10 Strong Poll: Ranking the area’s top high school football teams

See our final poll of the season

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Posted April 12, 2021

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Hard to believe we’re here, but it’s the final 10 Strong Poll of the season.

With some great Round 1 playoff wins, all 10 of our teams remain alive this week, but only a maximum of 6 are able to advance past this week.

Round 1 upsets of 2-seed Brookville and 1-seeds Patrick Henry and Rockbridge County knocked all three schools out of the 10 Strong Poll this week.

Remaining at 1 and 2 are Lord Botetourt and Salem.

At 3, Appomattox County jumped up a spot after a win over Radford.

At 4, Heritage made a 5-spot jump, taking down 1-seed Rockbridge County on the road on Friday night.

At 5, Narrows slid up three spots with the win over Parry McCluer.

At 6, Galax moved up a spot after beating George Wythe.

At 7, GW Danville, defending their home against Pulaski County moved up three spots.

The final three teams in our season’s final poll are brand-new to the poll this week:

8 - Liberty Christian Academy

9 - Glenvar

10 - William Fleming

Here’s a look at the other 11 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Patrick Henry (31), Brookville (18), Pulaski County (17), Rockbridge County (13), Rural Retreat (4), Radford (3), Parry McCluer (3), Dan River (2), George Wythe (2), Amherst County (2), Franklin County(1)


Posted April 5, 2021

Bring on the playoffs!!

This week’s poll brings the most stability we’ve seen all season as the top five spots remain unchanged.

  1. Lord Botetourt
  2. Salem
  3. Brookville
  4. Appomattox County
  5. Patrick Henry

At 6, we have Valley District champion and the 1-seed in Region 3C, Rockbridge County.

At No. 7, it’s the 1-seed in Region 1C, Galax

At No. 8, we have Narrows. The Green Wave has yet to give up a single point this season!

At No. 9, jumping up one spot, we have Heritage, the only team in this week’s 10 Strong Poll that is not hosting a playoff game.

Rounding out this week’s poll, making their first entry this season, is GW Danville.

Here’s a look at the other 10 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Pulaski County (22), Dan River (15), Glenvar (11), Liberty Christian Academy (11), Radford (10), William Fleming (9), Franklin County (7), Carroll County (7), George Wythe (7), Rural Retreat (1)


Posted March 30, 2021

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the final week of the regular season.

Looking at this week’s poll, Lord Botetourt while remaining at No. 1, picked up an additional No. 1 vote this week.

Closely behind the Cavaliers are the Salem Spartans.

At No. 3, we see Brookville take a one-spot jump after Pulaski County’s 24-23 loss to Patrick Henry on Friday.

At No. 4, also sliding up one spot it’s Appomattox County, continuing its undefeated season.

Two teams this week tied at No. 5, Galax and Patrick Henry.

For Galax, it’s a two-spot jump and for the Patriots, a 5-spot jump, the largest we’ve seen this season, after their big win.

At No. 7, we see undefeated Narrows, dropping one spot since last week.

At No. 8, it’s the Pulaski County Cougars losing 5 spots after their loss to PH.

Rounding out this week’s 10 Strong Poll, unchanged from last week, are Rockbridge County and Heritage.

Here’s a look at the other 11 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Franklin County (23), G.W. Danville (21), Glenvar (11), Liberty Christian Academy (9), Amherst County (8), Radford (8), Carroll County (6), Dan River (6), Jefferson Forest (5), Fort Chiswell (5), George Wythe (2)


Posted March 22, 2021

For the second-straight week, 10 spots were just not enough for the 10 Strong Poll as two teams once again share the final position.

For the third-straight week, we lead off with Lord Botetourt and Salem.

After that, Heritage’s loss to Brookville caused the Pioneers to drop down to 10, which had Pulaski County jump up two spots to be No. 3.

At No. 4, making their 10 Strong debut this season, are the Brookville Bees, coming off the 28-7 win over Heritage.

At 5, sliding down one spot is Appomattox County.

They’re followed by Narrows, who jumped up three spots off the unplanned bye week and Galax, who also jumped up three spots after their 40-0 win against Carroll County to sit at at 7.

The Franklin County Eagles dropped one spot to No. 8, but play both Tuesday and Friday nights this week.

A No. 9, we welcome the Rockbridge County Wildcats who have been itching for a spot in the 10 Strong Poll and have now arrived.

Sharing the 10-spot are Heritage and Patrick Henry, as the Patriots wrap their regular season this Friday at Pulaski County.

Here’s a look at the other 13 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Carroll County (14), Liberty Christian Academy (12), Amherst County (11), Jefferson Forest (10), G.W. Danville (9), George Wythe (8), Radford (8), Dan River (6), Glenvar (6), Magna Vista (5), Rural Retreat (4), E.C. Glass (2), William Byrd (1)


Posted March 15, 2021

It’s our third poll and this week, we feature 11 teams.

