Why Ryan S. Clark voted the way he did in this week's poll

Whenever Sunday rolls around, that's when I know its time to vote in The Associated Press high school football poll.

I just look around to see how other schools did and that way it gives me a chance to gauge what's going on. In the case of WO-S, which is No. 3 in Class 3A, and Newton, which is No. 6 in Class 2A, there really isn't much to gauge because those schools started the preseason in the Top 10.

But as for schools like Lumberton and Vidor, it was time to give them credit because they have started the season 3-0. Lumberton has won district the last two years and Vidor is pegged to win district this year, which factored into the voting. Plus, what I have learned from folks over the last few weeks is area schools do not get much respect in these polls, because voters across the state might not be familiar with the schools around here.

Take Evadale for example. That is a program that is off to a 3-0 start and last season finished 7-2. Coach Mark Williams has quite a few kids back from last season and they looked poised for another strong run.

But there are schools that do get respect from across the state such as Kirbyville. Kirbyville got quite a few votes in the latest poll, but I did not vote for them. Sure they played an epic game against WO-S, but they made multiple turnovers and errors against Jasper. That's something Kirbyville coach Jack Alvarez told me. Plus, Jasper has only played two games so the game against WO-S on Friday should be a good gauge how good Jasper is and how good Kirbyville could be.

Of course as the season rolls along, these picks will change and for all we know, Evadale and others could crack the Top 10. No matter what happens, this season should be an interesting one.