National Prep Poll: The FIRST national rankings released in the preseason and each week during the regular season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After starting the year outside the Top 25 for only the second time in 15 years, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) is back in the Top 5 of the National Prep Poll.

The six-time Prep Poll champion Spartans have risen 18 spots in the rankings in just four weeks.

A national FOX Sports Net audience watched as De La Salle hammered perennial SoCal power Mission Viejo on its home field, 35-7, Saturday night.

De La Salle is now the top-ranked California team in the National Prep Poll, even after No. 5 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) defeated No. 15 Corona Centennial last week. The reason? Because De La Salle is in position to qualify for the state Division I championship (with Centennial as a possible opponent) while Mater Dei is on track to compete in the Division II game. Meaning, the Spartans might have a better chance to claim an overall state championship than do the Monarchs this season.

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The National Prep Football Poll is compiled by high school sports journalist Jamie DeMoney with input from sportswriters, experts, and coaches. The national Top 25 and expanded regional Top 25's follow with won-loss-tie records:

Northeast Region
1. Wexford, Pa., North Allegheny (6-0-0) (1)
2. Ramsey, N.J., Don Bosco Prep (4-0-0) (2)
3. Everett, Mass. (5-0-0) (4)
4. Pittsburgh, Pa., Central Catholic (6-0-0) (3)
5. Lansdale, Pa., North Penn (6-0-0) (5)
6. Jersey City, N.J., St. Peter's (4-0-0) (6)
7. Wayne, N.J., Wayne Hills (5-0-0) (7)
8. Folsom, Pa., Ridley (5-0-0) --
9. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic (4-0-0) (10)
10. Philadelphia, Pa., Roman Catholic (6-0-0) (9)

East Coast Region
1. Chantilly, Va., Westfield (6-0-0) (2)
2. Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha (5-1-0) (1)
3. Duncan, S.C., Byrnes (7-0-0) (3)
4. Chesapeake, Va., Oscar Smith (6-0-0) (5)
5. Fort Washington, Md., Friendly (5-0-0) (7)
6. Virginia Beach, Va., Salem (6-0-0) (4)
7. Charlotte, N.C., Independence (6-1-0) (6)
8. Roebuck, S.C., Dorman (6-1-0) (8)
9. Gaithersburg, Md., Quince Orchard (5-0-0) (9)
10. Parkersburg, W.Va. (7-0-0) (10)

Southeast Region
1. Miami, Fla., Northwestern (5-0-0) (1)
2. Batesville, Miss., South Panola (6-0-0) (2)
3. Prattville, Ala. (6-0-0) (3)
4. Warner Robins, Ga., Northside (6-0-0) (4)
5. Pahokee, Fla. (6-0-0) (5)
6. Miami, Fla., Booker T. Washington (4-0-0) (7)
7. Maryville, Tenn. (6-0-0) (6)
8. Lakeland, Fla. (5-0-0) (8)
9. Hoover, Ala. (4-1-0) (9)
10. West Monroe, La. (5-0-0) (10)

Midwest Region
1. Cincinnati, Ohio, St. Xavier (7-0-0) (1)
2. Cincinnati, Ohio, Colerain (7-0-0) (2)
3. Youngstown, Ohio, Mooney (7-0-0) (3)
4. Louisville, Ky., St. Xavier (7-0-0) (4)
5. Naperville, Ill., North (7-0-0) (5)
6. Muskegon, Mich. (7-0-0) (6)
7. Louisville, Ky., Trinity (4-2-0) (7)
8. Chicago, Ill., Mount Carmel (7-0-0) (8)
9. Joliet, Ill., Joliet Catholic (6-1-0) (9)
10. Dublin, Ohio, Coffman (7-0-0) (10)

Midlands Region
1. Littleton, Colo., Columbine (6-0-0) (1)
2. Eden Prairie, Minn. (6-0-0) (2)
3. Blue Springs, Mo., South (6-0-0) (3)
4. Kansas City, Mo., Rockhurst (6-0-0) (4)
5. Denver, Colo., Mullen (6-0-0) (5)
6. St. Paul, Minn., Cretin-Derham Hall (6-0-0) (6)
7. Sandy, Utah, Jordan (7-1-0) (8)
8. South Jordan, Utah, Bingham (7-1-0) (9)
9. Hutchinson, Kan. (6-0-0) (10)
10. Sandy, Utah, Alta (7-1-0) --

