltimore St. Frances (No. 13-ranked nationally by MaxPreps) and Week 3 loss to Creekside, Georgia (No. 62 nationally) are blemishes. But it’s hard to tell if anyone else from Illinois would have fared any better.

The explosive nature and massive talent possessed by the Flyers was demonstrated in the Class 6A final, where they earned the title with the largest margin of victory in state history.

Unfortunately, we won’t get that Mount Carmel-East St. Louis matchup, but, wow, would that be a good time.

In the end, the nod goes to Mount Carmel for its consistent excellence throughout the season.

Here is the final edition of the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings for the 2022 season: