Taconic Football Nearly Tied for First in Regional Media Poll

To borrow a phrase -- from a different sport -- it’s deja vu all over again in this week’s Western Mass High School Football Media Poll.

 

For the second straight week, just one point separates first and second places, and the same two teams, in the same order, occupy those spots. Springfield Central (6-2) holds the narrow edge over Taconic (7-1) in the weekly survey of regional media outlets, with the two teams again splitting the first-place votes down the middle.

 

The big movers this week are Chicopee Comp (7-1) and West Springfield (6-2).

 

The former recovered from a pounding by Central in Week 7 to thump Holyoke last Friday night; the win was enough to convince the voters to move the Colts three slots -- over Wahconah and Westfield and into the No. 3 slot. The latter, which won its last three games of the regular season by a combined margin of 109-3, moved up from the “others receiving votes” category to the No. 10 spot in the poll.

 

Wahconah (7-1) and Westfield (7-1) also flopped relative positions with the former staying No. 4 and the latter going from three to five. Wahconah no doubt picked up a couple of votes for beating a dangerous Hoosac Valley team on the road in Week 8.

 

Positions six, seven and eight look familiar with minor shuffling. Northampton (7-1) stays No. 6. Turners Falls (8-0) goes from eighth place to seventh place. And Mount Greylock (8-0) is tied with Longmeadow (4-3) for eighth.

 

South Hadley (5-3) fell out of the top ten after beating Chicopee (3-5) by just three points last week.

 

The poll, organized by the Berkshire Eagle, includes voters from the Eagle, Greenfield Recorder, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Berkshire Courier and iBerkshires.com.

 

1. Springfield Central (4) 75

2. Taconic (4) 74

3. Chicopee Comp 61

4. Wahconah 54

5. Westfield 52

6. Northampton 32

7. Turners Falls 24

8. Longmeadow 19

8. Mount Greylock 19

10. West Springfield 18

Others receiving votes: South Hadley 10, Palmer 2