The top three, Lord Botetourt, Salem and Heritage, remain unchanged; however, one of Salem’s No. 1 votes is now held by Lord Botetourt.

A flip-flop at 4 and 5 now puts Appomattox County, coming off an 83-6 win over Nelson County, ahead of Pulaski County, coming off a 56-0 win against Blacksburg.

No. 6 remains unchanged with the now 4-0 Carroll County Cavaliers.

The bottom spots are where we see some change.

At No. 7, up one spot from last week, is Franklin County.

At No. 8, up two spots from last week, is Radford, coming off a 40-0 win against Alleghany. The Bobcats are scheduled for two games this week, playing

Despite not yet allowing a point this season, Narrows fell two spots to No. 9.

This week’s poll gives us a tie at No. 10 with Jefferson Forest and Galax.

Looking at those just missing the cut, for back-to-back weeks Rockbridge County has been the first team out, so keep an eye on the Wildcats.

Here’s a look at the other 12 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Rockbridge County (31), Brookville (30), Patrick Henry (16), GW Danville (6), Gretna (4), Liberty Christian (3), George Wythe (2), Glenvar (2), Magna Vista (1), Christiansburg (1), Dan River (1), Rural Retreat (1)


Posted March 9, 2021

Our second poll is out and the true number one is a touch clearer.

While Lord Botetourt remains atop the poll with three No. 1 votes, sliding up below the Cavaliers are the Salem Spartans.

The Spartans moved into No. 2 with a win against Patrick Henry and picked up a second No. 1 vote in this week’s poll.

With Salem up, Heritage slid down one spot to No. three and Pulaski County vaulted up two spots after beating Blacksburg to sit at No. 4 and still receiving one No. 1 vote.

At No. 5 remains Appomattox County, coming off a shutout win over William Campbell.

The biggest move of this week’s poll belongs to Carroll County, as those Cavaliers jumped up from No. 10 to No. 6 this week after a convincing 42-19 win against Giles.

Narrows moved up one spot to No. 7 with a bye.

Welcome Franklin County Eagles to the 10 Strong Poll at No. 8 and Jefferson Forest slipped two positions with the bye week to sit at No. 9.

Rounding out this week’s poll, also a newcomer, are the Radford Bobcats, who now play two games in five days.

Here’s a look at the other 13 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Rockbridge County (29), Patrick Henry (27), Brookville (25), Galax (25), George Wythe (5), Giles (4), Chilhowie (4), Magna Vista (3), Eastern Montgomery (3), G.W. Danville (2), Floyd County (2), Bassett (1), Covington (1)


Posted March 3, 2021

High school football is back and that means the 10 Strong Poll returns!

This season marks the poll’s fourth year and for those unfamiliar with what we do, it’s similar to the AP Top 25 poll.

Here at 10 News, we have six people vote for who they feel the top area teams are. Those independent polls are then combined each week to produce the 10 Strong Poll.

While only 10 teams make the poll each week, we also show you which teams received votes, so you're able to see if your team is poised to rise into the top 10.

Now that all of our teams have played at least one game, it’s time to see who starts the season atop the poll.

In this first poll, we had four different teams receive a No. 1 vote: Lord Botetourt, Salem, Patrick Henry and Pulaski County.

Leading this week’s poll is Lord Botetourt, coming off a 70-6 win over G.W. Danville. This week, LB travels down to Roanoke to take on William Fleming.

At No. 2, it’s Heritage, coming off a commanding 62-7 win against Liberty. This week, Heritage takes on Amherst County.

Our No. 3 team has already played two games. The Salem Spartans beat Christiansburg 35-13 and now host Patrick Henry this week.

That brings us right to our No. 4 team, Patrick Henry, also 2-0, the Patriots blanked Blacksburg en route to a 56-0 victory.

At 5, Appomattox County is 1-0, having beaten Altavista 42-6, they now take on William Campbell.

At 6, the Pulaski County Cougars, one of five teams in the poll at 2-0, face Christiansburg this week.

Back out to the Seminole District for our No. 7 Jefferson Forest Cavaliers, who this week will face Liberty Christian Academy.

At No. 8, now 2-0 Narrows beat Parry McCluer 32-0 Monday and is off this week.

No. 9 sits Galax who will host Grayson County.

Rounding out the poll is 2-0 Carroll County who this week takes on the Giles Spartans.

Here’s a look at the other 15 teams that received votes in our poll this week, along with their corresponding point totals:

Franklin County (25), James River (25), William Byrd (16), Brookville (11), Rockbridge County (10), Radford (9), Giles (9), Amherst County (6), Glenvar (6), Auburn (5), William Fleming (3), William Campbell (3), Halifax County (2), Roanoke Catholic (1), Chilhowie (1)