Danville vaults to top spot
DANVILLE – Five years ago, Danville's football team went 0-9. On Tuesday, the Vikings found themselves atop the latest Associated Press Class 6A poll.
"I think it's great people think that highly of us in the state. That's pretty neat coming from where we've come from," Danville coach B.J. Luke said.
The Vikings were ranked third in the preseason poll and defeated Urbana 60-20 in the season opener. Last week's No. 1 team, Providence Catholic, lost its season opener to Chicago Morgan Park. Providence defeated Danville in the 6A semifinals last year. The second-ranked team entering the season, Cary-Grove, lost last week, too, making room for the Vikings at the top.
"We feel like now we can play with most everybody," said Luke, whose team started 12-0 before falling to the Celtics in the postseason. "I think our kids understand the work that we've had to do to put ourselves in that position, and they're pretty savvy when it comes to knowing what got them to where they are. They're pretty good about that."
Danville hosts Mattoon on Friday before hosting second-ranked Bloomington in a Big 12 showdown in Week 3.
"We know there are teams out there that would like to get us, and we were on the other side of it not too long ago where we were taking aim at teams like that," Luke said. "We had a decent first game, but we've got a lot of things we've got to clean up, so our kids have been really good about trying to fix the things that need fixed."
In Class 1A, Tuscola was voted a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week. The Warriors defeated Shelbyville 42-0 on the road last week. In Class 2A, Westville moved up two spots to No. 7. In Class 3A, St. Joseph-Ogden remained at No. 5, and Unity moved up a spot to No. 3.
In Class 4A, Mahomet-Seymour entered the poll at No. 8 after a Week 1 upset win against Mount Zion.
MoreDanville wants to win at all costs and integrity...last year they have a player who has felony charges arrested numerous times missed court appearance before playoff game what do they do pull strings get him out of jail to play in the playoff game.....Good job way to send a message to the community!
gary we don't want to win @ all cost and b4 u go incinuating and making erroneous charges. that was last yr.... and the message that were sending to our youth and community is that with the direction of coach luke preparation and hard work comes a sense of community pride. and a chance for our kids @ an opprotunity for secondary education thru football..
Erroneous charges? A Danville player wasn't arrested for failing to show up for court on his felony charges on a Wed and strings weren't pulled and he didn't start in the Sat. playoff game ???? Coach Luke has done an outstanding job turning the program around far as wins go. I was pulling for Danville all the way last year! I just don't think if a young student athlete can't stay out of trouble off the field why should he have the privilege of playing sports.
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