Southwest Region
1. Katy, Texas (5-0-0) (1)
2. Southlake, Texas, Carroll (4-1-0) (2)
3. Tulsa, Okla., Union (6-0-0) (3)
4. Chandler, Ariz., Hamilton (7-0-0) (4)
5. Jenks, Okla. (5-1-0) (5)
6. Odessa, Texas, Permian (5-0-0) (6)
7. San Antonio, Texas, Madison (6-0-0) (7)
8. Allen, Texas (5-0-0) (8)
9. Copperas Cove, Texas (5-0-0) (9)
10. Arlington, Texas, Bowie (5-0-0) --

West Coast Region
1. Concord, Calif., De La Salle (4-0-0) (3)
2. Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei (5-0-0) (1)
3. Corona, Calif., Centennial (5-1-0) (2)
4. Orange, Calif., Lutheran (5-0-0) (4)
5. Lake Balboa, Calif., Birmingham (4-1-0) (9)
6. Sherman Oaks, Calif., Notre Dame (4-1-0) --
7. Honolulu, Hawaii, St. Louis (6-0-0) (6)
8. Carlsbad, Calif. (5-0-0) (7)
9. Lakewood, Wash., Lakes (6-0-0) (8)
10. Lake Oswego, Ore. (6-0-0) (10)

Dropped out: Northeast: No. 8 Bethlehem, Pa., Liberty (5-1-0). Midlands: No. 8 Omaha, Neb., Westside (6-1-0). Southwest: No. 10 Phoenix, Brophy (4-2-0). West Coast: No. 5 Encino, Calif., Crespi (3-2-0).

FEATS OF THE WEEK: In a game where both teams had more than 600 yards of total offense, No. 5 Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei, outlasted No. 15 Corona, Centennial, 51-37. Mater Dei standout junior quarterback Matt Barkley had 365 passing yards, including 186 to receiver Robbie Boyer. Centennial running back Ryan Bass ran for 322 yards and four touchdowns . . . Six-time Prep Poll champion Concord, Calif., De La Salle returned to the national top 10 after routing Mission Viejo, 35-7, on FSN. The No. 4 Spartans scored 35 unanswered points after the Diablos became the first team to score on De La Salle's first-string defense this season. Junior receiver Michael Czyz had three touchdown receptions for 179 yards . . . Sigourney, Iowa, Sigourney-Keota had a state-record 718 rushing yards in an 80-30 rout of Eddyville, Eddyville-Blakesburg. Four Sigourney-Keota players rushed for more than 1000 yards in the game and the Savage Cobras led 61-24 at halftime. According to the National High School Sports Record Book, the national mark for rushing yards in one game is 755 by Indianapolis, Warren Central in 2002 . . . Bernard Williams of St. Pauls, N.C., carried the ball a state-record 57 times in a 52-51 loss to Bladenboro, West Bladen. Williams ran for 395 yards and six touchdowns, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

Copyright 2007 World Features Syndicate, Inc...endit

About the National Prep Poll: Compiled weekly since 1987 and a property of World Features Syndicate, the National Prep Poll is the nation's second oldest weekly high school sports rankings and are the only high school rankings distributed to newspapers and Web sites around the United States by the Associated Press national wire service. The National Prep Poll is the first high school football and boys basketball poll to released in the preseason and during each week of the regular season. Criteria considered for the National Prep Poll rankings are strength of schedule, the ability to accomplish the ultimate goal on a team's schedule (i.e. winning a championship), impact players and performers, a team's coaching and recent tradition.

Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and been involved with prep recruiting and evaluation for nearly 15 years. He has compiled the National Prep Poll for World Features Syndicate and the Associated Press since 1999. He is former managing editor of American Football Monthly, the premier trade publication in America for football coaches. DeMoney is also a full-time staff member of Forbes Recruit Evaluation, a football scouting service subscribed to by more than 300 college coaching staffs. Each football season, DeMoney evaluates thousands of high school football players and teams in person and on tape. DeMoney maintains a library of more than 3,000 high school game tapes from the last three seasons. It isn't likely that any other national high school rankings compiler watches even 10 percent as much game tape of the teams he considers for rankings as DeMoney does. DeMoney's other credits include serving on the selection panel for the Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year, as editor of Gridiron Greats recruiting yearbook (1995-99), Associate Editor of Hawkeye Nation magazine, contributor to NFLHS.com and doing play-by-play high school sports for KCJJ-AM in Iowa City, Iowa, during the mid-90s. DeMoney is a 1994 graduate of the University of Iowa School of Journalism, a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Note: Jamie DeMoney also compiled the preseason Power 50 national and regional rankings for the GRIDIRON Magazine, published by RISE. The publication includes in-depth capsules on all 50 nationally ranked and 100 regionally ranked teams, including key players, strengths, weaknesses and overall outlook.