The No. 1 team in the Metro Top 10 lost in Week 3, and a new No. 1 lost in Week 4. Week 5 is here, and so is the third No. 1 team of the 2022 season.
1. Maple Grove (4-0). Last week: def. Centennial 24-17. The injury bug has hit the Crimson roster, but as long as QB Jacob Kilzer is wheeling and dealing, they're tough to beat.
2. Prior Lake (4-0). Last week: def. Lakeville North 31-14. Grayson Spronk made three short touchdown runs and the Lakers closed out a game that got uncomfortably tight with 10 fourth-quarter points.
3. Rosemount (4-0). Last week: def. Eden Prairie 14-7. Better score more than one touchdown — if you can — against the stingy Irish if you want to win. No opponent has reached pay dirt more than once in any game this year.
4. Stillwater (4-0): def. Osseo 31-7. It's shaping up to be a two-horse race for Metro Player of the Year between Ponies quarterback Max Shikenjanski and Kilzer.
5. Eden Prairie (3-1): lost to Rosemount 14-7. Coaches won't admit it, but it's pretty clear the Eagles had a bit of a letdown after beating Lakeville South. If they play Rosemount five more times, Eden Prairie would win four.
6. Lakeville South (3-1): def. Farmington 43-21. Are the Cougars one of the top five teams in the metro? Unquestionably. But they remain sixth, behind four undefeated teams and the team that beat them. How can you argue with that?
7. Woodbury (4-0): def. Burnsville 20-7. Some guys just smell the end zone. Quentin Cobb-Butler returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a score and followed with a pick-six. A defensive back and wide receiver, he's scored four TDs this season: two after interceptions, one with a reception, one on a kickoff.
8. Shakopee (3-1): def. Edina 26-0. Senior QB Dominic Jackson's season ended last year because of a knee injury suffered at Edina. It's fitting that his first rushing touchdown in a year came on a 9-yard run against the Hornets.
9. St. Thomas Academy (5A, 4-0): def. Hastings 48-13. Is there a better 1-2 backfield punch than RBs Love Adebayo and Savion Hart? Combined, they've rushed for 769 yards and 16 TDs in four games.
10. Forest Lake (4-0): def. Mounds View 14-8. The Rangers' season of bliss rolled on Friday, when they got two fourth-quarter TD runs from Leyton Patzer — the last one a 60-yarder with under three minutes left — to remain undefeated.
On the cusp: Hutchinson (4A, 3-1); Minnetonka (3-1), Elk River (5A, 4-0).
